Recipes

A baker, photographer, cookbook author and teacher.

Friends, hi! I’m ready for October (even though it fully snuck up on me this year). The air has shifted, I’ve taken the shortsleeved sweaters out of hiding (long sleeve sweaters are still a ways away), and suddenly the kitchen feels like the best place to be again. It’s the month for cinnamon sugar everything, slow mornings with coffee and cake, and a big pot of  chili simmering on the stove. If you’re looking for a little baking inspiration, I’ve gathered a few of my favorite Joy the Baker recipes that feel just right for October.

Continue reading An October Baking Moodboard at Joy the Baker.

Hello! I’m writing to you on a rainy morning. FINALLY. The heat has broken and it is pouring. The world smells so fresh (except for rainy day lunch at the middle school where I’m the vice principal — damp kiddos plus mingling food smells is really something) and I love it. I am a summer person, but the older I get, the more I genuinely love the way the days slow down, the gray days, and the natural inclination to stay home, eat soup, and snuggle down. 

Continue reading Building a Winter Life We’ll Love at Joy the Baker.

Every fall, I feel this pull (it’s a mission, really) to dream up a new twist on the classic Texas Sheet Cake. It’s a tradition of sorts now. Last year, I baked a Pumpkin Pecan Texas Sheet Cake, the year before that I couldn’t resist leaning into the classic chocolate version which is a true Wilson family staple, especially when there’s a crowd to feed.

Continue reading Apple Cinnamon Texas Sheet Cake at Joy the Baker.

Word on the street is September is almost over. A month I spent surviving, not thriving. Sometimes when life gets this busy—so busy there isn’t room to think—things fall through the cracks. But if I were to throw a more positive spin on it, it’s a season to really figure out what matters most. If there’s no time for silly little things, all that’s left is your most important work. You have no choice but to drop the trivial.

Continue reading Links for Another September Sunday at Joy the Baker.

These Bakehouse Texas Cinnamon Rolls are the ultimate cinnamon roll recipe—soft, gooey, and swirled with buttery cinnamon sugar, and of course, topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting. Perfect for weekend baking or holiday mornings (or stop by the Bakehouse one these days for a warm roll!). This step-by-step recipe will give you bakery-style rolls right from your own kitchen.

Hey, friends! The weather in Texas is thinking about cooling down, which feels like the perfect time to dream up bakery plans and test recipes.

Continue reading The Bakehouse Texas Super Soft Cinnamon Roll Recipe at Joy the Baker.

Friends, good morning! I’m so grateful we get to catch up today. How are you feeling?

Me? Well… a little distractible, if I’m honest, but doing my best to stay on task. The slow change of season has me holding onto hope. Summer was a heavy lift for me this year, and I’m craving the different kind of energy that fall always seems to bring.  I can already feel it in the air via the apple cider doughnuts I made a few days back.

Continue reading Notes on Hope, Cake, and Other Sweet Things at Joy the Baker.

Cautiously, and optimistically, I am feeling better lately! In therapy today, I said I felt finally tipped upright instead of feeling tilted half in and out of water. It feels so lovely to be here, and to everyone who said the only way out is through, boy were you correct. In no way do I feel like I’m “through” but I’m moving, and moving feels GOOD. Swim lessons start Wednesday! I will have to update you next month on how they’re going and how much water I’ve ingested.

Continue reading Tipped Upright at Joy the Baker.

Happy September! It is still in the triple digits here, but the light is changing. We have the most beautiful windows in our house, and fondly refer to the fall and winter as “sunset season.” The colors during this time of year are so electric and I love intentionally watching the sun go down — I’m often in bed too early to catch it during the summer (don’t judge me). 

I’ve been reflecting a lot on this summer.

Continue reading The Summer I Filled My Cup at Joy the Baker.

Friends, hello and happy Sunday. We’ve landed at what feels like the last weekend of “true” summer before September Summer sets in – which, I do love! It’s that somehow grounding in-between season of back-from-school weeknight dinners, some fresh intentions, a little exhale before the holidays, and eating the very last of the plums.

This summer flew by. If I’m honest, I probably wished more of the days away than I lingered to savor them.

Continue reading Welcome to September Summer at Joy the Baker.

Since you last heard from me, I’ve made a batch of salsa verde from my garden, cleaned and organized my kitchen, made bouquets with these zinnias from my flower patch, spent countless hours working on Floso (my dirty soda business here in Oregon), and drafted my fantasy football team.

I’m sorry to say I haven’t read a single book this summer that I liked—but I’m sure one is out there.

Continue reading Sunday With Salsa Verde and Zinnias at Joy the Baker.

Simple Recipes from my Paris Kitchen

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook!

I strive to master simple dishes. I don’t aspire to be a person of whom one says, “What an ambitious […]

The post Perfect Roasted Potatoes Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! I strive to master simple dishes. I don’t aspire to be a person of whom one says, “What an ambitious cook!” or “She should really open her own restaurant!” No. I want to be someone who can be trusted to prepare a good, well-rounded, home-cooked meal. A meal that has personality, yes, but one that doesn’t try too hard, and relies chiefly on good taste and good technique. This is why I had long been frustrated by my limited potato roasting skills. Oh, I’d roasted my share of potatoes, but I had never been able to make perfect roasted potatoes, golden and generously crusty on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. By the time the chunks had developed enough of a crust, the flesh had begun to dry up inside, and I was left with something a bit cardboard-y. Not inedible — it takes considerable effort to render a potato inedible in my book — but not my platonic image of the roasted potato, either. And then some years ago, my friend Pascale* shared the recipe she uses for pommes de terre rôties, which she learned from her British mother-in-law. I have blind kitchen faith in Pascale — she has never steered me wrong — and I was very excited about her technique, a classic in British cooking that was unknown to me at the time. Here, let me show you in this video: The Secret to Perfect Roasted Potatoes The magic behind Pascale’s roasted potatoes unfolds thusly: the potatoes are parboiled for five minutes first, drained, and returned to the saucepan. At this point — and this is the crucial step, so pay attention — you grab the lidded pan and shake it vigorously, which not only is fun, but also makes the surface of the potato pieces fuzzy from rubbing their sides one against the others. And wouldn’t you know it, it is this very fuzz that fosters the formation of a splendid crust when you then bake the potatoes. The parboiling step reduces the baking time and ensures that the flesh inside stays moist. Pascale posted this recipe in late afternoon on a Sunday in December. I read it in early evening, and an hour later, the roasted potatoes were gracing our table, making this a personal TTK (time-to-kitchen) record. Seven years have passed (!) since that inaugural batch, and I have made the recipe dozens and dozens of times since then, using oil or duck fat and different potato varieties (ratte, roseval, charlotte, vitelotte…) to stupendous results, every time. It is a dish that’s great for dinner parties, too: you can parboil and bruise the potatoes before your guests arrive, then slip them in the preheated oven as everyone’s settling in. I’ve served them with Muriel’s chicken, with whiskey-flambéed veal paupiettes, and with seared duck breasts, but I think my favorite pairing was with the quails I stuffed and roasted, loosely following a recipe in Thomas Keller’s Bouchon. So, is this one you have in your repertoire? Are you going to try it? (I’m warning you, there’s no way back!) Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Perfect Roasted Potatoes Recipe Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Serves 4 generously (see note). Ingredients 1.2 kilos (2 1/2 pounds) potatoes (waxy or floury -- both types will work equally well) 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or duck fat 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary (optional) Instructions Preheat the oven to 210°C (410°F). If your potatoes are smooth-skinned, scrub them well and peel them in alternative stripes so that strips of skin remain. If, on the other hand, the skin of your potatoes is rugged and grainy, peel it off completely (no need to scrub) then rinse the potatoes well in cold water. Cut the potatoes into even chunks, about 2 cm (3/4 inch) in width. Place them in a saucepan large enough to accommodate them, cover with cold water, and add 1 teaspoon coarse salt. Set over high heat, cover, bring to a low boil, then lower the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. As soon as the water boils, pour the fat into a rimmed baking sheet, and place the sheet in the oven, so the fat and baking sheet will heat up. After the 5 minutes of boiling, drain the potatoes -- they will not be cooked at that point -- and return them to the saucepan. Add the fine sea salt and the rosemary, if using. Place a lid on the saucepan. Holding the lid firmly shut with both hands (the saucepan will be hot, so wear oven mitts or use dish towels), shake the saucepan vigorously for a few seconds, until the surface of the potato chunks is fuzzy; this will help the formation of a crust. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, pour the potatoes onto the sheet, and stir well to coat with the fat. Return to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, flipping the potatoes halfway through, until cooked through (when you insert the tip of a knife in one of the pieces, it should meet no resistance), crusty, and golden. If you want a little more color on them, you can switch to grill mode for the final few minutes. Serve immediately. Notes I normally plan to serve about 200 to 250 grams (7 to 9 ounces) of potato per person, but these are so good people tend to want a little more. Adapted from Pascale Weeks' pommes de terre rôties. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/vegetables-grains/perfect-roasted-potatoes-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. This post was first published in January 2010 and fully updated in October 2016. The post Perfect Roasted Potatoes Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook!

Le goûter is the afternoon snack kids are given when they come out of school around four. In my family, […]

The post Gâteau de Mamy: My Grandmother’s Apple Cake Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! Le goûter is the afternoon snack kids are given when they come out of school around four. In my family, we called it simply le thé, and it was the highlight of the day. Around five on weekends, somebody would invariably ask, “On fait le thé?” Cookies or cake, usually baked by my mother, would be served. For the grownups, black tea in a round-bellied, chocolate-colored teapot, kept warm in a blue tea cosy my mother had sewn. My father sometimes wore it like a hat to make us laugh. Le goûter should always be turned into an occasion. And so, when friends came over with their children one recent Sunday afternoon, I baked this cake. This cake is a family heirloom called Gâteau de Mamy. As the name implies, it is my grandmother’s recipe, which she called “Gâteau d’Ella” because it was her dear friend Ella’s recipe originally. It is anybody’s guess what Ella called it. It was also one of my father’s hands-down favorites. It is the kind of cake that is described as an upside down cake, meaning you lay fresh fruit at the bottom of the pan, and pour the batter on top. It’s only after baking that you flip it to serve ; sort of a cake tatin. It works with many kinds of fruit: my grandmother made it most with apples, but pears, apricots, and plums are just as welcome. The resulting cake is golden, buttery and moist, with a slightly caramelized edge. It works hard to make you want a second slice. But if you stop at one and there are leftovers, the reward is that this cake tastes even better the next day. Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print My Grandmother’s Pear Cake Recipe Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time: 55 minutes Serves 8. Ingredients 125 grams (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 500 grams (a little over 1 pound) tart apples (substitute pears, apricots, plums...), peeled and cut into eighths 150 grams (3/4 cups) sugar 2 large eggs 70 grams (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon baking powder Instructions Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease the sides of a 20-cm (8-inch) round cake pan with a bit of the butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Place the pears in a single layer at the bottom of the pan. In a medium mixing-bowl, beat the sugar and the eggs until the mixture pales slightly. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to the wet ingredients and blend well, but without overmixing. Pour in the butter, and blend again. Pour the batter evenly over the fruit, and bake for 40 minutes, until golden. Let the cake settle on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife all around to loosen, and flip onto a serving plate. Let cool and serve, slightly warm or at room temperature. Notes Sometimes I'll use a mix of flour and almond flour (60 grams or 1/2 cup flour + 20 grams or 2 tablespoons almond flour) 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/cakes-tarts/french-grandmother-apple-cake-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. Photography by Céline de Cérou. This post was first published in October 2003 and updated in January 2019. The post Gâteau de Mamy: My Grandmother’s Apple Cake Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook!

In addition to planning my menus, I have been doing more and more batch cooking these past few months. The […]

The post Vegetarian Batch Cooking for Fall: 1-Hour Prep, 6 Meals! appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! In addition to planning my menus, I have been doing more and more batch cooking these past few months. The idea of batch cooking is to block out time one day of the week to prep or cook a bunch of ingredients in advance, which you can draw from and combine for low-effort homemade meals the rest of the week. It is the shortest path to feeling like a kitchen superhero, saving you brain juice and money along the way. And today, I am offering you the vegetarian batch cooking plan for fall I’ve created and test-driven with great success: 1 hour of prep work for easy 6 meals on subsequent days. Meal #1: Peanut Noodles with Kale and Mushrooms — the noodles of your choice in my deliciously peanutty “magic sauce”, with garlicky sautéed kale and tender mushrooms. Meal #2: Fall Buddha Bowl — a plentiful bowl of flavor with bulgur, beet hummus, a raw kale salad, and crispy falafel, topped with roasted peanuts. Meal #3: Warming Red Lentil Soup — a warming bowl of soup full of immune-boosting ingredients to keep colds at bay! Meal #4: Lemony Bulgur Salad with Feta and Mushrooms — a filling salad of bulgur with tangy feta, marinated mushrooms, and raisins. Meal #5: Toad-in-a-Hole Toast with Beet Hummus — a kid-friendly favorite served with beet hummus for dipping. Meal #6: Roasted Cauliflower à la Mary Celeste — irresistibly roasted cauliflower in magic sauce! One of my absolute favorite things to eat, period. Below you will find: – A shopping list (of which you can get a free printable) — everything is available from the organic store or supermarket (they cost around 55€ ($65) in my Parisian organic store; your mileage may vary), – Your instructions for the prep work — allow for 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours of prep time, – Your instructions for each of the six meals — active time ranges from 10 to 15 minutes, time to table from 10 to 45 minutes, – Suggestions of variations to adapt the plan to various dietary constraints. If you’re new to batch cooking, this plan is an easy and lovely way to dip your toes in and see how deliciously freeing it is. If you’re an experienced batch-cook, I hope it provides some ideas to enrich your current practice. And please share your best tips with us! Related: Vegetarian Batch Cooking for Summer To make the process super smooth, I recommend these French-made glass containers for storing your preparations (I have two sets; they nest perfectly and take up very little room) and this dual kitchen timer to keep track of two preparations at the same time! Without further ado, here’s your vegetarian batch cooking plan for fall! This is what you’ll make during the 1-hour prep time. Your Batch-Cooking Shopping List Get your free printable shopping list! For 4 people: PRODUCE ☐ 4 medium beets, cooked if available, raw otherwise ☐ 2 organic limes ☐ 4 organic lemons ☐ 300 grams (2/3 pound) kale, about 8 stalks ☐ 800 grams (1 3/4 pounds) brown mushrooms ☐ 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley or cilantro ☐ 2 medium onions ☐ 6 cloves garlic ☐ 1 thumb-sized piece ginger ☐ 1 large head cauliflower GRAINS/LEGUMES/NUTS ☐ 380 grams (2 cups) bulgur wheat ☐ 200 grams (7 ounces) pink lentils ☐ 400 grams (14 ounces) dry noodles of your choice ☐ 80 grams (2/3 cup) toasted hazelnuts ☐ 200 grams (7 ounces) pre-made falafels (should contain 12) ☐ 4 slices sandwich bread of your choice ☐ 50 grams (1/3 cup) raisins ☐ 200 grams (7 ounces) firm tofu BOTTLED/JARRED ☐ Sesame oil (will need 4 tablespoons) ☐ Soy sauce (will need 4 tablespoons) ☐ Tahini (will need 4 tablespoons) ☐ Peanut butter (will need 2 tablespoons) ☐ 400 grams (14 ounces) jarred whole tomatoes ☐ 1 liter (1 quart) vegetable stock DAIRY/EGGS ☐ 4 large organic eggs ☐ 1 tablespoon butter ☐ 200 grams (7 ounces) sheep’s milk feta cheese or goat cheese IN YOUR PANTRY ☐ Olive oil ☐ Strong Dijon mustard ☐ Ground cumin ☐ Cayenne pepper ☐ Black pepper ☐ Fine sea salt Prep Work (1 to 1 1/4 hours) ☐ If the beets you purchased are raw, peel them, halve them, and steam them for 12 minutes, until very soft. ☐ Prepare a double batch of beet hummus; refrigerate in an airtight container. ☐ In a jar, prepare a double batch of magic sauce, using soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Put the jar in the fridge. ☐ In a jar, prepare a lemon vinaigrette by combining 1 tablespoon mustard, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 6 tablespoons olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Close the lid tightly and shake to emulsify. ☐ Cook the bulgur according to the package instructions (I use my rice cooker — 1 part bulgur to 2 parts water). Allow to cool and refrigerate in an airtight container. ☐ Wash and dry the parsley. Refrigerate, wrapped in a paper towel in an airtight container. ☐ Chop the hazelnuts roughly; keep in a covered bowl on the counter. ☐ Wash the kale, remove the center stem, and slice into thin ribbons. ☐ Place half of the kale in a glass container with a lid. Add half of the lemon vinaigrette and massage the kale for a couple of minutes with your clean hands. Cover tightly and refrigerate. ☐ Place the remaining half of the kale in a separate container for the noodles that night. ☐ Rinse the mushrooms, trim, and cut in halves, quarters, or slices, depending on size. ☐ Place half of the mushrooms in a glass container with a lid. Stir in the remaining lemon vinaigrette, cover and refrigerate. ☐ Place the remaining half of the mushrooms with the kale for the noodles. Cover and refrigerate. ☐ Rinse and cut the cauliflower into florets. Refrigerate in an airtight container. ☐ Slice the onions and the remaining 4 cloves of garlic (the first 2 went into the beet hummus) thinly. Refrigerate in two separate airtight containers. ☐ Measure 200 grams (7 ounces) of the pink lentils if your package contains more than that. Rinse, drain, and keep in a covered bowl at room temperature. Meal #1: Peanut Noodles with Kale and Mushrooms Active time: 15 minutes Time-to-table: 15 minutes ☐ Stir 2 tablespoons peanut butter into half of the magic sauce (reserve remaining magic sauce). Stir in a little water as needed to get a pourable sauce. ☐ Cook the noodles according to package instructions, and drain when cooked. ☐ In the meantime, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil, add the kale and mushrooms and 1/4 of the minced garlic, and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until softened. ☐ Add the vegetables and peanut sauce to the noodles, toss to combine, and serve. Meal #2: Fall Buddha Bowl Active time: 10 minutes Time-to-table: 10 minutes ☐ Reheat falafel in a skillet. ☐ In each of four bowls, scoop 3/4 cup of bulgur, 1/4 of the raw kale, and 1/2 cup of the beet hummus. ☐ Add the falafels, sprinkle with hazelnuts, and serve. Meal #3: Warming Red Lentil Soup Active time: 15 minutes Time-to-table: 45 minutes ☐ Grate the ginger finely. ☐ Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a soup pot. ☐ Add the sliced onions, remaining garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly, until softened. ☐ Add the ginger, 1 tablespoon cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper, stir, and cook for 2 minutes more, until fragrant. ☐ Add the jarred tomatoes, and crush them with your spatula. Add the lentils, vegetable stock, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and stir well. ☐ Cut four thin slices from the middle of 1 lemon and add them in. Bring to a simmer and cook on low for 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender. ☐ Add a good squeeze of lemon juice from the ends of the lemon, taste, and adjust the seasoning. ☐ Serve in bowls, top with a sprig or two of parsley, sprinkle with black pepper, and serve. Meal #4: Lemony Bulgur Salad with Feta and Mushrooms Active time: 10 minutes Time-to-table: 10 minutes ☐ Dice the feta. ☐ Chop half of the remaining parsley. ☐ In a salad bowl, combine the remaining bulgur with the marinated mushrooms (including the marinade), diced feta, chopped parsley, and raisins. ☐ Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving. ☐ You’ll have leftovers; eat them with Meal #5. Meal #5: Toad-in-a-Hole Toast with Beet Hummus Active time: 10 minutes Time-to-table: 10 minutes ☐ Using a cookie cutter or the rim of a small glass, cut out a round (about 6 cm or 2 1/2 inches) in the middle of each slice of sandwich bread. ☐ Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the bread in, with the cut rounds. Cook for 2 minutes, until golden. ☐ Flip the slices and rounds of bread, and break an egg in the “hole” of each bread slice. ☐ Cover, lower the heat slightly, and cook until the whites of the eggs are just set, about 4 minutes. ☐ Serve with beet hummus for dipping, and leftover bulgur salad. Meal #6: Roasted Cauliflower à la Mary Celeste Active time: 10 minutes Time-to-table: 40 minutes ☐ Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). ☐ Chop the remaining parsley. ☐ Dice the tofu. ☐ Arrange the cauliflower florets on an oil-greased rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. ☐ Roast for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through, until tender and dark brown at the edges. ☐ Twenty minutes in, scatter the diced tofu across the baking sheet. ☐ Divide among 4 bowls. Drizzle the remaining magic sauce on top, add the remaining hazelnuts and parsley, and serve. Variations for Different Diets Vegan: Meal #4: Hold the feta or replace it with tofu or tempeh. Meal #5: Top the bread with a tofu scramble. Gluten-free: Meal #1: Choose gluten-free noodles such as rice noodles. Meals #2 and 4: Choose gluten-free bulgur, or substitute rice or buckwheat. Meal #5: Use gluten-free bread. Dairy-free: Meal #4: Hold the feta or replace it with tofu or tempeh. Meal #5: Cook the toast and egg in oil. Paleo: Meal #1: Use vegetable noodles (such as with zucchini, carrots, daikon radish, jicama…) in place of grain-based noodles. Use tahini in place of peanut butter. Use coconut aminos or fish sauce (if not vegetarian) in place of soy sauce in the magic sauce. Meal #2: Use cauliflower “rice” instead of the bulgur. Use meatballs instead of falafel (if not vegetarian) or vegan paleo veggie balls such as these or these. Meal #3: Replace the lentils with diced sweet potatoes. Meal #4: Hold the cheese. Use cauliflower “rice” instead of the bulgur. Meal #5: Serve simple fried eggs with beet hummus. Meal #6: Hold the tofu. Use coconut aminos or fish sauce (if not vegetarian) in place of soy sauce in the magic sauce. Don’t forget to grab your free printable shopping list! The post Vegetarian Batch Cooking for Fall: 1-Hour Prep, 6 Meals! appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

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After last week’s events in Paris, it’s not so easy to break the silence here. Writing about news and politics […]

The post Black Sesame Sablés (Shortbread) Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! After last week’s events in Paris, it’s not so easy to break the silence here. Writing about news and politics isn’t what I do, and I suspect it’s not what brings you here either, yet I can’t not acknowledge what has happened. In the wake of these senseless, horrifying acts, which only reinforce the great concerns I have about the world we’re building and the society I live in, I choose to see the silver lining: how French men and women came together in historic numbers in the immediate aftermath, and how much international support has poured in. I am too much of a realist to believe that this tremendous reaction will have any lasting effect on the underlying issues at play, but at least for these few days, (most of) the French get to walk and talk and cry as one, and we can never have too much of that. Of course I found it impossible to write while all this was unfolding — it suddenly seemed absurd to care about the tiny things I normally care about — but as a friend kindly said to me, writing about food and culture and travel helps bring people of different horizons to understand and respect each other, and that is nothing to sneeze at. In any case, I thought it fitting to start the year off on a note both dark and sweet with these black sesame sablés. It is a recipe I developed for ELLE à table, a French cooking magazine in which I write a bimonthly column, and sang the luscious, nutty glories of black sesame paste in the holiday issue. This seed butter, made from roasted and ground black sesame, is a dramatic, shiny black and I keep a jar of it in my fridge to slip into all sorts of sweet preparations, or simply spread it on my morning toast of sourdough. These shortbread cookies have a rather arresting look, the distinctive, toasty flavor of black sesame with a hint of salt, and the delightful texture I look for in all my sablés, delicate and shatter-prone. I understand these qualities won’t do much toward world peace, but if you can share them and make someone’s day sweeter, it’s a step in the right direction. PS: Black sesame panna cotta, Yves Camdeborde’s perfect sablés, and the galette des rois you have until the end of the month to make, perhaps with your own shortcut puff pastry. Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Black Sesame Sablés (Shortbread) Recipe Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes Makes about 50 small cookies. Ingredients 100 grams (1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons) black sesame butter/paste (look for it in natural food stores and Japanese markets; substitute any other natural nut butter) 100 grams (7 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened 80 grams (6 tablespoons) unrefined blond cane sugar 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 150 grams (5 1/3 ounces, about 1 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose wheat flour 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces, about 3/4 cup) rice flour (see note) Instructions In a mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sesame paste and butter. Add the sugar and salt and mix well. Stir in the flour until completely absorbed, without overworking the dough. Gather the dough into a ball without kneading. Divide it into 4 pieces and roll each into a log, about 3 cm (1 1/4") in diameter. Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You can freeze one or several of the logs; let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before using.) Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F) and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into round slices about 1 cm (1/3") thick. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet, giving them a little room to expand. Bake for 30 minutes, until set but not browned. Let stand for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep for a week in an airtight container at room temperature. Notes The rice flour, in combination with the wheat flour, gives the cookies a particularly successful, crumbly texture. If unavailable, use all wheat flour. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/cookies-small-cakes/black-sesame-sables-shortbread-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. The post Black Sesame Sablés (Shortbread) Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

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It all started with this photo on Gena’s Instagram feed. Gena is the author of the excellent blog The Full […]

The post Quick Nori Roll with Cucumber and Avocado Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! It all started with this photo on Gena’s Instagram feed. Gena is the author of the excellent blog The Full Helping, and she has long extolled the virtues of the vegetable nori roll as a quickly and easily assembled snack: her site offers almost a dozen examples, including this latest version. The process is not unlike that which leads to maki, but here you forgo the seasoned rice altogether — this saves time and effort, and also means you don’t have to plan ahead — in favor of fresh vegetables, lots of them. I was so inspired by that latest shot that I went out and got some cucumbers and sprouts the very next day to make my own, and I have been weaving variations on that theme about twice a week since then — that’s how enthused I am. Although Gena likes to apply a thick layer of some sort of spread — think hummus or cashew cheese — directly on the nori sheet, I start with the sliced cucumbers as I prefer my nori to stay as crisp as possible* — the drier, the crisper — and find it most pleasing to bite into the crunchy layer of cucumbers first. My Take on Nori Roll Having played around with various ingredients, I have now determined the foundation I like to build on (cucumber, avocado, sprouts, sesame), and will add whatever little things I have on hand — leftover chicken or fish, tofu, spread or dressing, crudités, greens, and herbs. I have a great fondness for the mango and jicama version I make as an affectionate nod to the maki served at Bob’s Kitchen. These make for a lovely item to add to the mix when we’re composing a lunch or dinner from sundry elements (see “leftovers night” in my Menu Planning Tips & Tricks). You could offer them as finger food as well, cut into maki-style slices, and I’ve been known to fix myself a nori roll as a refreshing afternoon treat, too. * For optimal texture, I like to eat the roll the moment it is made, but of course it’s fine to let it sit while you make the others, or if you’re packing them for lunch at the office or a picnic. Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Cucumber and Avocado Quick Nori Roll Recipe Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Makes 4 rolls. Ingredients 4 sheets nori seaweed (available from natural food stores and Japanese markets) 450 grams (1 pound) cucumbers, thinly sliced with a mandolin slicer (I don't peel my cucumbers; see note) toasted sesame seeds ground chili powder (optional) 1 ripe avocado, sliced into thin wedges 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) tofu, or cooked chicken, or fish (raw and super fresh, or cooked), cut into strips long-stem sprouts or sprouted seeds soy sauce, for serving Optional additions simple tahini sauce raw cashew cheese or other spread pink radishes, thinly sliced with a mandolin slicer large handful of small salad leaves, such as baby spinach or baby kale fresh herbs, especially shiso or cilantro 1/2 ripe mango, sliced into strips 1/2 small jicama, peeled and cut into strips Instructions Have all the ingredients ready and portioned out into four equal servings before you begin, and have a small bowl or glass of water close at hand. Place a sheet of nori on a clean and dry cutting board, shiny side facing down and longest edge facing you. Starting from the left edge, arrange the cucumber slices in overlapping rows on the nori, leaving a 3-cm (1-inch) margin of uncovered nori at right. Sprinkle with sesame and ground chili powder, if using. If using tahini sauce or cashew cheese, drizzle or smear over the cucumber now. If using sliced radishes or salad leaves, arrange in a single layer on top of the cucumber now. Arrange the bulkier fillings -- avocado, tofu, sprouts, herbs, mango, jicama -- in an even, vertical pattern, about 5 cm (2 inches) from the left edge. Rotate the cutting board by a quarter of a turn counter-clockwise so the uncovered strip of nori is furthest from you. Using both hands, start rolling the sheet of nori from the edge closest to you, folding it up and over the fillings, then rolling it snugly away from you (see note). Just as you're about to reach the uncovered strip of nori at the end, dip your fingertips in the bowl of water and dab the nori lightly so it will stick. Set aside, seam side down, and repeat with the remaining ingredients to make three more rolls. Slice into halves or thick slices using a sharp chef knife. Serve with soy sauce for dipping. Notes The exact variety of cucumber matters little for this recipe. What's more important is to pick smaller cucumbers that feel heavy for their size and are nice and firm throughout -- older cucumbers start shriveling up from the tips. Before slicing any cucumber, give it a taste to make sure it's not bitter. If it is, it will probably be more palatable peeled. I find it unnecessary to use a sushi-rolling mat here. Just use both your hands with your fingers splayed out to cover the width of the roll; you'll quickly get the hang of it. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/vegetables-grains/cucumber-and-avocado-quick-nori-roll-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. This post was first published in May 2014 and updated in August 2017. The post Quick Nori Roll with Cucumber and Avocado Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

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These days our produce guy is all about tomatoes — big and small, ribbed, smooth, or pointy, red, yellow, green, […]

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Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! These days our produce guy is all about tomatoes — big and small, ribbed, smooth, or pointy, red, yellow, green, or pearl — and at the rate I’m going, I am bound to turn into one very soon. I’ve been making tomato salads and sandwiches like they’re going out of style, I’ve been making tomato tarts and tomato tarragon bread soup, and I’ve been mixing batches of gazpacho. (My two stand-by tomato tarts are the tomato tart tatin and the tomato mustard tart respectively featured in my first and second cookbooks. Get yourself a copy of Chocolate & Zucchini and of The French Market Cookbook today!) Another one of my top uses for this tomato bounty is shakshuka, a preparation that can be found in slightly different incarnations across North Africa and the Middle East. My first encounter with it was in Janna Gur’s excellent Book of New Israeli Food, which I told you about here and here, and I have since become acquainted with the Tunisian version as well. A not-so-distant cousin of Provence’s ratatouille, Corsica’s pebronata, and the Basque piperade, shakshuka is most commonly a dish of tomatoes stewed with onions, bell peppers, and chili peppers. This forms a thickish sauce, in which eggs are cooked — either scrambled or (my preference) undisturbed so they’re halfway between poached and sunny side up. It is a simple, family-style dish that is quickly assembled, and highly flexible. You can: – add other vegetables, especially zucchini or eggplant that you’ll cook in the sauce; artichoke hearts, drained from a jar; and diced potatoes, which you should boil beforehand, – substitute quality canned tuna or merguez (spicy beef sausages) for the eggs, – garnish the dish with black olives and parsley or cilantro, as I like to do, or serve it plain, – serve the sauce with lamb skewers or other grilled meats (just not pork, for cultural consistency), – freeze the sauce for later use: think how thrilling it will be to eat shakshuka in November! Some recipes call for roasting the bell peppers first, which is good if you find them hard to digest, but I don’t think anyone wants to fire up the oven more than strictly necessary when it’s hot out. Others suggest you peel the tomatoes, but it seems unnecessarily fussy to me. If your spice rack boasts a Moroccan spice mix, such as ras el hanout, now would be a good time to use it, in place of the separate spices (cumin, caraway, paprika, turmeric, and cinnamon) I’ve included. And if you don’t have a mix, and you don’t have all the spices listed either, don’t worry about it too much and just use what you have. Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Shakshouka Recipe Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time: 55 minutes Serves 3 to 4. Ingredients olive oil 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 200 grams (7 ounces) onions, thinly sliced 200 grams (7 ounces) bell peppers (2 small or 1 large; I like green for the color contrast), seeded and thinly sliced 1 small chili pepper (optional; ground chili powder or harissa may be substituted to taste), thinly sliced (keep the seeds if you like it hot, remove them otherwise) 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon cumin (whole seeds or ground) 1 teaspoon caraway seeds 1 teaspoon paprika (sweet or hot, smoked or not) 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 kilogram ripe tomatoes, cut into big chunks (out of season, you can substitute 800 grams/28 ounces jarred or canned whole tomatoes; if canned, pick a brand with no BPA in the lining) 6 to 8 fresh eggs the leaves from a few stems of fresh parsley or cilantro 16 Greek-style black olives, pitted and roughly chopped freshly ground black pepper good crusty bread, for serving Instructions Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic, onions, bell peppers, and chili pepper if using. Stir and cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the spices (cumin to cinnamon), stir well, and cook for a minute until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, stir, and simmer uncovered over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until all the ingredients have melded together, the excess juices from the tomatoes have evaporated, and you're left with a thickish sauce -- exact timing will depend on how juicy your tomatoes are, but expect around 20 minutes of simmering. Taste and adjust the seasoning. (The recipe can be made in advance until this point. Let cool, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate; reheat in the skillet before using. The sauce may also be frozen.) Make sure the sauce is quite hot before you add in the eggs. Depending on the number of guests, form 6 to 8 shallow wells in the sauce, and break an egg into each. Some of the whites will spill over to the next wells and that's fine. Cook over medium heat without disturbing until the whites are set to your liking. You can cover the pan to speed up the cooking. (Alternatively, if cooking for one, you can heat up a single serving of the sauce in a small skillet, as pictured.) Sprinkle with parsley, olives, and pepper, and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Serve immediately, using a spatula to lift the eggs without breaking the yolks, with bread for mopping up the juices. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/vegetables-grains/shakshuka-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. This post was first published in August 2013 and updated in July 2017. The post Shakshuka Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

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This easy recipe for doenjang glazed eggplant is a wonderful first foray into Korean cooking. For years now I’ve been […]

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Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! This easy recipe for doenjang glazed eggplant is a wonderful first foray into Korean cooking. For years now I’ve been contemplating Korean cuisine with equal parts excitement and trepidation. I’ve been going out to Korean restaurants, noting how vibrant the flavors and how nuanced the preparations, but I haven’t done very much at home. Regular batches of homemade kimchi, yes, and kimchi fried rice, but that’s about it — until I received a review copy of Judy Joo’s Korean Food Made Simple. Judy Joo is a Korean-American chef with a few restaurants and television shows to her name, and this is her first book, in which she shares 100+ recipes for Korean classics, plus a few East-meets-West creations. It is the most un-intimidating book of Korean cooking I’ve seen in a while. The section on Korean staples alone is worth memorizing, and the recipes all feel very approachable. I look forward to tackling the noodles with black bean sauce (jjajangmyun), the roasted pork belly lettuce wraps (bossam), and the caramel doenjang ice cream, to name just a few. But as a lover of all things eggplant, the first recipe I did try was for doenjang glazed aubergines, a Korean take on the Japanese classic nasu dengaku. Instead of using miso paste, this recipe calls for the Korean equivalent, doenjang, a fermented soybean paste that is dark brown, richly flavored, and coarser than your average miso. (You should be able to find it at your local Asian market, and you can substitute red miso if that’s easier to find.) The glaze is very quick to put together, and then you simply brush it onto halved and roasted eggplant, before broiling for a few minutes, until lightly caramelized. Sprinkled with sesame and scallions, presented warm or at room temperature, it is a beautiful side to go with grilled chicken or lamb skewers. And served over steamed white rice, it makes for a fabulous vegan lunch, one you can take to the office or to the nearest park bench for a picnic date with yourself (because you’re totally missing out if you don’t have those). Me, my collapsible rain boots and my lunch container, eating eggplant at the park. PS: My favorite Korean spots in Paris are Korean supermarket K-Mart (6 rue Sainte-Anne in the 1st), and Korean restaurants Sobane (5 rue de la Tour d’Auvergne in the 9th, and 64 rue d’Hauteville in the 10th), Ssam (in the 10th), and L’Arbre de Sel (138 rue de Vaugirard in the 15th). I have been steeply disappointed by Mandoobar, but I wanted to love it so much I might give it another chance, and I’ve yet to try the famed Korean fried chicken at Hero. PPS: If you read French, you have got to check this out! Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Doenjang Glazed Eggplant Recipe Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes Serves 4. Ingredients 4 medium eggplants Olive oil, for brushing 3 spring onions, thinly sliced Sesame seeds, for serving Steamed rice, for serving For the doenjang glaze: 125 grams (4 1/2 ounces, about 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons) doenjang (Korean soybean paste, available at Korean markets; substitute red miso) 50 grams (3 level tablespoons) honey 2 tablespoons soy sauce (I use tamari) 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil 5 cloves garlic, germ removed, finely chopped Instructions Put the doenjang glaze ingredients (doenjang, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic) in a medium bowl, and stir well to combine. (This can be prepared a couple of days in advance; keep in an airtight container in the fridge.) Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise, and cut criss-cross slits in the flesh without cutting through to the skin. Brush the cut side with a little oil. Arrange the eggplants, cut side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on size, until the flesh is cooked through and very tender. Flip the eggplants so the flesh side faces up. Brush with the doenjang glaze (you won't need all of it, see note), and place under the broiler of the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, until the glaze starts to caramelize. (Watch closely so it doesn't burn.) Sprinkle with spring onions and sesame, and serve over steamed rice. (For eating with chopsticks or a fork, cut the eggplant into bite-size pieces with kitchen shears.) Notes Adapted from Judy Joo's book Korean Food Made Simple. The leftover doenjang sauce can be used as a marinade for chicken, lamb, tofu, or as a sauce in these quick nori rolls. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/vegetables-grains/doenjang-glazed-eggplant-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. The post Doenjang Glazed Eggplant Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

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I will own up to it right then and there: I am an inveterate collector of pasta. Guilty as charged. […]

The post Stuffed Lumaconi with Butternut Squash and Chestnuts Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! I will own up to it right then and there: I am an inveterate collector of pasta. Guilty as charged. In fine food shops and Italian markets, I love to study the different shapes and imagine which will lend themselves to smooth sauces or chunky ones. I love their names (rooster’s crests, radiators, little ears, thimbles), the traditional packaging, and the fact that, for just a few euros, I can treat myself to a package of something novel — not to mention the promise of an easy meal. Before I had children, I had to rein in my purchases, as my kitchen cabinets overflowed faster that Maxence and I actually ate pasta. But with two young boys who would eat it at every meal if I let them — their dream breakfast is cold leftover pasta, a recessive trait for sure — I am free to buy whatever I please, knowing I will easily find a use for it. And I recently fell hard for a package of lumaconi, those large snail-shaped pasta sold in big bulging packages that scream “Buy me, I’m special!” Lumaconi are the kind of pasta whose life pursuit is to be stuffed with a sauce and gratinéed in the oven for an immensely satisfying vegetarian main dish, or a festive side to a roast bird. And as the holidays approach, I thought I would suggest a simple, seasonal sauce of roasted butternut squash and chestnuts. You sprinkle the whole thing with cheese so it will brown nicely… … and you squeeze lemon juice over the top just before serving. You end up with a golden and appetizing dish that boasts al dente pasta, a silky sauce that sticks to the ribbed sides of the lumaconi, little pockets of melty cheese with chestnut bits, and a top layer that is toasted and crunchy and irresistible. (Keep an eye on the little cousins who may be tempted to eat just the top.) It’s a recipe that is wowing but easy to make — the technique is straightforward, and many of the steps can be made in advance — and easy to live with — it’s lovely at room temperature, and almost tastes better reheated. Grating cheese with a microplane zester. Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Stuffed Lumaconi with Butternut and Chestnuts Recipe Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Serves 4. Ingredients 1 small butternut squash or other firm-flesh winter squash, about 800 grams (1 3/4 pounds), seeds and fibers removed, flesh cubed (no need to peel if organic) Olive oil Fine sea salt 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) cooked peeled chestnuts from a jar, chopped 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped 1 organic lemon Coarse sea salt 250 grams (9 ounces) uncooked lumaconi (large snail-shaped pasta, such as these) 150 grams (1 1/2 cups) freshly grated cheese, such as Comté or Parmesan Instructions First, prepare the filling. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). On a rimmed baking sheet, arrange the butternut in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Mix with your hands to coat well. Insert in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, until tender. Process in a blender or food mill until smooth. This can be prepared up to a day ahead, or even frozen. Thaw before using. Measure 500 grams (2 cups) of the butternut purée into a medium mixing bowl (reserve the remaining purée for another use). Add the chestnuts, parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Grate the zest of the lemon finely into the bowl and mix thoroughly. Next, cook the pasta. In a large saucepan, bring water to the boil with some coarse salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Add the lumaconi and boil until just shy of al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, return to the saucepan, drizzle with olive oil, and shake to coat so they won't stick to one another as you work. Assemble and bake. Grease a round 25-cm (10-inch) baking dish or cast-iron pan with olive oil. Increase the oven temperature to 220°C (425°F). Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each lumaconi, and arrange in the prepared dish, snugly but in a single layer. When you're done, dot the top of the lumaconi with any remaining sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes, until the top is browned in places. Squeeze some lemon juice over the top and serve, with a lightly dressed green salad, or as a side to roast chicken. Notes If you have access to high-quality, ready-made puréed winter squash, you can use that in a pinch. This recipe can be made with other kinds of large, stuffable pasta, such as tube pasta or conchiglioni. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/pasta/stuffed-lumaconi-butternut-chestnuts-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. The post Stuffed Lumaconi with Butternut Squash and Chestnuts Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

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After years of whizzing all of my soups to liquid velvet, I have recently and suddenly become a chunky soup […]

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Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! After years of whizzing all of my soups to liquid velvet, I have recently and suddenly become a chunky soup convert. This change of preference happened overnight, and I don’t know what prompted it, but ever since the beginning of the fall and the first batches of the season, I can’t think of a more desirable soup format than cubes, coins, and ribbons of vegetables intermingling in a broth. There’s chew and slurp, and the combination of the two provides a greater satisfaction than one or the other. A few things to keep in mind when preparing that type of soup: first, the vegetables need to be cut into even sizes and shapes, so they’ll form a coherent ensemble in the bowl. This is of less concern when you’re preparing a mixed soup, but here you have to imagine that the pieces you add in will essentially remain the same when cooked, so you want smaller than bite-sized morsels. Second, you’ll get best results if the ingredient mix you use includes one that’ll give body to the soup, and by that I mean enough starch that the broth has substance, rather than feel watery. A small amount of floury potatoes or split peas works well. Third, if you find yourself in a position to add a sprinkle of fresh herbs — leaves or blossoms — at the surface of the bowls, the soup will light up and love you for it. Nuts are a fine topping, too, and if you happen to have a colossal supply of walnuts, you may agree that they’re very much a one-nut-fits-all for autumn soups. My current favorite version, which I’ve been making weekly for the past month, is this chunky pumpkin soup: it involves pumpkin (now that’s a surprise), shallots, potatoes, and the greens from Swiss chard or a bunch of young turnips. Here are the tricks that make it, in my humble opinion, really really good: one, I use a mix of floury and waxy potatoes, so the former thicken the soup while the latter provide little cubes of potato flesh to bite into. And two, when the soup is cooked, I lace it with a good spoonful of harissa, the North African purée of hot chilies and garlic, and this gives it a one-two punch of warmth and spiciness. Like all soup recipes, this one may be configured to fit your preference and the ambiant mood in your vegetable drawer: just last week, I included the stem of a head of broccoli leftover from making a broccoli salad (please tell me you don’t throw these out), and two weeks before that, I’d added white radishes, finely sliced to the point of transparency, and scattered at the surface like rice paper confetti. ~~~ If you’re celebrating Thankgiving this Thursday and are still trying to decide what to make, this soup could be a good, easy option. I can also suggest the following recipes: ~ Carrot and rosemary mini-scones, ~ Mâche salad with endives and beets, ~ Sunchoke soup with bacon, ~ Brussels sprouts with onions and squash seeds, ~ Saffron-roasted cauliflower, ~ Swiss chard gratin with vegan bechamel, ~ Gratin dauphinois (potato gratin), ~ Carrot and ginger quickie pickle, ~ Banana pecan cake with maple glaze, ~ Quince and almond cake, ~ Brown butter spiced crisp. Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Chunky Pumpkin Soup Recipe Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes Serves 6 Ingredients 3 medium onions or large shallots, finely minced 2 teaspoons cumin seeds one big wedge pumpkin, about 1.5 kilos (3 1/3 pounds), seeded, peeled and diced 4 small or 2 medium potatoes, ideally half waxy and half floury, scrubbed (I don't peel them) and diced vegetable or chicken stock, ideally homemade the greens from 2-3 stalks of Swiss chard or the tops from a bunch of turnips, finely minced 1 tablespoon harissa, or to taste cilantro blossoms or leaves, for garnish walnuts, shelled and crumbled, for garnish (optional) vegetable oil salt Instructions Heat a good drizzle of oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. Add the cumin seeds and cook for another minute or two, until fragrant. Add the pumpkin and potatoes, sprinkle with salt, and add stock to cover the vegetables (top up with water if necessary). Cover, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and the pumpkin is soft. Remove the soup from the heat, and mash it just a little with the wooden spoon so you have a good mix of textures. Dissolve the harissa in a spoonful of the cooking liquids in a small bowl, and stir it into the soup. Add the minced greens and stir them in; they will cook quickly in the hot liquid. Taste, adjust the seasoning and heat, then serve with a sprinkle of cilantro blossoms or leaves, and crumbled walnuts, if you have them. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/soups/chunky-pumpkin-soup-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. The post Chunky Pumpkin Soup Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

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I love the bulk section at my local organic store. I love that it allows me to cut down on […]

The post Soy Sauce Roasted Cashews Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook! I love the bulk section at my local organic store. I love that it allows me to cut down on the packaging, as I strive to bring back and reuse the same paper bags until they give out in exhaustion. I love that I pay less for the exact same products or ingredients, and I love that it gives me an opportunity to purchase sample-size amounts of new foods without committing to a whole package. This is how I recently got ahold of some shoyu roasted cashews from Jean Hervé — an all-around fantastic brand for nut butters — that proved all kinds of good, crunchy and toasty and salty but not overly so. I found myself reaching for small handfuls that soon turned into bigger ones while preparing dinner, and sprinkling them over my lunch salads as well, and soon enough my sample was gone. Of course I could have just gone out and bought more — oh, how I love pulling down on those levers! too! — but when I compared the price of plain cashews with the soy sauce roasted ones, I calculated that they were charging 30% more for the soy sauce marinating and the roasting, which seemed like steps I could very well accomplish myself. And it was indeed a most straightforward process: you simply pour soy sauce over the cashews, and let them soak it in overnight before roasting in the oven, where the cashews will crisp up as the soy sauce dries up and caramelizes. These you can nibble on with a pre-dinner drink — I like to present them on the adorable mini cutting boards that Earlywood now makes — or snack on during the day (word of warning: very. hard. to stop.), or sprinkle over your salads, or package up and present as a low-effort but well-received edible gift. Mini cutting board from Earlywood. Have you tried this? Share your pics on Instagram! Please tag your pictures with #cnzrecipes. I'll share my favorites! Print Soy Sauce Roasted Cashews Prep Time: 1 minute Cook Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 12 hours Makes 2 cups. Ingredients 300 grams (2 cups) unroasted, unsalted cashews 2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce (use gluten-free tamari if gluten is an issue) Instructions In a medium container with a tight-fitting lid, combine the cashews and soy sauce. Stir well to coat. Close the container and let rest on the counter until the next day, shaking the container every once in a while so the cashews absorb the sauce evenly. The next day, the cashews should have soaked it all up. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Arrange the cashews in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the cashews are golden brown. Let cool completely before serving. These cashews keep for a month in an airtight container at cool room temperature. 3.1 https://cnz.to/recipes/appetizers/soy-sauce-roasted-cashews-recipe/ Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier. The post Soy Sauce Roasted Cashews Recipe appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes.

Here is a salad we made for my sister's birthday. It's packed with flavor and perfectly combines crunchy (lettuce, nuts, cucumber) with creamy (tahini and roasted vegetables). A salad that is more than a salad.

Here is a salad we made for my sister's birthday. It's packed with flavor and perfectly combines crunchy (lettuce, nuts, cucumber) with creamy (tahini and roasted vegetables). A salad that is more than a salad.

Here is a great weeknight dinner that comes together on the stove in just under 20 minutes. Soft, sticky and flavor-packed aubergine meets crunchy broccoli and earthy noodles. Heaven in a bowl.

Here is a great weeknight dinner that comes together on the stove in just under 20 minutes. Soft, sticky and flavor-packed aubergine meets crunchy broccoli and earthy noodles. Heaven in a bowl.

This saffron and cinnamon studded grain salad with roasted roots, herbs, pomegranates and nuts is perfect for the holidays + Christmas Recipe Roundup!

This saffron and cinnamon studded grain salad with roasted roots, herbs, pomegranates and nuts is perfect for the holidays + Christmas Recipe Roundup!

These cookies from Aran Goyoaga new cookbook are naturally gluten-free with a delicious hint of fennel. We also made them vegan. Try the cookies and read our conversation with Aran.

These cookies from Aran Goyoaga new cookbook are naturally gluten-free with a delicious hint of fennel. We also made them vegan. Try the cookies and read our conversation with Aran.

This is an untraditional but delicious take on Shakshuka with a sweet potato base and crunchy roasted sweet potato skin on top. The recipe is from the new book Shelf Love from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen.

This is an untraditional but delicious take on Shakshuka with a sweet potato base and crunchy roasted sweet potato skin on top. The recipe is from the new book Shelf Love from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen.

The star of this Vegan Caesar Salad is the oyster mushrooms that we sear using a special pressing method that makes it umami-rich and crunchy on the outside while juicy and flavor-packed inside.

The star of this Vegan Caesar Salad is the oyster mushrooms that we sear using a special pressing method that makes it umami-rich and crunchy on the outside while juicy and flavor-packed inside.

This is a love letter to Swedish summer – to walking barefoot, swimming in lakes, eating strawberries every day, making potato sandwiches and cooking a delicious zucchini soup with lots of toppings.

This is a love letter to Swedish summer – to walking barefoot, swimming in lakes, eating strawberries every day, making potato sandwiches and cooking a delicious zucchini soup with lots of toppings.

We just created the perfect combination of an Italian cheesecake and a soft crumb almond cake. With creamy ricotta, a hint of polenta and an upside-down lemon surprise. It's a real treat!

We just created the perfect combination of an Italian cheesecake and a soft crumb almond cake. With creamy ricotta, a hint of polenta and an upside-down lemon surprise. It's a real treat!

Here is a stunning but simple citrus and avocado salad to bid farewell to winter. And a Big Love list with links to things we like.

Here is a stunning but simple citrus and avocado salad to bid farewell to winter. And a Big Love list with links to things we like.

Everybody loves a quick and comforting pasta recipe. Here is how to make the creamiest kale pasta you've ever tried. You only 15 minutes, a few ingredients, a sauce pan and a blender!

Everybody loves a quick and comforting pasta recipe. Here is how to make the creamiest kale pasta you've ever tried. You only 15 minutes, a few ingredients, a sauce pan and a blender!

For the past few decades, the national spotlight has been on the Carolinas and Texas. But the most influential barbecue town may just be Kansas City.

Shai magnan, infused with spices and combined with sugar and caramelized milk, can be made just how you like it.

Our recipe tester called one of them “miraculous.”

As several of the city’s classic Black-owned restaurants close, some historians worry about the passing of a beloved tradition.

The pop star name dropped the storied Hollywood restaurant on her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and the restaurant confirmed she is a customer. But which booth does she prefer?

Three years ago, E.J. Lagasse took over his father’s New Orleans flagship restaurant and made it an enchanting tasting-menu experience.

It looks shiny and new on social media, but smoked salmon has been part of Indigenous tradition for centuries.

Paired with a persimmon salad and followed by a plum-cardamom upside-down cake, this vibrant David Tanis menu is one for the ages.

Too many wine lists cater solely to the wealthy, but these spots in New York City offer terrific values at all points along the price scale.

Washington watering holes and restaurants are showing solidarity and seizing an opportunity to draw in out-of-work government employees.

Use this guide to plan any type of gathering and start with this effortless but stunning fall menu.

The restaurant, a collaboration between the movie studio and the Frenchette chefs, is in a 100-year-old West Village theater.

As in, the soups and stews I must make, and make in large quantities, now that it’s fall.

Naz Deravian’s khorak-e loobia sabz is just the thing to ease us into autumn.

Nashville-worthy hot chicken, avant-garde bánh mì and lonche bañado straight from Guadalajara.

Or smashed olives with lots of salmon — either way, Dan Pelosi’s super easy dish is ready to party.

Sue Li shows you how with her smart recipes for classic Italian meatballs, chicken meatballs with yogurt sauce and lion’s head meatballs.

He led his parents’ appetizing store, Zabar’s, for more than 70 years, turning it into an institution synonymous with New York.

Put Andy Baraghani’s chile-oil eggs on anything — toast, pasta, beans, yogurt, grains, greens — for an instant hit of protein and flavor.

A confident sear on the florets adds deep, caramelized notes to this complexly flavored (but easy to make) soup.

And more Weeknight 100 hits, because the days are getting both shorter and busier.

And this reader-favorite slow cooker chili is ready when you are.

These three pumpkin treats — chewy chocolate chip bars, maple-scented cornbread and a showstopping layer cake — let the gourd’s sweetness shine.

Asian Plant-Based Deliciousness

Do you have 15 minutes? If yes, then this easy saucy tofu is for you! It’s super simple to make with only a few ingredients on hand. You’ll have a delicious weeknight dinner in no time. 🙂  I’m a big tofu fan – soft, medium firm, and firm, all the textures I love. While there...

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Do you have 15 minutes? If yes, then this easy saucy tofu is for you! It’s super simple to make with only a few ingredients on hand. You’ll have a delicious weeknight dinner in no time. I’m a big tofu fan – soft, medium firm, and firm, all the textures I love. While there are many ways to prepare tofu, I always look for a simple one especially when I’m in a time crunch. This easy saucy tofu dish packs with flavor yet are so simple with only a few ingredients. Win-win for me. Another win is you only need one wok or pan to make this dish. I have been so blessed with all the fresh tofu that I can get from the market here in Chengdu. Each stall sells a variety of soybean products including assorted tofu, tofu skin, and fried tofu puffs. The two main ingredients here are – tofu (medium or firm) and large green onions or scallions with lots of white parts. The white part lends a great aroma to the tofu that brings out a tad of sweetness. Then, the smaller or younger ones with more green parts are used for garnish. The sauce is as simple as vegan oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, and water which you will mix together with the chopped white parts of the scallions. Note: Because I’m using both the white and green parts of the green onions, I’m referring to them as scallions to reduce confusion. Another tip that I love about this dish that I learned from the ‘Little Red Book’ is to sprinkle some salt on a heated wok to prevent tofu from sticking to it. You can definitely skip this step when a non-stick pan is used. Easy Scallion (Green onion) Tofu step-by-step First, press a block of firm tofu with a towel to remove moisture. If using medium-firm tofu, lightly pat the block instead due to the softer texture. Also, medium-firm tofu will release more liquid so it will splash more during cooking. Next, clean the scallions and slice the white part into chunks and place them in a bowl. Slice the green parts into tiny ‘coins’ for garnish. The same goes for the chili. You may skip the chili for less heat. In the same bowl with white scallion parts, add vegan oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, and water and stir to combine. For a darker sauce, feel free to add a little dark soy sauce to the mix. Now, heat a wok or non-stick pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil (I used avocado oil), less for non-stick pan. Sprinkle the heated wok with salt. Slowly slide in the tofu. Use a spatula or spoon to cut the tofu into large chunks. Pan-fry until slightly golden, flipping only after a thin crust is formed. Pour in the sauce and gently toss to combine. Taste test and adjust saltiness with more soy sauce if needed or additional water for a saucier dish. Garnish with green scallion parts and chili, then give it a final toss. Serve immediately with rice. Other tofu dishes to try Lemongrass Tofu Teriyaki tofu balls Vegan tofu salmon Vegan unagi made from tofu and potato This easy scallion (green onion) saucy tofu is VEGAN a perfect one pot meal quick to make easy to prepare delicious to eat a great way for meal prep made with minimal ingredients If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Easy Saucy Tofu in 15 minutes Look no further for a quick and easy saucy tofu that you can make in one pot without a fuss. It's flavorful and a perfect dish with a bowl of rice for your weeknight dinner! 5 from 6 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Main Course Cuisine: Asian, Chinese Keyword: 15-minute, tofu Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes Servings: 2 Author: woonheng Ingredients 300 g firm tofu pressed 2 large scallions/green onions 1 red chili skip for no heat Cooking oil Salt to prevent tofu from sticking to the wok Sauce 1 tablespoon vegan oyster sauce 1 tablespoon soy sauce plus more ½ teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch ¾ cup of water Instructions Separate the white and green parts of the scallions then cut the white into bite-size chunks. For the green parts, I sliced them into tiny ‘coins’ for garnish. Same goes with the chili. Heat a large wok over medium heat and add 2 heaping tablespoons oil (you may use less for non-stick pan). Slowly slide in the tofu. Use a spatula or spoon and cut up tofu into chunks. Let each side pan fry until slightly golden where tofu can hold their shape. Tip – only flip the tofu once a crust is formed. Meanwhile, in the bowl with white scallions part, stir together vegan oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch with water until well combined. When tofu is done, add the sauce, and gently toss to combine. Let it simmer for about 30 seconds until flavors meld, with a few toss in between to prevent tofu from sticking. Taste test and adjust saltiness with more soy sauce if needed or additional water for a saucier dish. Garnish with green parts of scallions and chili and give it a final toss. Serve immediately with a bowl of rice. Video Notes When using a non-stick pan, you may skip salting the pan It’s best to flip the tofu once a thin crust is formed to prevent breaking the tofu into tiny pieces If there are no large scallions with lots of white parts available, you may sub with leek and adjust the sugar down, if preferred. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post 1-pot Easy Scallion (Green Onion) Saucy Tofu in 15 minute appeared first on WoonHeng.

This peanut sprouts stir fry is one of my favorite quick dishes to make when they are in season. Have you ever tried peanut sprouts? I’m a big fan of mung bean, soybean, and pea sprouts for stir-fry dishes. So, when I first tried the peanut ones in Chengdu, I was surprised at how tasty...

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This peanut sprouts stir fry is one of my favorite quick dishes to make when they are in season. Have you ever tried peanut sprouts? I’m a big fan of mung bean, soybean, and pea sprouts for stir-fry dishes. So, when I first tried the peanut ones in Chengdu, I was surprised at how tasty and crunchy they were. Now that I find them easily at grocery stores here, it’s the best time to make a dish out of them. What does peanut sprout taste like? If you haven’t tried peanut sprouts before, please try them! They are also called longevity bud/sprout – 长寿芽 a great source of protein sweet nutty crunchy like jicama Since peanut sprouts are normally larger than mung bean or soybean, they do take longer in cooking. So, please adjust the water amount (more for a softer texture) and cooking time when making them. Also, I’ve seen others eat them raw but I haven’t tried them myself. Personally, I like them in stir fries because you don’t need much seasoning, all I added was light soy sauce and vinegar. Peanut Sprouts stir fry step-by-step First, prepare the aromatics – ginger, garlic, scallion, and dried chilis. I simply sliced them and removed the dried chilis’ seeds to reduce the heat. You can either use tofu skin or pan-fry some firm tofu for the dish. I used smoked tofu and cut them into strips. Next, clean peanut sprouts with water. Then, remove the peanut skin and trim off the end. If I get a larger stem, I’ll cut it into two parts. Now, heat a large wok or pan over medium heat with a tablespoon of oil. Sautè ginger and garlic until aromatic. Add the dried chili and give it a toss. Add the tofu strips and peanut sprouts, then stir fry for a minute or so to lightly pan-fry the sprouts. Season with light soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, and stir fry until the flavors meld. Since peanut sprouts have little moisture, I added 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer until they are as crisp as I like. Or you may cook them until they have no raw taste. For a softer texture, add more water and cook the sprouts until the texture that you like. Adjust the seasoning if preferred. Fold in the scallions, stir fry, and finally, drizzle toasted sesame oil before serving. Other stir-fry dishes to try Mung bean sprouts stir fry Bok choy stir fry Oyster mushroom stir fry Edamame mushroom stir fry This peanut sprouts stir fry is Easy to prepare Delicious to eat Quick meal – done in 15 minutes a great side dish protein packed If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng in your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! 15 minute peanut sprouts stir fry Have you try peanut sprouts before? If not, give this easy 15 minute peanut sprouts stir fry a try! The sprout is sweet, nutty, and crunchy that goes so well with rice or a dish by itself. 5 from 1 vote Print Pin Rate Course: Side Dish Cuisine: Asian, Chinese Keyword: 15-minute, Stirfry Cooking: 15 minutes minutes Servings: 2 Author: woonheng Ingredients 200 g peanut sprouts 1 tablespoon thinly sliced ginger 1 garlic clove sliced 3 dried chili seeds removed 100 g tofu (about ½ cup) used smoked tofu 2 stalks of scallions roughly chopped 1 tablespoon cooking oil used extra virgin 1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce ½ tablespoon Chinese black vinegar used Chinkiang, plus more to taste ½ cup of water plus more if needed Salt to taste if no soy sauce is used Toasted sesame oil for taste Instructions Rinse peanut sprouts with water a few times. Then, remove the skin and trim off the sprout end. You may cut each sprout into two parts if the stem is too long. Set aside. Prepare the aromatics. Thinly slice ginger and garlic. Then, with a pair of scissors, cut the dried chili into bite-sized pieces. I removed the seeds to reduce the heat. Heat a wok or non-stick pan with oil over medium-high heat. Stir fry ginger and garlic until aromatic, about a minute or so, then add dried chili. Toss a few times and add tofu strips. Add peanut sprouts, and stir fry for a minute or so to lightly char the sprouts. Peanut sprouts take a little longer to cook compared to mung bean and soybean due to the size. Season with soy sauce and vinegar. You may use salt, if preferred. Add water and let it simmer until the sprouts are crisp* to your likings. Add more water if you prefer a softer texture. Taste test and adjust the seasoning accordingly with more soy sauce or vinegar. Fold in the scallions, toss and drizzle in sesame oil before serving. Video Notes Please note the 15-minute is from stir-frying the dish. It will take a little longer if you need to pan-fry the tofu. Enjoy this delicious meal with rice or by itself. * Or you may cook the sprouts until they have no raw taste – adjust the water accordingly Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post Easy 15 minute Peanut Sprouts Stir-Fry 花生芽 appeared first on WoonHeng.

What is vegan yu xiang rou si – shredded pork? It translates to: Yu – Fish Xiang – Fragrance Rou – Meat, usually pork Si – shreds The original yu xiang dishes do not contain any fish but the combination of sauces and spices made them taste like that. I’ve dined at a few places...

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What is vegan yu xiang rou si – shredded pork? It translates to: Yu – Fish Xiang – Fragrance Rou – Meat, usually pork Si – shreds The original yu xiang dishes do not contain any fish but the combination of sauces and spices made them taste like that. I’ve dined at a few places here in Chengdu and one of the typical dishes on the menu is yu xiang rou si. So, I’ve chosen this as my first Sichuan dish to learn and make at home. Many vegetarian and vegan restaurants have really amazing meatless dishes that use whole foods as the base of their cooking. One ingredient I find here the most is MUSHROOMS which is perfect for today’s dish as the texture resembles meat the most. Vegan yu xiang rou si (shredded pork) step-by-step Step 1 – First, prepare the mushrooms. Clean the mushrooms with a brush then simply tear them into strips with your fingers. Or you can use a fork as a claw to shred them into strips. There are 3 ways to prepare the mushrooms: You can blanch them in boiling water for a minute or so, then drain and squeeze out all the liquid until ready to use. Massage with salt, and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes. Then rinse with cold to remove the excess salt and squeeze out the liquid until ready to use. The above two methods can really remove the ‘mushroom’s taste’ and make it more ready to absorb the sauces. I personally love the mushroom’s taste so I use the last method which is to simply pan fry the strips until they start to dry up. This method gives the mushrooms the meat strip’s texture that I love before tossing them with the sauce. Step 2 – Next, finely chopped ginger, garlic, and pickled chili. TIP #1 – ginger to garlic ratio is 1:3 and I used 1:2.5. I used a red vinegary-type pickled chili but you can use other spicy ones instead. If a spicy one is used, please increase the vinegar or sugar amount to balance out the heat. Then, prepare the pairing ingredients. I’m using fresh bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms (rehydrate if using the dried ones), and scallions. Step 3 – To me, the soul of this dish comes from the sauce. It’s savory and the vinegar adds a refreshing punch to it. To make the sauce, simply mix together soy sauce, dark soy sauce (for color), Chinese black vinegar, cooking wine, sugar, mushrooms seasoning, cornstarch, and water until well combined. Set aside. Step 4 – Heat a large wok with 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Add mushrooms and quickly toss until they are coated with oil. Cook until the mushrooms release their liquid, tossing regularly. Once the moisture has been released, mushrooms will start to shrink. Continue to cook until they are golden. TIP #2 – If using a non-stick pan, pan fry the mushrooms without oil until they release their moisture. Cook until they start to dry up and add a tablespoon of oil then continue to sauté until golden. Push the mushrooms to the side of the wok, add a little more oil and sauté ginger, garlic, and chili until you can’t smell the raw taste of the spices. Toss with the mushrooms until they are coated. Add bamboo shoots and wood ear mushrooms, stir fry for about 30 seconds or so to cook the wood ear mushrooms. Next, add chopped green onions, toss. Step 5 – Finally, swirl in the sauce and quickly stir fry everything together until well combined. The sauce will immediately bring all the mushrooms together which will give the dish a bright shine. Taste test and add more vinegar or soy sauce, if needed. I like to serve it immediately with a bowl of rice. Other king oyster mushrooms dishes to try Lemon Chick’n Roasted Chick’n Sesame Chick’n This Vegan Yu Xiang Rou Si (shredded pork) is Made from king oyster mushrooms Easy to prepare accompanied with a flavorful sauce – yu xiang (fish fragrant) without the fish best served with a bowl of rice quick to make – less than 30 minutes If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends Vegan Yu Xiang Rou Si (Shredded Pork) A very delicious and popular dish in Sichuan that I veganized using king oyster mushrooms. The sauce is absolutely fragrant and savory making it an appetizing dish for every day meal. 5 from 3 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Side Dish Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Sichuan Keyword: 30-minute Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes Total Time: 30 minutes minutes Servings: 2 Author: woonheng Ingredients 1½ pounds king oyster mushrooms 2 teaspoons minced ginger about ½ inch piece 1½ tablespoons minced garlic about 6 cloves 2 pickled chili sour, finely chopped (see notes) ½ cup fresh wood ear mushrooms sliced ½ cup fresh bamboo shoot sliced 3 stalks of green onions roughly chopped into 1-inch stick 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil used olive oil Yu Xiang Sauce 1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce plus more if needed 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar used Chin Kiang 1 tablespoon cooking wine ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce (optional) for color 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon mushrooms seasoning used granules 3 teaspoons cornstarch ½ cup water Instructions Clean mushrooms with a brush, then using your fingers, tear them into thin strips. Optionally, use a fork to shred them into strips. If dried wood ear mushrooms are used, rehydrate until soft and slice into strips. Mix yu xiang sauce in a bowl until well combined. Heat a large wok over medium heat with about 2 tablespoons of oil. Add mushrooms and stir fry until they start to release its moisture. Continue to cook for another 2 -3 minutes until they start to dry up (the amount of mushrooms should shrink to a little over half than you originally put in). Adjust the heat down if it browns too fast or up if it takes longer. Push the mushrooms to the side of the wok, then add ginger, garlic, pickled chili, adding more oil if needed. Sauté until you can’t smell the raw taste of ginger or garlic. Fold everything together and stir fry for a few seconds. Add the wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots and toss until wood ear mushrooms are fully cooked through. Fold in the chopped green onions. Pour in the sauce, and quickly toss for about a minute or so until all ingredients are coated. Taste test and add more soy sauce or vinegar accordingly. Serve immediately. Video Notes *Pickled chili – please see above on how it looks like. If you can’t find this, please substitute with other pickled chili and adjust the vinegar and sugar accordingly to balance the heat. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post How to make Vegan Yu Xiang Rou Si – Shredded Pork appeared first on WoonHeng.

This easy vegan zucchini pocket pie is filled with loads of zucchini and carrot that is wrapped inside a vegan store-bought scallion pancake – DELISH! Zucchini has a mild taste and can be used in savory or sweet dishes. If you have tried my other zucchini recipes, you’ll know I love to massage them with...

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This easy vegan zucchini pocket pie is filled with loads of zucchini and carrot that is wrapped inside a vegan store-bought scallion pancake – DELISH! Zucchini has a mild taste and can be used in savory or sweet dishes. If you have tried my other zucchini recipes, you’ll know I love to massage them with salt. This method seasons the veggies and allows you to add more volume (because it shrunk after you extract the moisture) to a dish at the same time. I came up with this recipe because I finally found the vegan scallion pancake from Trader Joe’s. While the pancake tastes really good by itself, I wanted to incorporate some veggies into it and make it a snack. It’s SOO Good, I can finish 2 by myself. The steps are easy and I tested 3 ways to cook them for you – pan-fry, bake, and air-fry. These vegan zucchini pocket pies are inspired by my Chinese Chive Pocket recipe. Oh, if you are not near a Trader Joe’s, you can still enjoy the scallion pancake from these recipes – Thai basil Zhua Bing or Shou Zhua scallion pancake. How to make vegan zucchini pocket pie Step 1: Prepare the filling First, reconstitute wood ear mushrooms in water (skip this step if using fresh ones). It took me about 30 to 45 minutes to get them fully hydrated depending on the size of the mushrooms. Then, slice them thinly. Next, using a grater, shred zucchini and carrot in a large bowl, separately. Massage each ingredient with salt and let them sit for about 15 minutes to draw out the moisture. Tip: You should see a small pool of water at the bottom of the bowl and the ingredients are tender. While waiting, soak dried mung bean vermicelli or fensi in hot water until softened, about 5-8 minutes. Snip it to make them shorter. When ready, place zucchini in a nut milk bag and wring out the excess liquid, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Repeat the same for carrots. Add cut-up mung bean vermicelli, mushrooms, and chopped green onions, then season with vegan oyster sauce, mushrooms seasoning, white pepper, and toasted black sesame oil. Taste and add a pinch of salt or soy sauce, if needed. Step 2: Assemble Since the store-bought cong you bing came in frozen, I place them on the countertop to soften them while I prepare the filling. Please do not thaw the pancake completely! It will be hard to roll out when it’s too soft and it will stick to the packaging that comes with it, making it really messy to assemble. Place one pancake along with the wraps on a working surface. Each pancake is stored in between two wraps, so I kept it this way. Using a rolling pin or glass jar, roll it into a larger circle, about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. If you find it hard to roll, use the rolling pin to press down the pancake to thin it out or thaw it for another 5 minutes. On the other hand, if it’s too soft, stick it back in the freezer to harden it. Remove the top wrap and place a mound of filling on one side of the pancake. Use the bottom wrap to lift the pancake up to create a half-moon pocket. Pinch to close all the openings. Gently flatten the pocket so it will cook evenly later. Continue with the rest of the ingredients until you get 5 pockets. Tip: Store the wrapped pocket in a freezer along with the wrap if you are not planning to consume them all. I normally placed it in an airtight container to avoid freezer burn taste. Step 3: Cook – 3 ways I have tried 3 ways to cook these pockets so you can choose which one is your favorite method. Method 1 – Bake Preheat oven to 400F. Place pockets on a greased baking pan. Spray or brush the top with oil. Bake for 15-18 minutes, flip and bake for another 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Serve as-is or dip with your favorite condiment. Method 2 – Pan fry Set a non-stick pan over medium heat and drizzle a little oil. Place pocket in and cook until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. If it browns too fast, please reduce the heat. Flip and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes. Push the pocket to the pan’s rim so all sides get cooked as well. Method 3 – Air fry Preheat air fryer to 390F for 3 minutes. Spray the inner basket with oil, place in the pocket. Brush or spray the top with oil. Air fry for 10 minutes until golden brown, flip in between if needed. Vegan zucchini pocket pie FAQ 1. Which method is the best way to cook these pocket pies? Personally, I like the pan-fried method the most because I can control the crispiness and color. I find that the pockets’ fragrance is at its maximum with this method. Air-fried or baked pockets are best served immediately as they will lose their crunch over time, making them a little chewier. 2. My shredded zucchini is still dry after 15 minutes in salt – why? Ah, this happened when they are not properly salted. Be sure to massage in the salt so all the shreds are coated with salt. 3. My filling is mushy and tearing the pancake up while I wrap it Be sure the filling is not too wet and all ingredients are cut small. If this is your first time making a pocket, pack it with less filling. 4. Storage tips – Store them right after you seal the pockets along with the wrapper that comes with it in an airtight container. Then, freeze until ready to use. When ready to eat, choose any methods above to cook them, no thawing is needed but increase the cooking time by 5-10 minutes. This vegan zucchini pocket pie is Easy to make Simple hack using store-bought cong you bing (scallion pancake) Filled with loads of vegetables Crispy on the outside and flavorful on the inside Best served hot Great for reheating – simply stick it in a toaster to warm it up Please check out other delicious recipes made with zucchini Vegan Dumpling Wrapper buns – made using store-bought dumpling wrapper Easy Tom Yum zoodles soup Sheng Jian Bao – pan fried steamed buns Vegan Zucchini Pocket Pie This vegan zucchini pocket pie is one of my favorite snacks to make. The filling of each pocket is loaded with zucchini, carrot, mushrooms, and mung bean vermicelli. The shortcut to this pastry is using store-bought cong you bing (scallion pancake) – easy peasy! 5 from 2 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Main Course, Snack Cuisine: Asian, Chinese Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes Total Time: 55 minutes minutes Servings: 5 Author: woonheng Ingredients 1 pound zucchini 2 small-sized carrot ½ cup dried wood ear mushrooms also known as black fungus 1 bunch vermicelli 50g optional, softened 3 stalks of scallions finely chopped ½ teaspoon of mushrooms seasoning plus more if needed ½ tablespoon vegan oyster sauce plus more if needed a few dashes of white pepper ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil salt to taste and more for salting 5 frozen scallion pancake used Trader Joe’s brand Instructions Prepare the filling Soak dried wood ear mushrooms in water until fully hydrated, then slice them into thin shreds. Shred zucchini and carrot into separate bowls. Massage zucchini with 1 teaspoon of salt and carrot with ½ teaspoon of salt. Let them sit for at least 15 minutes. Soak a bunch of dried mung bean vermicelli in hot water until soft, if using. Drain and snip it into smaller chunks. When ready, place zucchini in a nut milk bag and wring out the moisture. Repeat the same for carrots. Place all ingredients in a bowl along with chopped green onions. Season with vegan oyster sauce, mushroom seasoning, white pepper, and toasted sesame oil. Taste test and add more salt if needed. I added an extra ½ teaspoon. Mix all ingredients using a pair of chopsticks until well combined. Assemble the pockets Place a slightly thawed frozen pancake on a work surface. The pancake is in between two wraps, keep it this way. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pancake into a larger circle, about 10 to 12-inches in diameter. Remove the top wrap. Place a mound of filling on one side of the pancake. Lift the bottom wrap to meet the top. Pinch all the openings to get a half-moon pocket pie. Use a fork or your fingers to pleat to seal the openings completely. Slightly flattened the pocket pie so it will cook evenly later. Cook the pockets To bake, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Place pockets on a greased baking pan and spray or brush the top with oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, then flip and continue to bake for another 8 – 10 minutes until golden brown. Oven temperature varies, so please watch the pockets carefully during the last 5-10 minutes or so and adjust the heat accordingly. To pan fry, set a non-stick pan over medium heat and add a drizzle of oil. Place the pocket in and pan fry for about 10-12 minutes until golden. Flip and continue cooking. When both sides are golden, push the pocket to the rim of the pan to cook the sides of the pocket until all dough is fully cooked through. To air fry, preheat the air fryer to 390°F for 3 minutes. Spray the inner basket with oil. Place the pockets in and spray or brush the top with more oil. Air fry for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. You may turn once or twice in between so both sides cook evenly. [I have a small air fryer, so I could only fit in 2] Serve immediately. Video Notes 1. When cooking using any method, please watch the heat carefully, especially during the last 5-10 minutes. 2. I prefer to preheat the air fryer for an even heat distribution when cooking. 3. Some zucchini may contain lots of moisture, so please wring out as much liquid as possible as mushy filling will easily tear off the pocket when wrapping it. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post The Easy Vegan Zucchini Pocket Pie You Need Now appeared first on WoonHeng.

This vegan unagi made from eggplant is absolutely delicious and super drool-worthy! I’m a big fan of Chinese or Japanese eggplant because the texture is tender once cooked. If you are not a fan, you can try my Vegan Unagi made from tofu and potato. It tasted just as great! Vegan Unagi (Eggplant) Step-by-Step Step...

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This vegan unagi made from eggplant is absolutely delicious and super drool-worthy! I’m a big fan of Chinese or Japanese eggplant because the texture is tender once cooked. If you are not a fan, you can try my Vegan Unagi made from tofu and potato. It tasted just as great! Vegan Unagi (Eggplant) Step-by-Step Step 1: Prepare the eggplant There are a few ways to cook the eggplant (see tips below) and today, I’m using the steam-pan-fry method. I like the softer texture on the inside while keeping the skin intact which makes the flipping and basting easier during cooking. First, trim off the eggplant top, then cut it into logs of 2 or 3 depending on how long the eggplant is. I cut mine into two. Place them on a steamer safe plate and steam over high heat until tender, about 8-10 minutes. The time depends on how large your eggplant is. Once it’s cool enough to handle, slice the eggplant lengthwise in half so it opens up like a book, but do not cut it through (see video or picture). Repeat the same on the left and right to flatten the eggplant. Now, score the flesh vertically to create the mark. These marks will help increase the sauce absorption. Step 2: Make the sauce Using the same sauce as my Vegan Salmon Bowl, this sweet and savory baste is as simple as mixing together mirin, kombu dashi powder, soy sauce, and sweetener. If you can’t find instant kombu dashi, feel free to use kombu and mushroom to make the stock – please refer to my Miso Ramen. Alternatively, you may use this sauce from my other vegan unagi recipe, if you like. Note: I found the kombu dashi powder online at Amazon or WorldMarket (brand – Muso Vegan Umami Broth) or at Mitsuwa Marketplace. Step 3: Turn it into a vegan unagi bowl Next, it’s time to cook the beautiful eggplant that you’ve created. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat with a spoonful of oil. Carefully transfer the eggplant over to the hot pan, cut side down. Lightly pan-fry until slightly golden before flipping. This brown layer will prevent the flesh from tearing apart. Continue to cook the skin while basting the top with sauce. I used about 2.5 tablespoons for each eggplant. If the sauce starts overflowing from the flesh, use a spatula to push the sauce close to the skin. Once the skin is slightly brown, flip one more time so the flesh can sip all the remaining sauce from the pan. If you have extra sauce, you may reduce it and use it as a drizzle. Flip one more time if needed to ensure the skin is fully cooked through. Optional but highly recommended side – charred scallions! Simply place cleaned scallions on a heat-safe plate, add a drizzle of oil, and sprinkle with salt. Then, char using a hand torch. Similarly, you may broil or grill the seasoned scallions for similar results. To serve, place rice in a bowl, top with a square sheet of nori (highly recommended), then the vegan unagi along with the charred scallions. Drizzle with the extra sauce (optional) and garnish with sesame seeds. Other ways to prepare eggplant Trim off the top. Poke eggplant a few times using a fork. Wrap it tightly with foil. Bake at 450°F (232°C) until soft on the inside, which can take about 30-45 minutes depending on the size. Then, continue to step 3 above. Roast eggplant in an open fire until the skin blistered. Place it in a bag or wrap it with a towel to allow the heat to soften the skin. Peel off the skin and continue to step 3. This method creates a more fragile eggplant, so carefully flip it over during cooking. Pan-fry-steam – this method is another one of my favorites to prepare eggplant at home. Trim off the top and then slice the eggplant in half, horizontally. Score them diagonally, both ways to create a diamond shape. Heat a non-stick pan with a drizzle of oil. Place the eggplant in the hot pan, scored side down. Cover with a lid. The steam will slowly cook the eggplant until tender. Flip and cook the skin for another minute or so, adding a little bit more oil if needed. Continue to step 3. Other eggplant recipes to try Yu Xiang Qie Zi (Spicy Garlic Eggplant) Easy Dou Ban Jiang (Fermented bean sauce) Eggplant Stuffed Eggplant with Omnipork Air-fried eggplant with tomato This Vegan Unagi made from eggplant is Delicious Flavorful Easy to make one of the best ways to eat cook eggplant If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Vegan Unagi Bowl made from eggplant This vegan unagi is made from eggplant that has a tender texture on the inside that is basted in a delicious sweet and savory sauce. It's perfect when serving with a bowl of your favorite grains and I highly recommend a nori sheet for the extra seafoody taste. 4.95 from 17 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Main Course Cuisine: Asian, Japanese Keyword: Eggplant, veganunagi Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes Total Time: 30 minutes minutes Servings: 2 Author: woonheng Ingredients 1 pound Chinese or Japanese Eggplant A few stalks of scallions 1 sheet of nori cut into square to fit the bowl Sesame seeds Cooked rice or your favorite grains Cooking oil Sauce 3 tablespoons mirin ⅓ cup of hot water 1 teaspoon kombu dashi or kelp powder see notes 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 1 tablespoon maple syrup ½ teaspoon sugar US Customary – Metric Instructions In a medium bowl, whisk the mirin, hot water, kelp powder, light soy sauce, maple syrup, and until combined. Set aside. Trim off the eggplant top, then cut into 4 or 5-inch sections. Steam over high heat until tender, about 8-10 minutes. I used a bamboo steamer in this step. Once the eggplant is cooled down, use a sharp knife to cut it open like a book but be careful not to cut through the skin. Then, make another slit on the right, then left. Now, score the flesh to create a holder for the sauce. (See pictures above or video) Heat a non-stick pan with a drizzle of oil over medium heat. Place the eggplant in, cut side down. Pan-fry until golden brown before flipping. Slowly baste the flesh with sauce, one tablespoon at a time. I used about 2.5 tablespoons for each eggplant section. Then, flip one more time so the flesh is now at the bottom and allow it to absorb all the remaining sauce from the pan. You may have extra sauce left and this can be reduced further in a pan and used as drizzle. To serve, season scallions with oil and salt. Using a hand torch, char until golden brown and fragrant. To assemble, place cooked rice in a bowl, top with cut nori, then eggplant. Drizzle with the extra sauce (optional) and garnish with sesame seeds and charred scallions. Video Notes *If you can’t find kelp or kombu dashi powder, feel free to use homemade kombu dashi stock to replace the 1/3 cup of water. Leftover sauce can be reduced to serve as a drizzle or stored in a jar (refrigerated) for the next meal. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post How to make Vegan Unagi from eggplant appeared first on WoonHeng.

This vegan cheese potato bread captured my attention when I was searching for bread recipes on YouTube. It has garnered more than 50M+ views on YouTube – it looks so simple and is definitely very satisfying to watch. I recreated it vegan styled! If you are a potato lover like me, then you need to...

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This vegan cheese potato bread captured my attention when I was searching for bread recipes on YouTube. It has garnered more than 50M+ views on YouTube – it looks so simple and is definitely very satisfying to watch. I recreated it vegan styled! If you are a potato lover like me, then you need to give this recipe a try! The filling taste like mashed potatoes and the outer layer is thin and crispy. It’s like a crossover between quesadillas and bread – it’s TOO good! While the original recipe uses bread flour, mine uses all-purpose flour. The bread flour version is a little more crispy but the filling tastes great in both. My hubby likes the bread flour version and my kids prefer the latter. How to make Vegan Cheese Potato Bread Step 1: Prepare the dough The dough is super simple – all you need is to mix the ingredients together to form a soft dough. Because of the high water content, you can simply mix with a spatula then switch to your hand and knead it into a cohesive ball. Next, massage in the softened vegan butter and knead again until the butter blends in completely. I used a glove to help prevent sticking to my fingers. Once you get a cohesive ball, cover with a damp paper towel and lid, then, refrigerate it while you work on the filling. Step 2: Prepare the filling Clean the potato with a scrub. Poke a few holes using a fork. Add enough water to cover the potato and cook it until fork-tender, about 30-45 minutes. Next, cool the potato in an ice bath. Peel off the skin when you can handle it. Mash the potato and season with nutritional yeast, salt, chopped scallions, and a big heaping spoon of vegan mayo. Mix to combine, taste test, and adjust the saltiness accordingly. Step 3: Assemble Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Take out the dough from the refrigerator. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a thin large circle, about 12 to 14-inches, without breaking it apart. Shred some vegan cheese on top towards the middle. Then, top with the seasoned mashed potatoes and more vegan cheese, if needed. Lift the sides up and pinch to seal, just like how you seal a dumpling. Next, gently flatten the bread into 10 to 12 inches (depending on the size of your pan). Step 4: Cook and Serve Melt a tablespoon of vegan butter in a hot skillet. Place the bread in, seamed side down. Brush the top with melted vegan butter. Pan-fry over medium-low heat until deeply golden on both sides, flipping a few times. Cut into bite-sized pieces and serve warm! TIP: Please watch the heat carefully when pan-frying. If the bread browns too quickly, lower the heat. Also, it’s important to roll out the dough thinly to get an even brown layer overall. My taste verdict The filling tastes like a super savory mashed potato – so so good! Please note that my filling is a little different than the original recipe. The crunchy outer layer reminds me of quesadillas – so so good! Yes, I said that twice. When I took a bite, I couldn’t believe how tasty it was. The original recipe served it with honey but I ate mine as-is or served it with some chili oil. Other bread recipes to try: Curry Potato Buns Vegan Ikan Bilis (Anchovies) Bun – my favorite Malaysian street food Scallion Shao Bing This Vegan Cheese Potato Bread is inspired by the popular cheese potato bread that garnered 50M+ (at the time I tested this recipe) views on YouTube is easily customizable – feel free to add some mashed chickpeas to the mix as well is best served warm (right off from the pan) IS DELISH and TASTY! If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Vegan Cheese Potato Bread This vegan cheese potato bread has a delicious filling with a crispy outer layer. It's flavorful and made with just a few simple ingredients. 4.67 from 3 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Side Dish Cuisine: Asian Keyword: Asianbread Servings: 2 Author: woonheng Ingredients 120 g all-purpose flour ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp baking powder 75 g plant milk room temperature (used Oatly) 1 tablespoon vegan butter softened, plus more for cooking 1 medium-sized potato 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast salt to taste a handful of chopped green onions 1½ tablespoons vegan mayo vegan cheese as your heart desires Instructions Prepare the dough. Stir together flour, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Using a pair of chopsticks or spatula, stir the flour while adding the milk until incorporated. You may have dry spots of flour left in the bowl. Add the softened and use your hand to knead it into a soft dough. (Since this is a soft dough, I used a glove to prevent sticking). Cover the dough with a damp paper towel and cover the bowl with a lid. Refrigerate for about an hour or overnight. Prepare the filling. Clean a potato and punch a few holes with a fork. Place in a pot and cover with enough water. Boil until tender, about 30-45 minutes. Transfer the potato to an ice bath to cool down. Then, peel off the skin. Mash the potato in a bowl until no lumps appear. Season with nutritional yeast, salt (I used ¼ teaspoon), chopped scallions, and vegan mayo. Mix to combine. Taste test and season accordingly. Please note that some vegan cheese is saltier, so adjust the taste as needed. Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out into a large thin circle, about 12 to 14 inches in diameter. Shred about ½ cup of vegan cheese in the middle of the dough. Then, top with the seasoned mashed potatoes and more cheese if needed. Lift up the sides of the dough and start to pleat to seal towards the middle to close all the openings (see video). Then, gently flatten it using a rolling pin into a 10 to 12 inches diameter bread. To cook the bread, melt a tablespoon of butter in a hot skillet. Place the bread in, seamed side down. Brush the top with melted vegan butter. Pan-fry until each side is deeply golden, flipping a few times if necessary. Serve warm as-is or with a side of chili oil. Video Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post The 50M+ YouTube views Cheese Potato Bread is now vegan appeared first on WoonHeng.

This vegan spiral mantou, 馒头 (bun) or mantau (Cantonese) is made with simple pantry ingredients. I love to serve them plain or as a dessert with jam or savory with stuffed stir-fried veggies and protein. This recipe is inspired by – Tinrry Baking Mantou or mantau is a type of bun that is usually made...

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This vegan spiral mantou, 馒头 (bun) or mantau (Cantonese) is made with simple pantry ingredients. I love to serve them plain or as a dessert with jam or savory with stuffed stir-fried veggies and protein. This recipe is inspired by – Tinrry Baking Mantou or mantau is a type of bun that is usually made from plain flour, water, and yeast with a touch of sugar in most cases. The bun is usually a little denser compared to others. It’s one of the basic yet delicate bun recipes to learn. In Malaysia, we have pandan flavored mantou that is tiny and my mama would get them for breakfast. For the basic mantou recipe, please check this or my good friend, Wei’s blog. Today, I’m using a different method to create this spiral version that requires only one proofing, right before steaming. Please check out the how-to steps and tips below. Vegan Spiral Mantou (Bun) Step-by-Step Step 1: Prepare the dough First, place water in a large mixing bowl, then sprinkle instant yeast on top. Add sugar, then flour and oil. Fit a mixer with a paddle attachment. Using medium-low speed, combine all the ingredients together until there are no dry spots of flour left in the bowl. Stop the mixer and change to a hook attachment. [If you have a double spiral hook attachment, use that instead of changing from paddle to hook]. Knead over medium speed until a smooth dough forms, about 5 – 8 minutes. The dough should be smooth, soft to touch, and doesn’t stick to your hand [check video or picture] Divide into 2 equal portions. Cover and work with one dough at a time. Step 2: Roll out the dough To remove the air bubbles, first knead the dough again (see the below pictures). Then, fold it into a rectangle, and use the rolling pin to flatten it into a larger rectangle. Repeat this step 2 more times to get a smooth dough. Tip: Dust some flour between each roll so the dough can be lifted up easily. Roll into a large rectangle and cover to prevent the dough from drying out. Always place the smooth surface (white dough) at the bottom so when you roll it up, it will be on the outside. Next, work on the second dough. Poke a hole in the middle, add cocoa powder and dip your fingers with water. Knead the dough with your hand until all the cocoa powder is incorporated. Note: The dough may seem lighter in color but it will turn darker later. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, similar size to the first dough. Place the chocolate dough on top of the white. Then, roll it up tightly, like a swiss roll. Pinch the openings (the long part) to seal. Cut into 6 portions for larger or 8 for smaller buns (I used a serrated knife to get an even cut). Place each on parchment paper. Transfer to a bamboo steamer, 1 to 2-inches apart. Now, add enough water to the pot and warm it to about 98.6°F (37°C). I tested it with my palm – it should feel just right without any heat. Place the bamboo steamer on top and proof the bun for about 30-35 minutes. Two ways to check the bun readiness Size – Once the bun size is proof to 1.5X than the original size, it’s ready. This method is harder to gauge but aim to look for a fuller bun when checking. Touch (my favorite method) – Gently poke the bun’s surface with your finger. If the surface slowly bounces back, then it’s ready. The bun should feel light and soft. Step 3: Steam the bun Slide a fork or chopstick in between the lid and bamboo steamer to create a slight gap. Set the steamer to medium heat. Steam for 18 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the buns sit in the steamer for another 5 minutes before removing. Serve warm with butter or jam. Vegan Spiral Mantou Cooking Tips Folding method – When rolling the dough, I aim to fold it into a rectangle. This is the easiest way to remove air bubbles while minimizing the flattening buns after steaming. To start, roll the dough into a long oval shape. Fold the sides to the middle, followed by the top and bottom to form a long rectangle. Then, use the rolling pin to press and flatten it into a rectangle. Repeat the steps 2 more times. This is a great way to roll it into a rectangle later. Dust flour on the work surface – You may find that the dough keeps shrinking back or sticking to the surface. Dust the surface with flour when rolling to prevent this from happening. Aim to have a smooth surface (the white dough) at the bottom, so when you roll it up, it’s on the outside. Always remove as many air bubbles as you can to prevent buns from collapsing when steamed. Which type of steamer to use for smooth buns? The best is a bamboo steamer with a bamboo lid because the water condensation can be absorbed through the basket instead of dripping on the buns. This steamer will yield the best smooth buns. A stainless steamer can be used but a cloth-covered lid is needed. I used a bamboo basket and place a fork or chopstick to create a gap between the lid and steamer. Vegan Spiral Mantou FAQ Can I knead by hand? Yes, you can, but it takes a lot more effort and time to get a smooth top. Why do I need to roll and fold the dough into a rectangle so many times? This is to remove any air bubbles and create layers in the buns. You’ll hear a popping sound each time you roll and the sound will slowly diminish as you are in your 3rd rolling and folding the dough. My bun collapsed or is not smooth – This happens when you overproof the buns or use too much liquid. The best way to make buns is to weigh the ingredients. The all-purpose flour I used has 11.7% protein content. Some flour does absorb liquid differently. So, if you think the dough needs more water, please knead a few more times before adding more liquid. Why is my chocolate dough looks light? The color hue varies based on the type of cocoa powder you use. I used unsweetened cocoa powder from Trader Joe’s. Please note that the color will turn darker during proofing and after steaming, so it’s normal to be light in the first place. This Vegan Spiral Mantou has a hint of sweetness – adjust the sugar if you prefer sweeter mantou. I prefer to keep mine simple because I often serve it with butter or jam or stuff it with savory veggies. only requires 1 proofing once steamed and cooled down, you can store them in an airtight container in a freezer. Just reheat in a steamer or microwave when ready. If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Vegan Spiral Mantou (Bun) This chocolate spiral mantou (bun) is vegan with a hint of sweetness. The buns are soft, fluffy, and tasted delicious with butter or jam. They can be stuffed with your favorite savory protein or veggies. 5 from 1 vote Print Pin Rate Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Snack Cuisine: Asian, Chinese Keyword: Asianbread, Bao, Buns Servings: 3 Author: woonheng Equipment Steamer Ingredients 300 g all-purpose flour 155 g of warm water ¾ teaspoon instant yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon cooking oil 2 tablespoons cocoa powder Instructions To make the dough, place water in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top followed by sugar, then flour, and finally oil. Fit the mixer with a paddle attachment. Knead to incorporate the ingredients or until there are no dry spots of flour left in the bowl. Stop the mixer and scrape off the mixture from the paddle attachment. Switch to a dough hook, knead again using medium-low speed until you get a cohesive dough with a smooth outer layer, about 5-8 minutes. Divide dough into 2 equal portions and cover one with a lid or damp towel to prevent it from drying out. Knead the other one to remove air bubbles. Roll into an oval, then fold in the sides followed by the top and bottom into a rectangle. Using a rolling pin, press to flatten the dough. Repeat the same step 2 more times. Then, roll it out into a large rectangle (about 18X12), dusting more flour on the work surface as you go. The flour can make the rolling easier and prevent the dough from sticking to the surface. Alternatively, you may roll it out into a rectangle on parchment paper. Note that this may create wrinkles on the dough. Next, uncover the 2nd dough and make a hole in the middle. Add a spoonful of cocoa powder, and dip your fingers with water. Sprinkle it on the cocoa powder and knead until incorporated. I used 2 tablespoons for extra cocoa flavor. Now, repeat the same steps and roll into a rectangle as big as the white dough. Stack the chocolate dough on top of the white. Lift up the bottom (long side) and roll it up into a swiss roll. Pinch to seal, leaving two ends untouched and cut into 6 portions (for larger buns) or 8 portions (small buns). Place each bun on parchment paper and transfer to the steamer rack Fill the steamer pot or pan with water and heat it to about 37C. Place the buns on top and cover with a lid and proof for 30-35 minutes. Check the bun readiness – using your finger, gently poke the bun. If it bounces back, then it’s ready. The buns should feel light and soft. Stick a fork or chopstick in between the lid and steamer to create a gap. Turn on the heat to medium and steam for 18 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the buns cool down inside the steamer for another 5 minutes before uncovering. Serve warm with a jam or vegan butter. Video Notes I used unsweetened cocoa powder from Trader Joe’s. If you use the sweetened version, you may opt to skip the sugar when making the dough. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post How to make Vegan Spiral Mantou (Bun) at home appeared first on WoonHeng.

Mmmm… this layered green onion shao bing is crispy on the outside and packed with lots of aromatic green onion on the inside! I have seen many versions of shao bing on the travel channel and mentioned this is one of the delicacies from Northern China. Though, the shao bing shown is not usually filled...

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Mmmm… this layered green onion shao bing is crispy on the outside and packed with lots of aromatic green onion on the inside! I have seen many versions of shao bing on the travel channel and mentioned this is one of the delicacies from Northern China. Though, the shao bing shown is not usually filled with green onion. My first taste experience of this green onion shao bing was in Taiwan. It’s the best breakfast of the whole trip. Imagine, holding a warm stuffed crispy flatbread and a sip of warm soymilk while enjoying the weather – Perfect food! I’m really happy to share that you can easily recreate this shao bing at home. The biggest tip to create that crispy outer layer is to bake over high heat for a short time. The vibrant green onions stay green while keeping the golden brown crispy crunch on the outside. Steps to make Green Onion Shao Bing Step 1: Prepare the dough Place flour in a large mixing bowl. Then, sprinkle yeast evenly on top. Using a pair of chopsticks, slowly stir in the water until they are no dry spots of flour left in the bowl. Clean the chopsticks, and knead it into a dough. Cover with a damp paper towel, then, place a lid over the bowl. Let it proof until 1.5X its original size, about 30-35 minutes. [Overproofing the dough will affect the texture once baked]. Step 2: Prepare the oil paste and green onions To make the easy oil paste, place flour in a bowl and heat the oil in a small pot. To check if the oil is ready, stick a chopstick in the middle of the pot. Once you see tiny bubbles form around the tip of the chopstick, then the oil is ready. Carefully pour the hot oil onto the flour, then stir to combine into a paste. Let it cool. Meanwhile, chop green onions and set them aside. Step 3: Roll and Bake Preheat oven to 475F°F (245°C). Next, dust the work surface with flour. Transfer the proofed dough over and roll it into a rectangle, about 2-mm thick (mine came to about 16″x11″). Using your hands, spread 2/3 of the oil paste on top, then sprinkle it evenly with salt and Chinese 5-spice powder. Place 2/3 of green onions in the middle of the rectangle, vertically. Press to adhere (see below). Lift the bottom dough and flip it over to cover the green onion. Gently press to remove air bubbles. Then, spread the remaining oil paste and green onion on top. Finally, bring the top dough to cover and seal all the openings. Then, flip over, so the seamed side is down. Make a sweet coating by whisking together maple syrup and plant milk. Brush the top generously with this wash. Then pack with sesame seeds. Gently pat to adhere. Cut into 6 equal portions. Transfer them to a lined baking tray. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve as-is or cut it open and stuff with your favorite protein. Green Onion Shao Bing Cooking Tips Don’t overproof – A lot of recipes call for proofing until double its original size, but this recipe only needs 1.5X, and it’s quite speedy depending on the weather. Amount of yeast varies depending on weather, so if you have a colder weather, increase the amount by 1g. High heat baking – This recipe requires high heat for that quick rise in the oven to get that crispy outer layer while keeping the inside soft and fluffy. I placed mine on the 2nd rack from the top. My oven is older so if yours is new, you may need to lower the temperature but never go under 450F. If your Chinese 5-spice powder has less cinnamon taste, you may add a little sugar to the mix. A sweet wash (maple syrup and plant milk) at the top is needed to balance out the saltiness and makes it easier for the sesame seeds to adhere. Other bread recipes to try: Scallion Star Bread – baked Multi-layered Shou Zhua Bing – scallion pancake Curry potato bun This Green Onion Shao Bing has a crispy golden outer layer and packed with lots of green onions on the inside! It’s vegan, delicious, and easy to make! If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Green Onion Shao Bing (Baked Bread) This simple and delicious baked bread is crispy on the outside and packed with lots of aromatic scallions on the inside. They are best served hot as-is or stuffed with your favorite protein. 5 from 5 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Appetizer Cuisine: Asian, Chinese Keyword: Asianbread Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes Dough resting time: 40 minutes minutes Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes Servings: 3 Author: woonheng Ingredients 300 g all-purpose flour 3 g instant yeast use 4g if weather is cooler 175 g warm water 150 g scallions 5.5 oz ½ teaspoon salt* see notes dash of Chinese 5-spice powder 2 tablespoon maple syrup See notes 1 tablespoon oat milk sesame seeds preferably raw white sesame seeds Oil Paste 3 tablespoons flour 4 tablespoons cooking oil Instructions Place all-purpose flour in a bowl then sprinkle yeast on top. Using a pair of chopsticks, slowly add the water while stirring the flour until there are no dry spots of flour left in the bowl. Then, switch to your hand and knead into a soft dough. Cover with a moist towel and place a lid over. Let it proof until 1.5X than its original size, about 30-35 minutes. While waiting, make the oil paste. Add flour to a bowl and heat the oil. (To test the oil readiness, stick a chopstick into the oil, once you see bubble forms around the tip of the stick, it’s ready). Carefully pour the hot oil into the bowl with flour. Stir to combine into a paste and let it cool slightly. Preheat the oven to 475F°F (245°C). Next, dust the work surface with flour. Uncover the bowl and transfer the dough over. Roll it out into a large rectangle aiming for 3mm thickness. Mine came out to a 16"X10" rectangle. Spread ⅔ of the oil paste over and place the chopped onions in the middle of the dough. Gently press green onions to adhere (see video or pictures above). Lift up the bottom layer and flip over to cover the green onions. Then, spread the remaining oil paste and green onions on top. Bring the top part over to cover and then pinch to seal all the openings. Flip it over so the seamed side is facing down. Now, whisk together maple syrup and milk together until incorporated. Brush the dough with a layer of wash. Then, pack the top with sesame seeds. Cut into 6 equal portions (I used a serrated knife). Transfer to a baking tray, 1-inch apart. Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown. (Fully baked bread will have a hollow sound when you tap on it. The inside should be fully cooked through as well). Serve hot as-is or cut it open and stuff with your favorite filling. Video Notes Highly recommend weighing the ingredients using a scale You may line the baking pan with parchment paper so you can easily lift them up when ready. If you can’t find raw white sesame seeds, you may use toasted but the bread will look darker once baked and may taste burnt if overcooked. For a less sweet wash, use 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 2 tablespoons plant milk 1/2 teaspoon of salt is just right for this recipe, you may adjust it down or balance it with some sugar if preferred. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post How to make Green Onion (Scallion) Shao Bing – Baked Bread appeared first on WoonHeng.

This vegan salmon bowl hits all the right spots! Scrumptious, simple, easy, and super yum with mayo and then scorched vegan cheese. I love wrapping tofu with nori/seaweed to create the seafood taste. I first shared this method for my Vegan Fish Head noodle soup a few years back and loved it so much. This...

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This vegan salmon bowl hits all the right spots! Scrumptious, simple, easy, and super yum with mayo and then scorched vegan cheese. I love wrapping tofu with nori/seaweed to create the seafood taste. I first shared this method for my Vegan Fish Head noodle soup a few years back and loved it so much. This time, I marinated the tofu first, then pan-fry with sauce before adding the nori. This prevents the nori from shrinking too much during cooking. Vegan Salmon Bowl Cooking Tips Types of rice – I personally love short grain or sushi rice for this bowl. However, other grains such as brown or Jasmine works too. Which tofu to use – I used firm tofu that were simply drained and pat dry. No press needed. If you look at the video, you’ll notice that my tofu slab looks like ‘sponge’ with holes. Those gems are needed to absorb the marinade. Use a spatula to transfer the tofu to avoid breaking them, if your tofu is softer. Yes, extra firm is great, you just need to marinate the tofu longer. Sauce – I have 2 types of sauces here, one for marinate and one for basting or seasoning. The marinade is a simple mix of soy sauce and kelp or dashi powder. For seasoning, I used mirin, hot water mix with kelp powder, soy sauce, sugar, and maple syrup. Please note that I used light soy sauce which is generally less salty with a touch of sweetness. Adjust the saltiness if other soy sauce is used. If you like teriyaki sauce, then check out this recipe. Is cheese necessary? It’s not, but it does adds an umami taste to the vegan salmon. If you don’t have a blow torch, you may place the cooked and wrapped tofu slabs on a baking pan, then top with vegan cheese and broil until it melts. This will also make the tofu drier though, so I suggest that you do this step quickly. How to Make this Delicious Bowl First, drain out the tofu water, then pat dry with a towel. Cut the block into 3 equal slabs or about 1.5cm thick. Place soy sauce and kelp powder in a pan. Marinate tofu (rubbing all sides with sauce) for about 15 minutes. Next, make the sauce. Place the mirin, hot water with kelp water, soy sauce, sugar, and maple syrup in a bowl. Stir to combine. Then, make the spicy mayo sauce by combining 3 tablespoons of vegan mayo with 1 tablespoon of Sriracha or chili sauce. Cut a nori sheet into 3 long strips, set aside. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat and add a drizzle of oil. Lower the marinated slab onto the hot pan. Cook in batches if needed. Pan-fry until a thin crust forms on both sides. Add 2-3 spoonfuls of sauce, and move the tofu around the pan to catch as much sauce as possible. TIP – What to do with the leftover sauce? Don’t worry, you can cook it further until thicken and drizzle it on top of rice (tastes just like unagi sauce). Or save it for other marinades. Once the tofu turns deep golden or when it has absorbs all the sauce, remove it from the pan. Place it on a nori strip and wrap around it. To serve, scoop rice into a bowl and top with furikake (rice seasoning made from seaweed and sesame seeds). Place tofu slab on the rice, add a few squeezes of spicy mayo, and a handful of vegan cheese. Using a blow torch, melt the cheese, then garnish with chopped scallions. Serve warm. This Vegan Salmon Bowl is made from marinated tofu wrapped in nori! It’s then mix in with spicy mayo and scorched cheese – what a DELISH YUM! If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Vegan Salmon Bowl made from Tofu This vegan salmon bowl is made from marinated tofu and then pan-fried till golden brown before basting with a delicious sweet savory sauce. Once it's wrapped with nori, the flavor immediately elevated to a delicious dish! It's simple and easy to make. 5 from 3 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Main Course Cuisine: Asian, Japanese Servings: 3 Author: woonheng Ingredients Cooked grains of choice 14 oz firm tofu cut into 3 slabs 1 tablespoon light soy sauce ¼ teaspoon dashi powder or kelp powder or mushrooms seasoning 1 Nori sheet – cut into 3 strips Sauce 3 tablespoons mirin ⅓ cup of hot water mix with 1 teaspoon kelp powder or use kombu dashi stock 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 1 tablespoon maple syrup ½ teaspoon sugar Spicy Mayo 3 tablespoons vegan mayo 1 tablespoon chili sauce or sriracha Garnish Cheese Scallions Furikake rice seasoning made from nori and sesame seeds Instructions Drain tofu, then pat dry with a towel. Slice into 3 rectangle slabs. Mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce and kelp powder in a pan (big enough to fit all the tofu). Marinate tofu for 15 minutes (rubbing the surface with the marinade). To make the sauce, combine mirin, hot water with kelp powder, soy sauce, maple syrup and sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine. To create a spicy mayo, mix together vegan mayo and chili sauce until incorporated. Next, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of oil. Carefully slide marinated tofu onto the hot pan. Cook in batches if needed, adding more when necessary. Pan-fry until tofu is golden brown (the larger surface). Add 2-3 spoons of sauce. Gently push the tofu around the pan so it catches all the sauce. Meanwhile, place a nori strip on a plate. Lay the cooked slab on top and fold the nori needs over. Place cooked rice in a bowl and sprinkle with furikake. Next, top with vegan salmon, drizzle with spicy mayo, and top with a handful of vegan cheese. Using a hand torch, melt the cheese and garnish with chopped scalions. Serve warm. Video Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post How to Make Delicious Vegan Salmon Bowl from Tofu appeared first on WoonHeng.

This green bean crispy garlic fried rice takes no time to make yet it’s DELICIOUS! Top with crispy garlic that you can make in one pan! Rice is a staple in my household, any kind actually. I have short grain, sushi, black rice, brown rice, Jasmine, and Basmati. Oh yes, glutinous rice too for my...

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This green bean crispy garlic fried rice takes no time to make yet it’s DELICIOUS! Top with crispy garlic that you can make in one pan! Rice is a staple in my household, any kind actually. I have short grain, sushi, black rice, brown rice, Jasmine, and Basmati. Oh yes, glutinous rice too for my sticky rice dumpling and dessert. It’s crazy to look at the pantry but I use a certain type of rice for specific dishes. For example, you can’t make porridge with basmati because it won’t break down like jasmine. So, what type of rice is great for fried rice, you asked? Well, most rice work. I’ve never tried with glutinous rice though because I usually fold and toss this type of rice with sauce instead of ‘fry’ them. Personally, I love brown or black (forbidden) rice a lot when I’m eating alone. Usually, for my kids’ lunch, I’ll use Jasmine or Basmati. Oh yes, this fried rice is simple! We need some easy meals in this busy life, right? Green Bean Crispy Garlic Fried Rice Cooking Tips Dancing rice – When making fried rice, I like to cook my rice until I see the grain jumping in the pan. This shows the rice is dry enough and fully cooked through as fried rice. Day old rice vs freshly cooked rice – I don’t have a preference, although, day old rice is quicker when I’m hungry. If you using freshly cooked rice, you’ll just have to let them cool down and uses a little less water when preparing it. Crispy Garlic – You can use mince or slice garlic in this recipe. The trick is to not cook the garlic over high heat or you’ll get burnt garlic. I’m using the same oil to sauté the mushrooms. Protein – I used firm tofu that I simply mashed and mushrooms. Mushrooms need to be sautéed until fragrant first before adding tofu. Tofu needs to be ‘brown’ to remove the moisture – trust me this step makes it look like ‘egg’. Greens – Fried rice is the best with green beans, greens’ stems or carrot. How to make green bean crispy garlic fried rice First, have your rice ready. Store-bought cooked rice or homemade version works – just be sure they are completely cool. Fluff using a pair of chopsticks or fork to loosen the grain, if needed. Second, chop all your aromatics and greens. I’m using Bunashimeji (Beech Mushrooms) and simply trim off the ends. You may use a brush to remove the debris or quickly rinse them. I would pat them dry if you pick the latter method. To keep things simple, I remove the drain out the tofu water and pat dry with a towel. Next, heat a pan or wok over medium heat and add enough oil to cook the garlic. This step is to infuse the oil with aromatics. You may use the same step for shallots if preferred. Once the pan is heated through, add the garlic, then, turn down the heat, and stir continuously to prevent garlic from burning. Sieve out the garlic for later use. Now, use the same oil to sauté the mushrooms until golden brown before repeating the same step with tofu. When tofu starts to brown, season with salt. Next push the ingredients to the side of the pan and stir-fry the green beans until it turns from light to darker green or until as crisp as you like. Add the rice, mushrooms seasoning, pepper, and soy sauce. Toss until all grains are well coated. Aim to cook until you see some grains start to jump from the pan. Taste test and season accordingly. Top with toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil, chili oil with sediment before serving. Other easy recipes to try: Curry Butter Spaghetti Thai Basil Fried Rice Edamame Mushrooms Stir-Fry This Green Bean Crispy Garlic Fried Rice is delicious, vegan, easy and tasty! If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Green Bean Crispy Garlic Fried Rice This Green Bean Crispy Garlic Fried Rice is packed with lots of crunchy green beans, tofu, sesame seeds! It's vegan, easy-to-make, simple, and it's my quick go-to meal for lunch or dinner. 5 from 2 votes Print Pin Rate Course: Main Course Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes Rice Cooking Time (in rice cooker): 30 minutes minutes Total Time: 20 minutes minutes Servings: 2 Author: woonheng Ingredients 3-4 cups cooked rice used Basmati 4 garlic cloves sliced 3.5 oz mushrooms used Bunashimeji or Beech 4 oz firm tofu drained and pat dry ¾ cup of chopped green beans salt and pepper to taste ½ teaspoon mushroom seasoning ½ tablespoon light soy sauce or to taste drizzle of sesame oil toasted sesame seeds chili oil with sediment or to taste cooking oil US Customary – Metric Instructions Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil. Once the oil is heated through, turn heat to low-medium. Add garlic slices and sauté until they crisp up, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Turn down the heat further if it browns too quickly. Sieve out garlic and set aside. Using the same oil, sauté mushrooms until golden brown or aromatic. Push to the side and cook tofu until they have a light brown crust, adding more oil if needed. Season with a pinch of salt. Toss the ingredients together for a few seconds. Then, push them to the side of the pan, add another teaspoon of oil and cook green beans until they turn from light to darker green. Season with salt. Add rice, mushroom seasoning, pepper, and soy sauce. Toss everything together. Using the back of the spatula, loosen the grain if needed. Cook until the grain starts to jump up from the pan. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chili oil with sediment. Serve hot. Video Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means if you decide to purchase through my link, I will receive a small commission for qualified purchases. Some products shown may have different brands from Amazon that I recommend as a suggestion. The links are embedded in the picture or shown as hyperlinks. Please note that the sauces generally have a lower price at the store. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post Easy Peasy Green Bean Crispy Garlic Fried Rice appeared first on WoonHeng.

This marmite lotus root is inspired by a famous dish that my family loves to order at Fan Cai Xiang – a vegetarian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Marmite has been a part of my diet ever since I was a kid. This savory spread is very versatile. I used it with porridge, make soup,...

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This marmite lotus root is inspired by a famous dish that my family loves to order at Fan Cai Xiang – a vegetarian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Marmite has been a part of my diet ever since I was a kid. This savory spread is very versatile. I used it with porridge, make soup, or as a ‘jam’ for toast. I’ve always loved Marmite more than Bovril (a beef extract) even before I was vegetarian. Marmite is a common ingredient to elevate a savory dish and can be found on the menu at Dai Chow or restaurants alike. This spread was not readily available when I first came to the US so I always packed a large jar with me every time I visit home. Now, you purchase it online, or at stores like WorldMarket and Kroger. Marmite Lotus Root Key Ingredients Lotus root – It’s often used as the main ingredients for a savory soup and stir-fries. Once you’ve coated lotus root with batter and fried, it remains crunchy and sweet. Tip – cut into 1cm thick rounds as too thin will reduce the crunchiness. Marmite – it’s a savory yeast spread that taste so good in soups, stir-fries with high content of B12. Seasoning – I’m using light soy sauce, vegan oyster sauce on top of marmite. To balance the saltiness, a combination of sweetener gives this dish a perfect savoriness. So, I used maple syrup and sugar. How to make Marmite Lotus Root Making this dish is as simple as the steps below! Prepare the lotus root Peel off the skin and trim both ends. If you plan to keep the skin on, lightly scrub the root with a brush. Then, slice each root (rhizome) into 1-cm thick rounds. Make a batter and prepare the sauce Whisk together all-purpose, rice flour, and plant-based milk (I used oat milk) until well-combined. If it’s too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and whisk again. Check the consistency – dip lotus root and it should run through the holes and cling to it nicely. To make the sauce, first, dissolve marmite in hot water. Then, add the light soy sauce, vegan soy sauce, maple syrup, and sugar. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Cook Lotus Root – Fry or Air-fry Method 1 – Fry Fill a large pan with enough oil (rise up to 1-cm to the side of the pan). Heat to 350°F (175°C). To check if the oil is ready, you can either test with a cooking thermometer or chopstick. If you see bubbles forming around the chopstick, then, the oil is ready. Or drop a tiny blob of batter into the oil, if it starts to sizzle, the oil is ready. Dip lotus root in batter, shake off excess, and carefully lower it into the hot oil. Add as many lotus roots as the pan fits, slightly apart. Fry until golden brown for about 3-5 minutes on each side, flipping occasionally. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to keep the crunch. (Frying time varies depending on the oil’s temperature). Method 2 – Air-Fry Preheat the air fryer to 390F (about 3 minutes). Grease the inner rack and arrange the coated lotus root in one single layer. Spray the top with additional oil. Air-fry until golden, about 8-10 minutes, with a flip in between if needed. Toss with sauce To serve, place the sauce in a heated pan and cook until it starts to thicken. Add the lotus root, then quickly toss with the sauce until well coated. Garnish with sesame seeds before serving as-is or with a bowl of rice (my favorite way). Marmite Lotus Root Cooking Tips Cutting method – The original dish that I’ve tried at Fan Cai Xiang is in matchstick form. I wanted to keep the lotus root shape so I sliced them in 1cm thick rounds. This size keeps the lotus root crunch but thin enough to catch the sauce nicely. Batter consistency – I used all-purpose and rice flour along with oat milk to create a thick batter (with additional 1-2 tablespoons water if needed). To check the consistency, dip cut lotus root in the batter and make sure it covers all the open areas such as the holes (see video). That being said, you can definitely use gluten-free flour and adjust the water amount until you get the consistency as shown. Sauce – A savory and sweet combo made from a combination of umami sauce such as vegan oyster sauce, soy sauce and balance with two types of sweetener – maple syrup and sugar. Air-fry vs fry method – the fried version is a little more puffed up compared to the air-fried. Air-fried usually loses some of its crispiness after a while, so I suggest that you keep them warm in an oven if you are frying in batches. This Marmite Lotus Root is crunchy on the inside and savory on the outside. It is vegan, allium-free, and super YUM! If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Marmite Lotus Root This marmite lotus root is crunchy on the inside and flavorful with a sticky savory sauce. The recipe is vegan, allium-free and easy to prepare. I shared two ways to prepare the lotus root – fried and air-fried. Print Pin Rate Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Malaysian Keyword: Alliumfree Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes Total Time: 35 minutes minutes Servings: 2 Author: woonheng Ingredients 1½ lbs lotus root Batter 90 g rice flour 90 g all-purpose flour 1 cup plant milk + 1-2 tablespoons water Sauce (see notes) ½ tablespoon marmite ½ cup hot water ½ tablespoon light soy sauce (see notes) ½ tablespoon vegan oyster sauce 1 tablespoon maple syrup 1 tablespoon sugar Garnish toasted sesame seeds Instructions Prepare the lotus root: Peel off the skin and trim off the ends. Slice each rhizome into 1-cm thick rounds. Create a batter by whisking together rice flour and all-purpose flour with 1 cup of plant milk. If it’s too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of water. The consistency should be thick enough to coat the lotus root with little dripping. To fry the lotus root, add enough oil to a large pan or wok and heat it to 350°F (175°C). Dip lotus root in the batter. Carefully, lower the lotus root into the hot oil. Add as many coated lotus roots as the pan fits with a slight gap. Use a tong or chopstick to flip while cooking. Fry until both sides are golden brown, about 3-4 minutes on each side. (tip: let crust forms before flipping) Fry for a little longer if you want a deeper color. To air-fry, preheat to 390F (200°C). Then, grease the inner rack with oil. Place battered lotus root in and spray the top with additional oil. Air-fry until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes (please take a peek once in a while to avoid over cook) with a flip in between. Repeat either method until all lotus root is fried. Prepare the sauce. Whisk together marmite, water, soy sauce, vegan oyster sauce, maple syrup, and sugar in a bowl until sugar is dissolved Heat a pan over medium heat. Slowly pour the sauce in. Stir with a spatula and cook until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the lotus root and quickly toss to combine. Serve warm with sesame seeds with a bowl of rice. Video Notes If you haven’t tried marmite before, please start with the lower amount. The sauce is thick and please add more water and adjust the taste for a more saucy dish. Please note I’m using light soy sauce which is less salty than the original. If you use other soy sauce, please adjust the amount of saltiness accordingly. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post How to make Marmite Lotus Root at home? appeared first on WoonHeng.

This vegan curry butter spaghetti is as easy as it is and as tasty as it looks. Only 30 minutes (or less depending on the noodles or pasta you are using), this slurpilicious bowl is savory and yummy! Spicy, slurpy, creamy in one bowl – what’s not to love about this dish, right? Is this...

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This vegan curry butter spaghetti is as easy as it is and as tasty as it looks. Only 30 minutes (or less depending on the noodles or pasta you are using), this slurpilicious bowl is savory and yummy! Spicy, slurpy, creamy in one bowl – what’s not to love about this dish, right? Is this a traditional dish? Well, maybe not but it’s inspired by dry curry dishes from Malaysia. The word dry is a little confusing if you haven’t tried the dish before because you may be thinking of dry spice. It’s actually a curry that’s reduced into a thick sauce, almost gravy-like consistency. While my recipe may not have the thickness of dry curry, it definitely is a drier version compared to normal curry. Each noodle thread clings to the spicy sauce perfectly with a slippery touch from the butter. It’s just so delicious and you won’t believe it takes less than 30 minutes to make! To keep things simple for my quick meal, I’m using Mama Lam’s vegan Malaysian curry paste. I have heard of this brand a long time ago but never got to try it. The paste comes in mild or medium, and I love how the taste brought me back home. Some other brands that I like include Mekhala Living, Ayam’s Brand (check the ingredient), and some local curry pastes. How to make vegan Curry Butter Spaghetti It’s super simple and easy! First, cook your spaghetti as directed (always season your water with salt) – save some starch water for the curry. Next, prepare the curry. Towards the last few minutes of cooking the spaghetti, heat a pan with oil. Temper curry leaves (optional step but highly recommended especially if you can find fresh curry leaves). Add the curry paste, quickly stir to combine. Add the coconut milk and stir – the color will change from red to a nice golden combination. Season with mushrooms or umami (Yondu) seasoning. Add the pasta water and bring to boil. Taste test and season accordingly. I didn’t add any additional salt to mine. Ladle the curry into a bowl. Drain out the spaghetti and add to the bowl. Add a blob of butter and toss noodle with curry until well combined. Garnish with chopped scallions, fried shallots and serve hot. Vegan Curry Butter Spaghetti Cooking Tips Can I use other noodle or pasta? Yes, please adjust the curry amount accordingly. Some noodles absorb more curry compared to others such as vermicelli. Can this be gluten-free? Yes, you can use rice ramen or vermicelli. Curry paste – I used ready-made and adjusted the taste with mushrooms seasoning. If you like to use homemade sambal, please check this recipe. Yes you can add other proteins such as pan-fried tofu or curry marinated tofu and other blanched or stir-fried vegetables such as bok choy, broccoli to make a complete meal. Check out my other noodle recipes Curry Chee Cheong Fun – my favorite Malaysian breakfast! Kung Pao Noodles – super easy and flavorful Black Garlic Chili Oil Noodles – another quick and easy meal This Vegan Curry Butter Spaghetti is ready in < 30 minutes! It’s delicious, creamy, and slurpilicious! If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends! Vegan Curry Butter Spaghetti This vegan curry butter spaghetti is simple, buttery, and slurpilicious! Look no further for a delicious, creamy, spicy dish that takes less than 30 minutes to make. 5 from 1 vote Print Pin Rate Course: Curry, Main Course, Side Dish Cuisine: Asian Keyword: 30-minute Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes Total Time: 25 minutes minutes Servings: 1 Author: woonheng Ingredients 1 serving spaghetti 2oz dried/quarter sized bunch salt 1 tablespoon vegan butter used Miyoko's 1 stalk scallion chopped 1 tablespoon fried shallots Curry 1 tablespoon cooking oil few curry leaves 1 – 1.5 tablespoon curry paste ¼ cup coconut milk ¼ teaspoon mushrooms seasoning or ½ tablespoon of Yondu ½ cup of pasta water plus more if needed Instructions Fill a pot with enough water to cook 1 servings of spaghetti. I used about 5 cups with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook spaghetti as directed on the package. During the last few minutes of cooking, heat a large non-stick pan with oil over medium-high heat. Add curry leaves and let it sizzle (temper) for a few seconds. Add the curry paste and give it a quick stir. Pour in the coconut milk and add the mushroom seasoning, then stir to combine. Finally, add the pasta water and stir. Taste test and season with more salt if needed. Ladle the curry into a bowl. Strain out the spaghetti and add to the bowl. Top with butter and toss to combine. Garnish with scallions and fried shallots before serving. (You may add your favorite protein toppings such as tofu, marinated tofu and blanched/stir-fried vegetables for a complete meal) Video Notes Spaghetti cooking time varies by brand – please check the package instruction I used Mama Lam’s curry paste (check their website for vegan version) or you can use homemade sambal Other curry paste alternatives include red or yellow Coconut milk I used – Savoy. Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference. The post How to make 30-minute Vegan Curry Butter Spaghetti appeared first on WoonHeng.

When you own over 100 cookbooks, it is time to stop buying, and start cooking. This site chronicles a cookbook collection, one recipe at a time.

Simple, homemade cavatelli pasta is a fun shape to make! Pictured here spiked with turmeric and black pepper, and topped with roasted winter vegetables and Parmesan.

Continue reading Homemade Cavatelli on 101 Cookbooks

Cavatelli became a favorite pasta to make during a difficult time. In the four months after my mom died, I spent most of that time in Northern California at my dad’s house. Everyone converged on the house, more things unraveled, and no one went home for a long time. I made some strange decisions about what to bring when I loaded the car that initial morning – watercolors, a stack of cookbooks, my camera, a favorite knife, a huge bin of spices. I thought about bringing my favorite donabe, but was worried it would break. I grabbed my pasta machine instead. Not a bad call, because a lot of pasta was made! Cavatelli: The Inspiration The move to cavatelli was partially out of necessity. My workhorse, the Atlas pasta machine, has issues at my dad’s house. There is nothing to clamp it on to. Every countertop and table is too thick. It’s maddening. I noticed the clamp on the cavatelli maker seemed like it might be wider, so I thought we’d try it instead. It is also worth mentioning, I’ve been meaning to buy a cavatelli maker for years. Ragazza, a sweet little Italian spot, was just up the street from where we lived in San Francisco. The owner Sharon tipped me off to how she made their cavatelli from scratch with a little hand-cranked machine (something like this one) – and I’ve meant to get my hands on once since. This seemed like the right time. About this Cavatelli Recipe After a good amount of experimenting, I’ve settled on the following as my basic cavatelli dough and technique. Once you master it, the variations you can explore are endless (see below). The cavatelli machine likes pasta dough that’s not-too-wet and not-too-dry. If you hit the sweet spot, you’ll be able to crank out a pound of cavatelli incredibly quickly. If your dough is getting stuck in your machine, pat it with flour, dust off any excess, and try again. You’ll eventually get a feel for it! What if I don’t have a Cavatelli Machine? Not a big deal! You can make it by hand a number of other ways. Here’s a page that demonstrates how to shape cavatelli with a ridged board, fork, or grater. I’ve also seen it shaped traditionally in Puglia using something like a butter knife. What Flour Should I Use? Cavatelli is traditionally made with durum wheat semolina flour. But, if you don’t have that on hand, don’t let it stop you. Last week I was out of semolina flour, so the cavatelli you see pictured here was made with “00” flour. “00” is powder-fine and made with low gluten, soft wheat flour. If you don’t have “00” you can certainly use all-purpose flour. A long way of saying, make cavatelli with 100% semolina flour if you have it, or use equal parts “00” and semolina, or just “00″….go for the all-purpose flour if that’s what you have. How To Freeze Cavatelli Freezing is my preferred method of storing any cavatelli I’m not cooking immediately. Arrange freshly made, uncooked cavatelli across a floured baking sheet. Try to make sure they’re in a single layer. Freeze for a couple of hours, and then transfer to double layer plastic bags. You can freeze for up to a couple of months. And you can cook straight from the freezer. No need to thaw, just dump the cavatelli into boiling salted water, and increase the cooking time a bit. Cavatelli Variations In the recipe below you can see how you can tweak basic cavatelli pasta dough by adding different seasonings and spices. I wanted to make a bright, sunny plate of pasta with lots of roasted yellow and orange vegetables and ingredients like cauliflower, golden yellow beets, and winter squash (pictured above). I added turmeric and black pepper to the pasta dough for a little flavor, color, and boost. The possibilities are endless here. You can also play around with the water. In place of water you can use vegetable juices, purees, stocks or broths, anything of that sort is fair game. Making fresh pasta is one of my favorite things to do. It’s even better when you have others around to help, taking turns in shifts. I did a basic primer on making homemade pasta a while ago, if you love fettuccine noodles or anything along those lines, start there. And all my pasta recipes live here. Enjoy! More Pasta Recipes Pappardelle Pici Mushroom Lasagna Beet Fettuccine Pasta with Crushed Creamy Walnut Sauce Stuffed Shells Last Minute Red Lasagna more pasta recipes Favorite Pasta Sauces Pesto Five Minute Tomato Sauce Mushroom Ragù Other Favorite Italian Recipes Gnocchi Bruschetta Fregola Sarda Continue reading Homemade Cavatelli on 101 Cookbooks

The sort of hearty apple salad I love. It has heirloom apples, shaved celery, and toasted nuts of your choosing. The dressing is creamy and spiked with rosemary, garlic and champagne vinegar.

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If you’re looking for a simple apple salad, you’re in the right place. There’s a reasonable chance that you have the ingredients needed to make it sprinkled around your kitchen – on counter tops, or in the crisper. And if not, there are lots of ways to make substitutes. It’s hearty and substantial, colorful and crunchy – made with heirloom apples, shaved celery, and toasted nuts of your choosing. The dressing is crème fraîche (or sour cream) spiked with rosemary, garlic and champagne vinegar. Apple Salad – All About the Crunch This salad is big on crunch. And that alone is likely the reason it has become a fall favorite. There’s crunch from crisp apples, celery, and nuts. Pair that with the creaminess in the dressing? It’s a nice contrast. My main tip? Seek out crisp apples with good flavor. And pass on mealy apples. Substitutions Think of this recipe as more of a sketch than anything else. I used arugula because it’s what I had on hand, but the baby gems at the market looked great and would have been a nice substitute. Same goes for the nuts. Toast whatever you have on hand – pine nuts, almonds, or walnuts. And on the dressing front, crème fraîche brings a beautiful luxe texture into the mix, but you can certainly use sour cream or even yogurt, and whatever good-tasting white wine vinegar you like. Slicing the Apples Another variable you can experiment is the cut of the apple. You can see my preferred slices up above. They thick enough to retain some snap, and bite-sized. I like them sliced this way so you can get a bit of everything on a fork – some arugula, apple, nuts, etc. But if you really love apples, add more and slice them thicker. I also have it in my notes to do an apple salsa of sorts – with everything chopped smaller & a few serrano chiles chopped and added to the mix. For use on winter panini, and the like. Apple Salad: The Dressing The dressing is great on all sorts of things. Not just apple salad. It’s decadent drizzled over roasted potatoes (or sweet potatoes!), as a finishing kiss for mushrooms, or as a slather on panini. I also love it drizzled over oven-roasted broccoli, or a medley of sheet-pan baked vegetables. Your Apple Salad Ideas Over the years you’ve left some great suggestions and variations in the comments. I’m going to highlight a few and also encourage you to let us know of any riffs on the recipe you enjoy in the future! Amanda says, ” I grated a half a celery root into the salad as well, which boosted the yummy celery flavor and added another texture. So good!” Chase brilliantly swapped in pears, “I have made this salad 8 times in the last 10 days!!!! An instant favorite! Hazelnuts were the nut of choice and a pear/apple mix with some added Rosemary crostini crumbled in gives it a great crunch!!!” Dana turned it into more of a main dish, “I added some cooked and cooled wheat berries to this salad and it was divine! Nutty crunch and great nutrition to bulk it up for a main course dinner.” Kara introduced a few ingredients, ““Hallelujah!” is what I thought when I bit into this salad today for lunch! I substituted baby broccoli for the celery, used walnuts, and some sliced Parmesan.” More Salad Recipes Grilled Wedge Salad Nicoise Salad Roasted Tomato Salad Raw Tuscan Kale Salad Summer Fruit Salad Egg Salad Quinoa Salad Coconut Corn Salad All salad recipes Have fun and poke around for more fall recipe inspiration. I love this Genius Kale Salad, this Shaved Fennel Salad from Super Natural Every Day, this pure Cilantro Salad for the cilantro fans out there, and for more of a main, this Hazelnut & Chard Ravioli Salad is always a go-to. And if you’re looking for a way to use up apples? This is a fantastic apple pie! Continue reading Apple Salad on 101 Cookbooks

Leveling up lunch ideas with lots of color, clever use of leftovers, and feel-good ingredients. These are two lunchboxes I packed recently.

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Coming up with inspired lunch ideas takes some effort. One of the things I’ve been trying to be better about is lunches on-the-go. Often times, let’s be honest, it’s re-marketing leftovers. Too often, if we’re not going to be home for the day, we just wing it. And I’m nearly always sorry we didn’t make the effort to pack a good lunch. This is especially true if we’re on some sort of trip, towing the Airstream. Because on those days parking dictates where you’re lunching. And just thinking about it is making me cringe. So yeah, we’re trying to do better over here and I thought I’d share some recent wins. Lunch Ideas #1 These lunch boxes (above) came together pretty quickly. Nearly everything was a leftover, or component of a previous meal. To pull it together I peeled and chile-dusted the hard boiled eggs, sliced the avocado and sliced the mandarin. 1. Spicy Sesame Coleslaw: You’ve seen it before, you’ll see it again. Lol. It’s my favorite coleslaw, and I’ll basically tuck in anywhere. Feathery green and red cabbages along with carrots, apples, and scallions tossed with a spicy, creamy sesame dressing. 2. Pickled Cauliflower: The pop of color you need in your lunch. This quick pickled cauliflower delivers a good amount of tang and crunch in the midst of less structured components. I make mine with chiles, mustard seeds and slivered onion, but you can play around. 3. Chile-dusted Hard-boiled Egg: Here’s how to make these. Combine equal parts chile powder and MDH chana masala powder in a small bowl. I like to use this Kashmiri chillie powder, but use what you have (and like). Hard boil eggs, peel them, rinse, dab each egg a bit on a clean towel to take off excess water, then roll them around in the spice mixture until completely covered. Slice and serve, or pack into lunch. 4. Turmeric-Scallion Tofu Spread: This is actually leftover wonton filling from my last round of wonton soup. But it’s also great as a lettuce wrap filling, cracker and sandwich spread, and on its own. Here, I nestle it into a stack of 2-3 little gem leaves. Get the recipe – it’s the first part of the recipe on this page, minus the wrappers. 5. Red-spiced Edamame: I’ll write this up as its own recipe soon, it’s a homemade spice blend made by crushing Kashmiri chillies, smoked paprika, brown sugar, sesame, dried onion flakes, salt, and a kiss of cardamom together. Sprinkle generously. There are a lot of other spice blend ideas in the Spice / Herb / Flower / Zest PDF that members get. Just about any of those are great here. Experiment! 6. Pepita & Curry Leaf Tadka: I’ve definitely over-stripped my young curry tree making this lately. Toast a cup of pepitas and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir in 50-ish fresh curry leaves. Continue to stir and when the leaves begin to crisp up add 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds. Keep stirring and when the seeds have toasted a bit and stopped popping, add 1/2 teaspoon chile powder. Pour this over your pepitas, toss well, and salt to taste. good on everything, Including the soba in the next lunch. Also: purple rice, sliced avocado, mandarin wedge, nutritional yeast kale chips Lunch Ideas #2 The one component of the lunch boxes (above) that wasn’t made ahead of time, was the soba noodles. I boiled them, and ran them under cold water just before packing up. 6+. Soba with Pepita & Curry Leaf Tadka: The same pepitas as above (lunch ideas #1), this time tangled with cold soba. 7. Vegan Tamagoyaki: This is a vegan version of tamagoyaki, the much-loved Japanese rolled omelette. I like to make chickpea-tofu version, and this one is lined with nori and seasoned with scallions and herbs. They’re fantastic lunchbox heroes because you can make and roll them ahead of time. They’ll keep for a few day so you can slice and go. 8. Blistered Artichoke Hearts: Leftovers from dinner the previous night. I cooked these from frozen. So easy, so good. I wrote a long post about how to cook artichokes – both fresh and frozen. So, if you love artichokes, but think they’re too much work, read this. Same goes if you think the frozen ones are going to be bad. They aren’t and they’re great in scenarios like this one, quick pastas, casseroles, etc. 9. Fava Beans Tossed with Citrus Olive Oil: These are fava beans that have been shelled, boiled for a flash, shelled again, and then splashed with a bit of lemon olive oil, and tossed with a pinch of salt. From previous dinner. I do the same with edamame, but favas are in season and I they’re worth all the shelling and peeling drama. 10. Kale Chips: Some extra crushed kale chips tossed with the remaining pepitas. My method for epic kale chips is this: buy curly kale, make sure it’s dry if you recently washed it. Toss the kale with olive oil and scrunch it all up with your hands, be sure it’s all coated. Toss with a lot of nutritional yeast, get a good coating going. Season with salt and bake at until the chips at the edges start browning. Toss well. Continue to bake until crispy but still mostly green. Or have a look at this kale chip recipe. Also: blood orange wedges for dessert. A Couple Pro-tips There’s actually just one main tip, but I’ll add more as I think of them. Line your bentos with parchment paper for easy clean-up (pictured below). This isn’t as important with stainless steel containers, they clean up quite quickly. Bentos, often made of cedar, are a bit more fragile and take more care if you want them to last for many years. Also, clean up as soon as you get home. The reset is key to looking forward to your next special box lunch. More Lunch Ideas: Salads! Salads are another favorite lunch idea. For the best experience, keep the dressing on the side and toss just before eating. Also, pro-tip, leave a good amount of room or headspace in your salad vehicle, so tossing is contained and less messy. For to-go or desk salads, I love bringing the components for a Nicoise salad or Nicoise-ish salad. The lettuces and other ingredients can stand up to transportation and you get a great mix of protein, greens, and veggies all in one lunch. See photo below. Favorite Lunchbox Containers Bentos: I have (and love) my small collection of bento boxes. They’re beautifully crafted and fit the perfect amount of food. They often come with small dividers to create separation between food, but you can also use lettuce, or other small containers to divide things up. Tiffins (or dhabbas): These containers have long been used in India to enable healthful, homemade meals outside the home. I have a circular, triple-stack stainless steel version I love for a number of reasons including durability, compactness, and security. The tiers nestle tightly making spills and accidents unlikely. I have my eye on a rectangular version as well. Both bentos and tiffins have a tradition of enabling meals made with care and love. And continuing this tradition is something I try to channel when I’m packing a lunch for myself or someone I care about. I don’t mind mixing different types of lunch containers. And sometimes I’ll make an individual lunch for each person, each in its own container. But, other times I think it’s fine to load up a few family-style containers and do it that way. I think that works great for components that can be more communal, like edamame, or a bunch of dumplings, a stack of paratha, vegan sushi or quesadillas, quinoa patties, etc. Hot Lunch! Use a thermos to bring hot miso soup or tea or rasam or whatever else you can think of. This is always the icing on the cake and unfailingly makes me happy (or happier!) When I really have things lined up, I’ll bring green tea, miso soup, or soba tea and a durable glass or two wrapped in cloth. Simply rewrap when you’re finished. I hope this provides a bit of inspiration! It’s really wonderful to take a bit of time to sit down to a thoughtfully prepared, healthful homemade lunch and I’m never sorry about making the extra effort (in the long run). Even if it can make a morning a bit more demanding than usual, I know when I do it, I’ll eat better, feel better, and get excited about sitting down to lunch. Enjoy! -h More Lunch Ideas Vegetarian Lunch Ideas: One Sauce, Three Lunches 10 Lunch Ideas that Spark Joy Otsu Vegan Sushi Quinoa Patties Mushroom Hand Pies Black Sesame Otsu Continue reading Feel-good Lunch Ideas on 101 Cookbooks

A chunky, satisfying, winter-time riff on potato chowder - winking at the Japanese pantry with a finishing swirl of miso, and a touch of sake in the base.

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This isn’t your typical potato chowder. That said, I’ll argue that it checks all the boxes – hearty, chunky, warming, satisfying. It’s the sort of bowl you want to enjoy on the coldest of days, or when you’re trying to shake off a chill after a day outdoors. The chowder itself is quite simple. It winks at the Japanese pantry with a finishing swirl of miso, and a touch of sake in the base. You can make it with whole dairy milk, or organic soy milk, and I can imagine a coconut milk version being great as well. To the potato chowder base I add some cooked green lentils (or mung beans) and blanched broccoli, as a protein boost and to work in some vibrant green – making this a true one-bowl meal. You can enjoy the chowder on it’s own, or finished with a spicy chile sauce. I’ve included a special recipe for that below as well. Enjoy! Potato Chowder with Miso Broth: Inspiration This inspiration for this came in a round-about fashion. Wayne and I went to a friend’s house for New Years Eve. Malinda made a beautiful meal inspired by this book. One of my resolutions for 2016 was to cook more in clay, and having that meal kick off the year seemed wonderfully serendipitous. Malinda’s meal was cooked in various Japanese clay vessels and donabe (hot pots). My thoughts on donabe cooking warrants a post of it’s own, but there are so many things I love about it – the way cooking vessels are used as communal serving vessels, the sensory theatre that happens as you lift the lid from a pot, passing shared plates… There are just so many nuanced differences about cooking and serving in clay. And as far as technique goes, cooking in covered clay (for example in this sort of rice pot, or with this sort of smoker), is…different. Because you aren’t supposed to be checking on your progress constantly – you often cover and commit. It requires you to get to know your pots and stove (or heat source) in a more intimate way. Trust builds over time, because you can no longer rely on your eyes to tell you how things are progressing. It’s like shooting with an old film camera. Malinda sent me home with her copy of Naoko Takei Moore & Kyle Connaughton’s book – Donabe: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking, and I used one of their chowder recipes (Salmon Chowder with Miso Soy-Milk Broth) as a jumping off point for this vegetarian version. For this recipe a donabe is not required, but you can use one if you have one. I’ll also include their Chunky La-Yu recipe below, a spicy toasted sesame and chile oil – you can make it ahead of time, and it’s good on everything, especially this chowder. I posted a photo of the chowder to Instagram a couple of weeks back. Leftovers served over rice, with chile oil, and lots of broccoli. Enjoy! -h More Soup Recipes Rustic Cabbage Soup Tortellini Soup Roasted Tomato Soup Lively Up Lentil Soup Split Pea Soup Miso Soup Ribollita Wild Rice Soup all soup recipes Continue reading Potato Chowder with Miso Broth on 101 Cookbooks

Poppyseed-flecked and made with a blend of barley, oat, and rye flours, these multigrain waffles are buttermilk-moist with a golden crust and a hint of tanginess.

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I’ve been playing around with multigrain flour blends. In part, inspired by Kim Boyce’s book, in part, to rid my refrigerator of endless bags and jars of flours. I mixed up a batch of these multigrain waffles last weekend for a Saturday breakfast – well worth the effort it took to dust off the waffle maker. Poppyseed-flecked and made with a blend of barley, oat, and rye flours, these multigrain waffles are buttermilk-moist with a golden crust and a hint of tanginess. Multigrain Waffles: Substituting Flours I know I’m going to get a lot of questions about substituting flours here. The bulk of this multigrain blend is barley flour. The barley flour here helps keep these waffles on the light side, but if you need to replace it with whole wheat pastry flour, that should be a reasonable substitution. The whole wheat pastry flour is a bit heavier, but nothing like using a full-on hard whole wheat flour. As for the “accent flours” in this blend, I like the way the rye and oat works with the barley. I felt like quinoa flour would be too grassy for what I was after, but millet flour might have been interesting in place of the rye flour? I’m not 100% sure. That’s part of the fun of playing around with the multigrain blends, the variations are nearly endless – so take good notes as you experiment. And report back if you stumble on a combination that is particularly delicious. Let me know if you have any favorite multigrain blends or insights – interesting flour pairings or flour blend & ingredient pairings. It’s the sort of thing I love reading about. More Breakfast Recipes Healthy Granola The Best Waffle Recipe (seriously!) Homemade Cinnamon Rolls A loaded frittata Tofu Scramble Herb Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs Baked Oatmeal is always popular Crepes Fluffy Pancakes More breakfast recipes Continue reading Multigrain Waffles on 101 Cookbooks

The tomato soup to make if you have a good blender and a haul of tomatoes. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, and a red pepper are roasted, then seasoned with a touch of smoky paprika. Couldn't be more simple or flavorful.

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This is a variation of the roasted tomato soup recipe I featured in Super Natural Cooking. I love it because it’s one of those recipes that is quite simple, but the results are absolutely chef’s kiss. You use just a handful of ingredients – tomatoes, garlic, red pepper, etc. – then slice and roast them to the point of browning and collapse. Puree, season with a kiss of smoked paprika, and enjoy. That’s it. Roasted Tomato Soup: Inspiration The inspiration for this soup came years ago when I picked up a Mariquita Farm Mystery Box. So heavy, I suspect it weighed in the thirty pound range. The bus was overflowing with a rainbow of produce – little gem lettuce, Hungarian spicy peppers, lacinato kale, Danish carrot beets, minicor carrots, tomatoes, sweet peppers, chard and scallions. Hidden beneath the rest of it, at the very bottom, so as not to crush her leafy neighbors, was a hefty rouge vif d’estampe pumpkin the color of a fiery sunset. Plenty to keep the kitchen lively in the coming week. But we started by reaching for the tomatoes – slicing them, dicing, and enjoying them raw. And there *still* were plenty that needed to be used up. I thought of the roasted tomato soup in Super Natural Cooking, fired up the oven, and started slicing. Roasted Tomato Soup: Variations Too Hot To Use The Oven: Use the grill to cook everything in place of the oven. Puree, load with toppings and enjoy! Make it Chunky: Save a few of the roasted tomatoes from the blender. Chop those by hand and stir them back in after blending the rest. Serve it Chilled: I tend to serve this soup heated, but you can serve it hot, cold – or whatever the weather calls for. And you can do it a day or two in advance if need be, it keeps well refrigerated. What to Serve with This Soup Serving a soup like this along with some freshly baked bread is the way to go. Some favorite options: Lemon Focaccia: don’t skimp on the toppings here Cheddar Jalapeño Oatmeal Bread: might be my favorite of this list of options Zucchini Bread: well-toasted and smeared with a herby compound butter Six Seed Soda Bread: Seed crusted . Bonus points for adding a compound butter here as well. Easy Little Bread: yeast-based, farm-style loaf, made from rolled oats and a blend of all-purpose and whole wheat flours. More Soup Recipes Tortellini Soup Wild Rice Soup Roasted Tomato Soup Lively Up Lentil Soup Split Pea Soup Miso Soup Ribollita All soup recipes If you enjoy making soups as much as I do, you’ll want to start making your own homemade bouillon powder. So easy, and nice to keep on hand! More Tomato Recipes Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Roasted Tomato Salad Rustic Tomato Tart Simple Tomato Soup Five Minute Tomato Sauce Heirloom Tomato Salad Simple Bruschetta Roasted Tomato Salsa All the tomato recipes Continue reading Roasted Tomato Soup on 101 Cookbooks

We purchased an induction stove a few months back. I cook on it three meals a day, and then some. This is an ongoing list of all the things I love, loathe, and am surprised by related to induction cooking.

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For anyone induction curious, this is a page that talks about my experience using an induction stove. We purchased a Bertazzoni induction range in late 2023, and it seems like a lot of you have questions. I’m happy to relay my first person account as someone who is a serious home cook. I write cookbooks, test recipes professionally, and generally hit any stove (and kitchen!) pretty hard. Update: It’s now late 2025, and I’m going to thread a few thoughts in now that I have two years of induction experience. Most of my initial thoughts hold up. An Induction Stove: Why now? I’ve cooked primarily on Viking ranges for the past fifteen years. Amongst other issues, we’ve always had trouble with the igniters related to the oven. Recently, our Viking gas range racked up more repair bills than it was worth, so we had a recycler come pick it up. We needed a replacement, and I figured it was as good a time as any to see if we liked induction. As I write this, we’re a couple months in, and I suppose the main question is, would we make the same purchase today? The answer is a very strong yes! The Bertazzoni and I have become easy friends. The jury is out on how it will hold up over time, but I am generally thrilled with the induction side of things. There are a few downsides though, so let’s talk though the details. Induction Cooking: Some of the things I love! I’ll continue to add to this list as my experience cooking with induction develops over time. For now, these are my thoughts after about three months of daily cooking on this range. It has an induction stovetop and electric oven. Speed: The induction burners are wildly fast. I think of all the weeks of my life I’ve wasted standing around waiting for water to boil. Friends, I’m here to tell you, this alone is a game changer. So incredibly fast. Dreamy cleanup: My days of cleaning crumbs and spills out of the cracks in my stovetop are over. A few gentle swipes with a soft sponge is usually all it takes to get things back to looking new. Breathe easier: Induction seems to translate to better air quality in the kitchen when compared to gas. I could see it when running our air filter in the kitchen while cooking with gas. The air filter would signal a drop in air quality. I’m not seeing the same drop with induction. If you search for “induction better air quality in your home” you can read more about this from a number of sources. Steady simmer: The induction burners pass the low, low simmer test. I often have something going at a low simmer (for ex: this ragù or soup). One of my pet peeves is gas burners often cut out, or, don’t allow for a true low simmer. The induction here gives real nuanced degrees of control in the low range. Good oven modes: Specific to the Bertazzoni, the oven modes on it are great. They include a “bottom bake” and “top bake” mode. So, for example, if a pie you’re baking is getting a little dark on top, you can switch to “bottom bake” mode and that takes some of the intensity off the top of the pie. No official “proof” mode on mine but the oven light works nicely for keeping dough cozy. Durable: Also related to the Bertazzoni. We’ll see over time, but short-term indications are strong. While baking sourdough I accidentally bounced the hot cast iron lid of my dutch oven off the oven door glass. Miraculously it didn’t shatter. We hit this thing hard, every day. Update: So far, it’s still holding strong! We’ll see, now that we’re out of the two year warranty zone. Lol. Things I Don’t Love about My Induction Stove: You can see the Bertazzoni being installed up above. I was genuinely nervous about swapping out the gas range. I absolutely count on having reliable cooking appliances in my kitchen, so anytime there’s a shake up I cross all my fingers and toes. In this case, we fired it up, and this beauty has been going hard in the months since. That said, here are a few of the things I’m putting in the negative column. Focused burner intensity: The heat from each “burner” is intense and very focused, particularly at higher settings. If you remember those old-school cigarette lighters, the ones they used to have in cars, the intensity reminds me of that. Like, if you burned something with one of those lighters it was a perfect circle burn. So, in this case if you walk away with something in a skillet wider than the burner heating element, you run the risk of scorching/burning the ingredients onto the pan exactly where the heating element is. It’s just something I need to be more mindful of. 220v: We had to put in 220v power to enable this range. So, an added expense here. To be fair, this isn’t necessarily an issue specific to induction, we’ve had to run 220v to another gas/electric range in the past. It’s just an expense you should be aware of when you’re looking at new stoves. Bad popcorn: Related to the above note. I still haven’t cracked the code here. Even at settings 5 or 6 I’m burning part of the popcorn to the bottom of the pan. Cooking on glass. I have trouble keeping the pan on the glass. This is taking some getting used to. You need to keep your pans in direct contact with the stovetop or you lose the heat. I was used to being more physical with my pans while cooking, lifting them up, moving them around a lot, but cooking on induction has quieted things down a bit. Learning curve. Pots & Pans: I had to evaluate which pans could make the jump to induction, not all will work. I’ll do a separate post at some point related to the ones that have become go-tos. A preview: I haven’t loved using my largest All-Clad skillet on induction, but the All-Clad saucepan I bought is perfect. I’m enjoying the performance of a range of carbon steel pans with induction *and* they’re much less costly. And my enameled cast iron is a dream to use here. I reach for it constantly. The verdict: Update 9/2025: After two years, I suppose the real question is, would I repurchase this induction range, and the answer is a resounding absolutely. I thought I’d miss cooking with fire more than I do. Thankfully, we do plenty of outdoor cooking over open flame up on the patio or when we’re camping – so this became a non-issue. Although it was the thing I was most nervous about! Let me know if you have any specific questions related to induction stoves, cookware or anything I missed here. Continue reading My Induction Stove: Pros, Cons and Real Talk on 101 Cookbooks

Classic sugar cookies topped with royal icing provide the perfect blank canvas for all your cookie design daydreams. These are my tips for getting your cookies just right.

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My love affair with sugar cookies, specifically the iced ones, runs deep. In large part because they allow for endless personalization. Whatever is going on in life, you can come up with a special iced sugar cookie as the ultimate home-baked gift. Birthdays, celebrations, holidays, milestones, literally anything. Blank canvas in cookie form. I also like to bake off batches and mess around with designs the way I might play around in a sketch book – inspired by color, a season, a fabric, an artist. The inspiration here is endless. This is the most recent collection I made, loosely channeling “end of summer” vibes – stripes and sherbet shades. The two components you need to get right are the cookies, and the icing. Here are my thoughts on both before we jump into the recipes down below. Sugar Cookies: The Foundation Let’s talk about the foundation to start. You want your cookies to taste good, not just look interesting. So, I’ll start by noting that I’m not in the camp that bakes pale, super blond sugar cookies. I see a lot of them out there. The cookies with little (or no) color baked into them. When you let your cookies get golden at the edges, and when you’ve rolled them out about 1/4-inch thick, you get nice toasted sugar and brown butter notes along with a cookie that has really good structure. Once cooled they’ll give you a bit of snap when you break them, certainly at the edges. I love this. So that’s what I’m going to guide you toward in this recipe. The recipe below leans classic, I also often make a wonderful version using 100% whole wheat you keep whole wheat pastry flour on hand. Royal Icing: The Flare Royal icing is a simple mixture of egg white, powdered sugar, a bit of water (or other liquid), and a bit of flare if you like – extracts, etc. It’s sweet, sets up nicely enough that you can draw, paint, and sketch on top of it. You can also embed sugars, sprinkles, and other delights in the icing when it is still wet. I like to use dried egg white powder in place of egg whites for a number of reasons. But primarily because you avoid raw egg when you take this approach. Egg white powder is easy to source and the bag I bought recently won’t expire for over a year. Sugar Cookies: Ingredients Let’s talk through a few of the key ingredients here. I have some thoughts! Powdered Sugar: I tend to buy organic powdered sugar, it isn’t as bright white, but I don’t mind. While mixing, at first you’ll think, “yikes, this looks a little grey” – don’t worry, it brightens up as you mix. The sugar cookies here are dressed up with royal icing made with organic powdered sugar, so if you’re ok with the whites pictured in these cookies, use them as a reference. Egg white powder: Using it eliminates the need to use raw egg whites in the icing. This is the kind I tend to use. It’s a bit spendy, but a little goes a long way. A bag takes while to work through, so once you have a bag, you’ll be set for a good stretch of cookie making. It also keeps, well sealed, for a very long time. Decorating: For these cookies I used edible markers to make the stripes and designs. There are lots of them out there in a range of colors. I tend to like to use these colored markers in place of using food dye to color the royal icing, because it has a nice aesthetic and allows you to do fine work and details. Alternately, for coloring batches of royal icing, I’ve been using these natural food colors. I buy them individually (red, blue, yellow) and blend the colors to my liking. Thin your royal icing with more water to achieve a more translucent look. Sugar Cookies: The Method Here are some photos that might be helpful as you walk through how to make these cookies. Shape and stamp: Once you’ve mixed your cookie dough, let it chill and rest for a few hours, then roll it out. I tend to go 1/4-inch thin, or a shade less. Use whatever you can imaging to stamp your cookies – traditional cookies cutters, by hand with a knife, little cups, etc! Bake: Here you can see that I like to bake some color into my sugar cookies (above). The flavor is toasty and wonderful. Piping Icing: You don’t need to have special pastry gear to decorate cookies. I typically fill a baggie, and snip of the tiniest bit of one corner. It does the job. Flood cookies with icing: Pipe a line around the perimeter of each cookie. Fill in the rest, guiding icing into any gaps with a skewer (or something similar). Let the icing set completely, ideally, overnight (see below). You can see this process in the video down below. Add special designs, patterns, and colors: Now the fun really starts. Customize your cookies using edible ink pens and/or colored royal icing and allow to completely dry. Video: Decorating Sugar Cookies More Cookie Recipes Chocolate Cookies Shortbread Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies Snickerdoodles Triple Ginger Cookies David Lebovitz’s Great Chocolate Chip Cookies The World’s Best Cookies all cookie recipes Continue reading Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing on 101 Cookbooks

Simple green curry dumplings made with caramelized leeks, green curry paste, and cooked mung beans. Everything is thinned with coconut milk and then mashed and smashed a bit.

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Big hugs. If you’re up for a bit of a project, and you want to make something to lift the spirits, this is where you need to land. A few of you asked about these dumplings when I posted a snapshot of them to Instagram. They were a Friday night project after a busy week. Instead of going out, an evening of repetitive filling and folding sounded perfect. The filling was inspired strictly by the contents of the refrigerator, as a trip to the store would have defeated the entire purpose 🙂 The filling: caramelized leeks, green curry paste, and cooked mung beans. Everything is thinned with coconut milk and then mashed and smashed a bit. I rolled out fresh dumpling wrappers (similar to the ones I did for these momos), and decided on folding them into big hugs. Because really, who can resist a dumpling filled with green curry spiked deliciousness folded into the friendliest shape? I ended up loving the filling, and even made a second batch to share with friends. The extras froze beautifully and are great for quick weeknight meals. You forget just how long they take to make. Laugh/cry. It’s not actually that bad if you’re using store-bought wrappers. Also, as a side note, I made the wrappers with a blend of unbleached all-purpose flour combined with whole wheat pastry flour – 7 ounces all-purpose flour + 3 ounces whole wheat pastry flour. Turned out great. More Mung Bean Recipes Mung Bean Dip Mung Bean Yoga Bowl Sprout Salad Continue reading Green Curry Dumplings on 101 Cookbooks

Colorful and bright, this Mediterranean pasta salad is punctuated with bursts of flavor from briny olives, cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs. The creamy dressing is tzatziki inspired with grated cucumber, garlic and salted yogurt. The perfect lunch!

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Let’s talk pasta salad. I know we’ve done a few versions over the years together, but this one has been a go-to recently. It is a Mediterranean pasta salad. Ish. And it fires on all engines. It is flavor-packed, nutritious, and the leftovers are legit amazing. You start with a base of good pasta. Beyond that, there’s a blast of green from fresh herbs, flecks of briny olives, and pops of tomato goodness. The creamy, tzatziki-inspired yogurt dressing is punctuated with garlic, grated cucumber and herbs and coats the pasta beautifully. The whole thing is a shade over the top, admittedly a bit maximalist, but it’s a favorite feel-good lunch around here. A few more details. This Med-centric pasta salad is loaded with quick marinated cubes of tofu vamping for more typical feta cubes. Record scratch, I know. If this hurts your sensibility, no problem. Use feta. Or do a combination. I find using the tofu keeps me going throughout the afternoon, and the yogurt brings plenty of creaminess in place of a soft, salty cheese like feta. Lastly, this recipe makes a lot of pasta salad so it’s the perfect sort of recipe for Sunday meal prep. Mediterranean Pasta Salad: The Main Ingredients Pasta: Use whatever your favorite short pasta you like here. I love the Sfoglini Whole Grain Reginetti for pasta salads like this — it’s what you see pictured above. The texture and flavor is great and you get a good bump of protein and fiber over a white pasta. Penne, rigatoni, and farfalle are alternate pasta shape that work great here. Cucumber: This recipe calls for two. You grate one and stir it into a tzatziki inspired, garlic-boosted yogurt sauce. The other is chopped into tiny cubes and tossed into a big bowl with the pasta and the other ingredients. Olives: Use dry, oil-cured black olives if you have them, but don’t sweat it if you don’t. I’ve done this pasta salad with a wide range of olives in the past, some are better than others, but you’re going to get that briny, salty punctuation whatever olives you choose. Big, meaty green Castelvetrano olives are another favorite, but a canned black olive can do the job as well. Yogurt: As long as it’s plain, use what you’ve got in your fridge. Greek yogurt will make your sauce quite a bit thicker, but everything is getting well tossed together, it all works itself out. And low-fat yogurt is also fine if that is what you keep on hand. Long way of saying, don’t make a special trip to the store to get an alternate yogurt if you already have some. The spirit of this whole recipe is adaptability. Tomatoes or Other Seasonal Vegetables: If tomatoes are in season, use cherry tomatoes here. Bonus points if you make them roasted cherry tomatoes. For example, if it’s spring, swap in something equally colorful and seasonally specific – cooked favas, blanched asparagus, and or spring peas. Herbs: The yogurt sauce calls for dried herbs, and the pasta salad calls for fresh. The more the better as far as I’m concerned. I often season the yogurt with a good amount of za’atar, but you might have dried thyme or dill and prefer to use that. Finishing the pasta salad with a pile or fresh arugula, basil leaves, or cilantro are all good options. Tofu or Feta: Making this with cubed tofu in place of feta will likely draw some sneers, but honestly, it’s not a bad way to roll. I like the added protein boost. Leftovers! The leftovers here are great. Especially the day after, and the day after that. Day three and the pasta texture changes and loses some structure. By day three, I’m a pass. Before that, the pasta holds up, the herbs and onions infuse the creamy dressing and cucumbers. It’s on par with a good day-old macaroni salad, but loaded with good stuff like tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and olives. More One-Bowl Pastas & Pasta Salads Fregola Sarda Easy Tomato Pasta Salad Pasta with Smashed Zucchini Cream Macaroni Salad Pasta with Creamy Crushed Walnut Sauce Pasta with Etruscan Sauce Harissa Spaghetti all pasta recipes Continue reading Mediterranean Pasta Salad on 101 Cookbooks

Savory pie people, these mushroom hand pies are for you. Mushrooms, charred scallions, sesame, and miso come together in these portable pockets of deliciousness. You get creaminess from a bit of cheese, and each bite delivers the magic of a golden, flaky pie crust.

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I haven’t been this excited about a recipe in a long time. These mushroom hand pies are something special. I mean, just look at them! Deeply roasted mushrooms and charred scallions are tossed with a lemony-miso paste and tucked into a golden pastry crust spiked with just enough cheese to make things creamy. If you like a bit of kick, add some chili crisp or Calabrian chili paste. So good! The Inspiration This is basically a pantry recipe at its core. I had a lot of mushrooms on hand, I also had dough ready to make one of my favorite pie crusts, so those were the two set variables. Also, these peach hand pies were so fun to make recently, I decided a savory hand pie was in order! From there, other ingredients I keep on hand entered the equation – miso, toasted sesame oil and seeds, scallions, lemon. I felt like roasting was the call here on the cooking front, it concentrates the flavor in the mushrooms and scallions with the bonus benefit that baking drives off much of the extra moisture in those ingredients. If you had a grill going with a griddle on it, you could cook the mushrooms and scallions that way as an alternative. Mushroom Hand Pies: Ingredients Mushrooms: This is your substantial base, and main player. The mushrooms bring earthy savoriness, and you can use whatever varietal(s) you love – oyster, maiitake, cremini, whatever! Or use a blend of types for a mix of textures. Also, I like to slice the mushrooms thinly for this filling, but you could also chop them for a different texture if you like. Miso: Brings depth, flavor, umami-boost, and savoriness. The miso here helps bind the filling and bridges all the ingredients. Charred Scallions: The scallions bring the green here. As well as onion-y goodness that works so well with mushrooms. The kiss of browning and char is flavor bliss and brings a bit of edge to the whole medley. Sesame: I double down on the sesame flavor here using both toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds. And while I’m normally judicious with toasted sesame oil use (because it can be overpoweringly strong), I go hard here so the flavor stands up to the pastry and other mushroom filing components. Cheese: Strong flavor and a creamy way to bring everything together – these are the goals with the cheese here. My preference is gruyere or white cheddar to complement the mushrooms. Pie Dough: Your hand pies are only as good as your pastries. I use this pie crust. And because today’s mushroom hand pie recipe is savory I leave the sugar out of the pie crust. How To Make Hand Pies Here’s the step-by-step of how to make these hand pies. You start out by roasting your mushrooms and scallions and then combining it with a miso-lemon paste and some grated cheese for a strong filling. (photo below) You roll out your pie dough and then use a cookie cutter to set the shape for your and pies. (photo below) Load up the circles of pie dough with mushroom filling and be sure the edges are brushed generously with egg wash so the edges of the pie crust seal nicely. The home stretch! Arrange another pie dough circle over the filling, seal well by pressing with your fingertips and/or using a fork around the edges of each hand pie. Allow to chill in a freezer for a bit, then brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and slash to allow steam release. (pictured below) Bake until beautifully golden and gorgeous! Make Ahead: The two main components here are the pie crust and the filling. Both can be prepped ahead of time. Pie Dough: If you keep pie dough in the freezer, transfer it to your refrigerator a day before you want to roll out and fill your hand pies. Filling: You can make the mushroom filling a few days in advance of filling your hand pies. Freezer Hand Pies: Once you’ve assembled your hand pies, they freeze wonderfully. Freeze in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet or plate. Transfer to a container for up to a couple months. When you’re ready to bake the hand pies, brush them with eggs, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and cut a couple slashes in the top of each pie before placing in the oven. Make It Pretty I just want to call this detail out – the egg wash is key. It helps make your pies golden and glossy. It’s also the glue that enables the sesame seeds to stick through the baking process. Mushroom Hand Pies: Variations Spicy: if you don’t have chili crisp, use your favorite heat-boosting go-to. This could be Calabrian chile paste, curry paste (thinned out somehow), shichimi togarashi, etc. No Scallions?: You can substitute onions, shallots, or leeks. Toasted Nori: If you have some toasted nori on hand, crush it into small flakes and sprinkle a couple teaspoons it into filling. More Pie Recipes Shaker Lemon Pie Pumpkin Pie Deep Dish Quiche Shaker Apple Pie Vegan Samosa Shepherd’s Pie Vegetable Pot Pie Berry Pie Peach Hand Pies Coconut Cream Pie More Mushroom Recipes Mushroom Ragù Stuffed Mushrooms Mushroom Lasagna Mushroom Casserole Mushroom Stroganoff Mushroom Scallion Tartine with Poblano Yogurt Baked Mushrooms with Miso Butter Roasted Mushroom Sandwich all mushroom recipes Continue reading Mushroom Hand Pies on 101 Cookbooks

Muhammara (or mouhamara) is something I love to turn people on to. It's a traditional red pepper spread originating from Syria made with a fascinating blend of red peppers, walnuts, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and a handful of other ingredients.

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Muhammara (or mouhamara) is something I love to turn people on to. It’s a traditional red pepper spread originating from Syria made with a beguiling blend of red peppers, walnuts, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and a handful of other ingredients – depending on the cook. I included a recipe for it years ago in Super Natural Cooking (2007), and make it when something reminds me of how much I love it. Which is exactly why you’re seeing it today. I was having dinner at Aziza, in San Francisco, and always order Mourad’s beautiful spreads. One of them reminds me of muhammara, although I think he makes his with piquillo peppers and almonds, (or perhaps whatever looks good at the moment). It’s a perfect spread for late summer, you can use red peppers from the market and grill them. It’s ideal alongside grilled flatbread or toasted pita. Make this the next time you’re considering doing a hummus or labneh – or (even better) go for an assortment. Muhammara A couple notes! This is quite a hearty, substantial dip. Toasted walnuts round out the flavor of a beautiful red pepper base. A rich splash of sweet pomegranate molasses lends a subtly sweet back note to the red chile flakes. My version tends to be light on the cumin and red pepper compared to other recipes you might come across. Correspondingly, you can easily make the spread thicker or thinner depending on how you plan to enjoy it. More Dip, Spreads, and Smears Baked Artichoke Dip Guacamole Seed Pâté Golden Beet Hummus A Vibrant Beet Caviar Mung Bean Dip 10 Party Dips, Spreads and Smears Continue reading Muhammara on 101 Cookbooks

Everything you love about a classic blueberry muffin, but with a hint of lavender and buttery oat streusel tops people inevitably eat first.

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Every baker has a blueberry muffin recipe, but not everyone has a version like this one. These muffins are stand-out for a couple reasons. A trace of lavender is blended into the sugar, just enough harmonize with the berry notes. And each muffin is crowned with a crumble, packed with buttery oats, as the topper. The kind you find on your favorite baked fruit crisp. These are berry-streaked wonders, naturally floral without being too strong or perfume-y. You. should. absolutely. bake. some. Blueberry Muffin Ingredients A few notes on some of the main player ingredients. Blueberries: Beyond summer berries, or berries I’ve frozen for later use, frozen wild blueberries are what I typically reach for when baking these. I like their size and concentration. But standard blueberries are a-ok as well. Yogurt: I use whatever full fat yogurt I have on hand for these because it’s typically what I keep around. If you have buttermilk instead, that’s a reasonable swap. Oats: Use standard oats here, skip the instant oats. Lavender Sugar: You’ll make a quick version by pulsing a bit of dried lavender with brown sugar in a food processor or high-speed blender. We grow some lavender here, so I dry my own (here’s a post on how to dry herbs). There’s also this post on working with edible flowers. Crumble Topping: Quick to make, this is simply a streusel crumble made from many of the same ingredients you’ll be using for the muffin batter component. How To Make Blueberry Muffins with Lavender It might be helpful for you to see what this process for making these muffins at various stages: Make the lavender sugar, it goes into both the crumble top, and the muffin batter. Make the quick dough for the crumble top and pop it into the freezer. Mix the dry ingredients. You mix the wet ingredients and then you’ll combine them – as pictured below. Avoid over mixing to keep your muffins tender. Mix just enough that there are only a few dry streaks visible. Fold in the berries: To avoid mixing a purple batter, keeping things pretty, you need to be careful at this stage. I’ve found that sprinkling the blueberries across the batter, then folding them under with just two or three swoops of your spoon or spatula strikes the right balance (pictured below). You get good berry distribution, groovy streaks, without staining all the batter. Fill the muffin tins: Spoon the muffin batter into paper-lined muffin tins. Then top with the crumble. Finish with a few strategically placed blueberries on each muffin before moving them to a hot oven. Bake and enjoy! Let them get nice and golden. Blueberry Muffins: Variations Blueberry Citrus: In place of the lavender, load your muffin batter up with lots of citrus – Meyer lemon is a great call here. But I also love orange or a combination multiple citrus types. Blueberry Hibiscus: Steep a few tablespoons of hibiscus in hot water, chop well, then use in the batter along with some toasted coconut flakes (the large kind). Fold in with the blueberries. Blueberry Rose Vanilla: You can make a rose sugar in place of the lavender version. Adding a splash of vanilla to the wet ingredients is also welcome. Brown Butter Blueberry: Skip the lavender and do a version adding toasted walnuts or hazelnuts (chopped) to both the crumble top and the muffin batter. Use brown butter in place of the melted butter. Storage You have options! Store in airtight container for a couple days. Freeze in a well-sealed container for up to two months. To reheat, allow the muffins to thaw, then reheat in oven at 350F for a few minutes, until warmed through. Toaster ovens work great here as well. More Muffin Recipes Seeded Pumpkin & Feta Muffins Bran Muffins Cottage Cheese Muffins Oatmeal Muffins Buttermilk Berry Muffins Baked Oatmeal Cups Nine great muffin recipes all baking recipes Continue reading Blueberry Muffins with Lavender on 101 Cookbooks

Iced sesame noodles have become a thing in our house in recent years. Cold noodles plus a creamy sesame sauce and a line up of great toppings equals custom bowls everyone loves!

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These iced sesame noodles have become my summertime bestie. Is it hot out? If so, there’s a good chance this is going to be on the table. I’m here to share the details before we run out of summer. Imagine a rotating cast of long, slurp-able noodles (soba, pici, somen, spaghetti, etc.) tangling with a creamy sesame sauce, topped with 4-5 easy toppings. That’s the basic formula. The noodles are served family-style in a large bowl of ice water. Everyone mixes up their own individual, custom portions. So good, so fun. Definitely a Japanese-inspired concept, dovetailing, in our house, with whatever is popping up at California farmers’ markets. I encourage you to incorporate whatever your family loves and the ingredients shining at your local markets. Building an Iced Sesame Noodle Bowl Aside from boiling the noodles, nearly everything else here can be prepared ahead of time. It’s part of what’s great about this and what makes it a weeknight-friendly meal. I like to toss some chopped veggies (whatever is on hand – broccoli, asparagus, etc.) in the pasta water after the noodles come out, keeping the cooking to a single pot. To summarize, here are the main components of the meal: Noodles: Keep a selection of favorites on hand. Homemade sesame sauce: make ahead and refrigerate for up to a week. Recipe below. Also, consider experimenting with almond butter and/or peanut butter in place of the tahini or sesame paste for another variation. Toppings: I’ll list off twenty-plus favorites. Choose 4-5 for your meal. Side veggies: And easy boost! As mentioned above, grab something that can do a quick boil in your pasta water after you remove the noodles. More ideas below. Let’s Talk about Noodle Options I’ve done fantastic versions of this meal with all of the following. Think long and slurp-able on the noodle front. I also check my noodle labels to make sure they’re not wildly salted, to be honest, I’ve been caught off guard on a number of occasions. Soba: I love the combination of buckwheat soba noodles and sesame and soba traditionally works well with sesame sauces similar to this one. Soba is a frequent go-to when I make this recipe and cold soba, in general, is summertime wonderful. Somen: These thin Japanese wheat noodles are a crowd-pleasing favorite. Especially if you have picky eaters that aren’t as receptive to brown noodles. Homemade pici: A hand-rolled Italian pasta, if you’re up for more of a project, cold pici really makes this whole situation something extra special. Spaghetti: Give whatever spaghetti you love a try. I love the Monograno Felicetti Farro Spaghetti for its texture and boosted nutrition profile (not sponsored, just a fan), and the farro plays beautiful with the creamy sesame sauce. Pictured here. Sesame Noodle Toppings Choose 4-5 different toppings. I feel like grated ginger is a non-negotiable here. So good. And I leave any spicy component out of the base sesame sauce so that each person can light up their bowls with whatever level of spicy they can handle. grated ginger: peel ginger with a spoon and grate with a microplane grater into a small bowl. Key topping! something spicy: favorites for this recipe include Calabrian chile oil, chile crisp, tobanjan toasted seeds and/or nuts: za’atar, traditional gomasio, I also make a red gomasio-ish (pictured above) that I’ll post the recipe for soon, toasted peanuts, etc. tomatoes: specifically, these roasted cherry tomatoes crunchy bits: for example, fried shallots or crispy jalapeño pieces (WB brought these home from TJ’s a few weeks ago) pesto: a little dollop of pesto in your bowl along with the sesame sauce is pretty great. lemon zest or chopped, preserved lemons makrut lime leaves: thinly slivered kale chips chives chopped scallions grated carrots hard boiled eggs, quartered And as we move into later summer and early fall, and the weather is still hot enough for cold noodles, but the seasonal ingredients are shifting, here are a few other ideas: thinly sliced, crisp apple toasted pumpkin seeds simple cauliflower roasted cauliflower: This variation is next on my list, iced sesame noodles plus roasted cauliflower and some of the other ingredients in this recipe as toppings – mint, arugula, chopped dates, red onion, and a spice blend of toasted pine nuts, sesame, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes. It’s gonna be good. Also! For the iced noodle bowl (above), play around. Add thin citrus slices – Meyer lemon, rangpur lime, kishu mandarin, orange, key lime are all recent favorites. You can also add fresh herbs or lime leaves or use a cold broth. I have a cold mushroom broth that works really well. The recipe for that one is in Super Natural Simple, in the back. While You’re At It: Add a Side Veggie! Broccoli florets, asparagus tops, green beans, yellow beans, corn – these are just a few of the vegetables I’ve cooked in a flash after cooking the noodles for the bowls. Boil for a mint or so, strain under cold water and serve on the side. Everyone loves to work the vegetables into their noodle bowls as well. More Noodle Recipes Walnut Miso Noodles Ten+ Popular Noodle Recipes Vegetable Noodle Soup Sriracha Noodle Soup 20 Fantastic Noodle Soups Favorite Rice Noodle Stir Fry Fire Broth Noodle Soup Spicy Coconut Curry Noodles Continue reading Iced Sesame Noodles on 101 Cookbooks

An invigorating homemade nut butter made from a mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper blended with walnuts and vanilla extract.

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Around here we call this fire butter, but that’s probably being overly dramatic. It’s an invigorating mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper blended with walnuts and vanilla extract into a homemade walnut butter. If I have maca powder or mesquite flour on hand, I add those too. This became a fast and feisty house favorite, and a way to boost an everyday favorite nutritionally with a host of spices. When you blend your own nut butters, it’s hard to resist adding things! This version is perfect spread on toast, dabbed on banana coins or apple wedges, or thinned out into a spring roll dipping sauce. I like to use walnuts here, but feel free to use almonds, or a blend of walnuts with another favorite nut. Walnut is nice though, the texture is luxe, and I haven’t had a problem with separation. One last note, I don’t salt this, although it definitely needs a bit of salt. I wait until I spread it across something, and then sprinkle a bit of salt at that point, and it seems to be plenty. But you can salt to your liking ahead of time, of course. More Walnut Recipes Walnut Strozzapreti Walnut Miso Noodles Pasta with Creamy Crushed Walnut Sauce Candied Walnuts Continue reading Spicy Homemade Nut Butter on 101 Cookbooks

Try Juliet Sear's fabulous bakes and best ever family suppers. Make a stunning reindeer cake, indulgent vegan brownies or veggie Sunday dinner.

Discover more app-only recipes, then explore further inspiration from our contributing chefs, including Sophie Wyburd, Mary Berry, and Brin Pirathapan.

Prep these spectacular Christmas puds days in advance, then spend more time with your family on the big day. Choose from our 10 best alternative festive desserts, from cheesecake to brownies

View Green Video on the source website Nobody wants to be slaving away in the kitchen following a hearty Christmas lunch. Our impressive make-ahead desserts will take the stress out of Christmas preparations, and allow you to spend more time with family and friends. Whether you've missed the boat on Stir-up Sunday or just fancy a departure from a traditional Christmas pudding, why not mix it up with exciting new flavours, such as rocky road cheesecake, retro white forest roulade or a next level trifle. These indulgent desserts can be kept in the fridge for several days before serving, allowing you to sit back and relax on the big day. Want to get ahead with more of your festive meal prep? Check out our collection of make-ahead Christmas recipes. Discover more festive treats in our Christmas dessert and no-bake Christmas dessert collections. We also have our alternative Christmas desserts and leftover Christmas dessert ideas, as well as our Christmas baking collection. 10 festive desserts you can make ahead 1. Rocky road cheesecake bombe Nothing merits the 'Christmas showstopper' title more than this majestic mash-up of three popular sweet treats in one chocolatey bombe. Marbled chocolate sponge walls give way to a surprise cheesecake and rocky road filling and a delightful array of tastes and textures. Although the hard work will have been done ahead of time, you'll still need to decorate this cheesecake before serving by covering it in a chocolatey glaze and toppings of your choice. We've gone with white chocolate drizzle, edible sprinkles and chocolate truffles. Choose from more cheesecake recipes. 2. Black forest traybake Turn black forest gateau into a party-ready Christmas dessert. Make a chocolate traybake to top with chocolate ganache, kirsch cream, roasted cherries and roasted hazelnuts for a crowd-pleasing treat that can be made up to three days in advance. Get more inspiration with our Christmas traybake recipes. 3. Irish cream tiramisu We're all for combining cultural influences in food and this tempting twist on a classic Italian dessert does just that. Flavour tiramisu with Irish cream liqueur for a brilliantly boozy pudding to round off a dinner party or Christmas Day meal. This light dessert can be prepared in under half an hour before chilling, making it a speedy saviour. Sprinkle with a dusting of cocoa powder and you're ready to go. Try more creamy tiramisu recipes. 4. White forest meringue roulade When it comes to retro dessert favourites, it's sometimes hard to break with tradition – but once you've tried our snowy spin on a black forest gateau, you won't be going back. This luxurious roulade combines white chocolate, meringue and cream with a velvety clove-spiced cherry sauce for a striking Christmas centrepiece. It can be frozen for up to a month. Defrost overnight and serve with cherries and a drizzle of melted white chocolate. Discover more roulade recipes. 5. Mince pie cheesecake Don't let those leftover mince pies go to waste! Instead, give them a spectacular second life by incorporating them into the decadent base of this cheesecake. It's not just a way to minimise Christmas food waste; it's a stroke of culinary genius Use up more festive bakes with our leftover Christmas pudding recipes. 6. Mince pie brownies Who doesn't love a warm brownie served with cream or ice cream? Make them even more festive with chunks of leftover mince pies for an easy treat that keeps for a week in an airtight container or a month in the freezer (if they don't get polished off before then). Discover more Christmas brownie recipes. 7. Retro trifle Take the classic trifle to a new level with our all-out indulgent makeover. Layers of raspberry jelly and rich clotted cream custard are topped with custard creams, double cream, sprinkles and maraschino cherries. This dazzling dessert will keep in the fridge for up to three days, saving you all the hassle of assembling it at the last minute. Check out our chocolate orange mini trifle for a delicious boozy alternative, and find even more ideas in our collection of Christmas trifle recipes. 8. Christmas pudding cheesecake Can't choose between a Christmas pudding or cheesecake? Then why not try a mouth-watering combination of both. With a boozy orange filling and crunchy gingerbread base, this simple chilled dessert is sure to become a festive favourite. For an extra flavour boost, caramelise some clementine slices using a kitchen blowtorch and arrange over the cheesecake. It will keep in the fridge for up to three days. See more of our gorgeous Christmas cheesecake recipes. 9. Jamaican ginger sponge pudding If you aren't a fan of traditional Christmas pudding, this decadent, sticky, spiced ginger pudding makes a great alternative. The sponge can be made up to a week ahead, so all you need to do is heat it on the day, and whip up a luscious rum caramel sauce to pour over. We recommend serving with a generous dollop of ice cream or whipped cream. 10. Coffee & Irish cream semifreddo wreath Delight your friends with this eye-catching semifreddo wreath. Flavoured with coffee granules and Irish cream liqueur, it offers a lighter and more contemporary dessert compared to classic Christmas pudding. This lovely dessert can serve up to 16 people and, for added convenience, it's freezable for up to two days ahead of serving, so you can spend more time with your guests. Discover more festive dessert showstoppers... Our best Christmas desserts Easy Christmas desserts 10 ways with leftover Christmas desserts Our most indulgent vegan Christmas desserts Festive dessert collection Christmas chocolate recipes Five ways with mince pies What's your favourite make-ahead Christmas dessert? Leave a comment below...

Get ready for Christmas with our easy gammon glaze recipes. Make some simple sauces using honey, brown sugar, English mustard or maple syrup.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a delicious glazed gammon centrepiece. A sticky, sweet glaze contrasts the saltiness of the ham perfectly. Our recipes are easy to make, and use simple ingredients such as honey, brown sugar, English mustard and maple syrup. If you prefer yours with some extra spice, try infusing the glaze with allspice or cinnamon. Get ready for the big day with our easy gammon glaze recipes. For more Christmas inspiration, see our gammon recipes, Christmas dinner recipes and easy Christmas desserts. 1. Glazed gammon This classic recipe is great if you're looking to keep things simple. Simply combine honey, English mustard and a couple tablespoons of dark brown sugar. Brush half the mixture over the ham, roast for 15 minutes, then brush with the remaining glaze and finish roasting. 2. Cola ham with maple & mustard glaze Our highly rated cola ham recipe is sure to be a hit on Christmas Day. Mix 150ml maple syrup with 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and a pinch of ground cloves or Chinese five-spice powder in a jug. Score the fat all over in a criss-cross pattern to absorb the glaze, then brush the glaze over the meat and roast. 3. Marmalade, ginger & star anise baked ham Put your favourite marmalade to work with this spiced baked ham recipe. Heat marmalade with light brown sugar, lime juice, ginger and 2 star anise until the sugar and marmalade have dissolved. Leave to cool a little so the glaze thickens, then brush onto the ham. 4. Mustard & apple glazed ham This sticky, sweet and spicy ham is sure to impress on your Christmas table. The three types of mustard, as well as dry cider, fresh sage and bay leaves, offer so much flavour that everyone will be coming back for seconds. 5. Ginger beer & tamarind ham Take your gammon to the next level with this flavour-packed recipe. Let the spicy notes of ginger come into their own in this Christmas ham. It’s poached in ginger beer, then basted in a sticky tamarind glaze 6. Spiced Christmas gammon with membrillo glaze Give festive ham a Spanish-inspired twist with a sticky quince and orange glaze. Combine membrillo (quince paste) with sherry vinegar and orange juice. Add some spice with ground allspice – the flavour combination adds a warming kick. 7. Spiced ginger-glazed ham This easy glazed ham recipe only calls for five ingredients. Cook the ham in a mixture of ginger ale, water and allspice berries. Once the liquid reduces down, remove the ham and combine with light brown sugar, grated ginger and crushed allspice. Simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes until syrupy. 8. Miso-glazed roast ham Try this flavourful ham recipe for a unique take on a gammon glaze. Combine demerara sugar, cider vinegar, dark miso paste, heather honey, dry sherry, English mustard and Chinese five-spice powder. Tip all the glaze ingredients into a small pan and bring to a simmer, stirring until everything is mixed. Use a pastry brush to paint the ham evenly with the glaze. 9. Sticky maple-glazed ham Slow-roast a whole leg of gammon with apple juice, then cover in a sticky spiced glaze for a Christmas treat. Make a glaze by combining maple syrup, apple juice and wholegrain mustard, then season with cinnamon, ginger and cloves. The sweet flavours of the apple juice pair perfectly with salty gammon. 10. Slow-baked sticky gammon For something a bit different, this gammon is between a traditional roasted ham and pulled pork. Whizz pineapple juice, allspice, treacle, ginger, ketchup, sweet chilli and honey together to make a purée. Spoon all over the gammon and roast for 30 minutes until hot and sticky, then loosely break into large chunks to serve. Discover more Christmas inspiration... Best ever Christmas sides Best ever Christmas recipes The best Christmas pudding recipes Our best Christmas cakes How to feed a Christmas cake

Going alcohol-free can boost sleep, energy and wellbeing, but navigating social situations and discovering tasty alternatives isn’t always straightforward

There are lots of reasons why people choose to give up alcohol. For some, a couple of drinks after work might lead to a headache that affects the next day's productivity. For others, it's about improving skin, mood or overall wellbeing. Sobriety can feel like a double-edged sword: while the health benefits are clear – including better sleep, more energy, and time to enjoy activities rather than lying in bed – the social side can be tricky. Heading to a pub to catch up with friends can be daunting if you're met with questions about your choice of soft drink, or assumptions that something must be "wrong" for you to make this change. Short-term challenges, like Sober October or Dry January, can be a good place to start, but it's often a pause rather than a reset, and old habits creep back once the challenge ends. We've gathered accounts from people who have chosen to give up alcohol, some permanently and others for a temporary break, to see how they found the experience. They've candidly shared the highs and lows, and offer advice for anyone thinking about managing their drinking. Everyone's journey is unique, so what works for one person might not work for another, but there are plenty of valuable insights here (as well as a few new soft drinks to try along the way). To put their experiences into context, we asked nutritionist Kerry Torrens to outline the key health benefits of going alcohol-free, share her top tips for making the change stick, and highlight helpful online resources if your drinking is becoming cause for concern. "My experience giving up alcohol in pregnancy changed my relationship with it for good" When I fell pregnant with my first son aged 32, it came off the back of a period of heavy partying – my alcohol consumption was higher than the recommended weekly allowance, and I'd binge drink on weekends, and have a lot of fun while doing it. But by the time I conceived, I was ready for the change, and rather than my essential abstinence causing me to yearn for my hedonistic days, I found I loved the pureness of being sober – the clear head on weekend mornings was like a whole new high. I went straight from pregnancy into nine months of breastfeeding, so in total I was off booze for 18 months. But once I was able to drink again, I found my appetite for it had dwindled entirely. It sounds extreme, but it now feels almost like consuming poison. My body, depleted from parenting, reacts badly to more than a couple of bevvies (from poor sleep and headaches to grogginess and increased appetite), so now I rarely drink more than a glass of wine over dinner. I'd give up completely, but sadly, being teetotal can leave you a social pariah in some situations. One big positive of not drinking while pregnant is that nobody can question your intentions or try to get you to cave into peer pressure – this, unfortunately, is a huge barrier when choosing to give up for non-medical reasons. There's also a 'mummy' drinking culture. British society is rigged against being abstinent, although the sober movement has refreshingly gained traction. My top tips are to find the level of drinking that you're comfortable with and don't let anybody question it. The physical benefits far outweigh any temporary social awkwardness. "My relationship with alcohol has been a long, winding journey, but I've finally found a rhythm that works for me" I first stopped drinking during my second year at university, after a particularly rough period where illness caused me to resit some exams and made me reassess my lifestyle. At the time, it was a full stop, no alcohol at all, and while it helped my health, it felt extreme. Over the next few months, I gradually tested the waters by reintroducing small amounts and observing how my body responded. Fast-forward to now, and I've found a permanent rhythm: occasional drinks for birthdays or social events, but no binge drinking. The change hasn't always been easy. Losing friends and feeling excluded during my uni years was tough, and I had to figure out my triggers and adapt my lifestyle, from cooking without alcohol to navigating social situations where booze was expected. What surprised me most was how sensitive my body is to alcohol; even small amounts make me feel inflamed or achy. But the benefits are undeniable. I feel physically better, and my friendships and social life now centre on genuine connection rather than drinking. I've discovered fantastic non-alcoholic alternatives too, from alcohol-free gins with tonic like Seedlip or Tanqueray Flor De Sevilla gin, to pimped-up soft drinks that feel celebratory. What I'd want people to know is that giving up alcohol looks different for everyone. It's about finding the balance that works for you. For me, moderation, awareness and choosing social settings that don't revolve around drinking have made all the difference. "Giving up alcohol helped me ease my anxiety" I stopped drinking in October 2024, quite suddenly, after realising alcohol was worsening my anxiety following the death of my brother. I'd always enjoyed drinking – the taste, the ritual, the way it smoothed the edges of a long day – so it wasn't easy to let go. But once I connected how much worse I felt after drinking, the decision came naturally. My friends and family assumed it was just a break, but they've been nothing but supportive, and I've barely had more than the occasional glass of wine or birthday cocktail since. At first, I missed the comfort of that first glass of red after work, and how it made socialising feel easier. But after a month or two, I realised I didn't miss it much at all. I don't stay out quite as late now, but it's a trade I'm happy to make as I always feel brighter the next morning. The biggest difference is the absence of 'hangxiety': that gnawing sadness that used to follow a night of drinking. Alongside therapy and medication, sobriety has made me feel calmer, clearer and more balanced. These days, I enjoy experimenting with non-alcoholic drinks: Drinks Kitchen's Orange Cinchona for a Negroni-like experience, Fortnum & Mason's Sparkling Tea for enjoying with a fancy dinner, and Botivo or Bero lagers for a treat. My advice for anyone considering it is to stop completely rather than doing it gradually, and find a few non-alcoholic options you genuinely enjoy. It's not as hard as you think, and the benefits last far longer than the buzz ever did. “When little and often becomes too often” I felt like my ‘little and often’ approach to drinking was perhaps becoming a bit too ‘often’, and that more alcohol was entering my system than was really needed. It had become a habit to have a beer while making dinner or a glass of wine while eating it. I decided to make a conscious effort to cut down on ‘unnecessary’ drinks – the ones that were just a habit, or the ones that I was only having because someone else was having one, or because I’d already had too many to see the point of not having another. The changes that I’ve stuck to have been having alcohol-free beer in the fridge, so I have one of these if I fancy a wind-down drink at the end of the day – surprisingly, I don’t really notice the lack of alcohol. Infinite Session IPA is my favourite. I will also often have an alcohol-free Guinness if out with friends. I’m happy with these low-level reductions in my drinking; I didn’t want to stop completely – just to cut back a bit. If I had found good-tasting low-alcohol wines, I might have got into these, but sadly, none really compared to the ‘real’ thing in my opinion. I like the taste of alcohol, but the no-alcohol beer options are palatable. “Falling off the wagon shouldn’t stop you” When I decided to give up drinking for a month (Sober October last year), I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d tried Dry January twice before and failed both times, mostly because I avoided going out and ended up feeling isolated. This time, I was determined to stay social: to see friends, go to gigs and enjoy myself – just without alcohol. At first, I felt awkward ordering a Diet Coke while everyone else had pints (not to mention struggling to sleep later on), but I soon discovered a growing world of alcohol-free options. Alcohol-free beers in particular made me feel like I wasn't missing out. Physically, the changes were remarkable. I woke up earlier, slept better and felt more productive. My skin looked clearer, my mood lifted, and I didn’t have that sluggish, foggy feeling that often followed even a couple of pints. Financially, I noticed the savings too, not just from skipping drinks, but from avoiding the extra spending that came with hangovers and late-night food. I fell off the wagon once, but instead of giving up altogether, I treated it as a lesson and carried on. What surprised me most was how enjoyable it was to go out sober and how little I missed alcohol once the habit was broken. My advice? Plan ahead, tell people what you’re doing, and explore the brilliant range of alcohol-free drinks available. A Shirley Temple was a great mocktail discovery. “I loved the energy and free time from quitting, but a wine with dinner is unbeatable” Due to health reasons, I had to give up drinking alcohol for about six months. I noticed a significant increase in my energy levels, plus I was sleeping better and waking up feeling bright-eyed. Many people talk about the benefits to their skin, but that's not something I've experienced. The main shock for me after giving up drinking was the time that opened up. I suddenly had hours to fill when I would usually have been out for drinks or nursing a hangover. I used all this free time to go on lots of long walks and tried out new hobbies, like making pastry and embroidery. I won't lie to you, though, the moment I was able to drink again, I thoroughly enjoyed having a glass of wine with dinner or popping down to the pub with my husband for a pint. While I did relish all the free time and the eight hours of sleep, I would happily trade those in for moments like these. “Giving up alcohol cleared my head, boosted my mood and gave me mornings back” I stopped drinking in May 2021. It had been something I had been considering for a while because of how alcohol made me feel. Physically, hangovers became unbearable, lasting up to two days, and I thought I'd developed an alcohol intolerance. It was also causing major anxiety for me, so it was better for my physical and mental well-being to cut out drinking completely, at least for a while. My partner felt similarly so we decided to do it together, which initially helped me to maintain the new habit. I remember feeling uncomfortable telling people at first, because no one in my friendship group had given up drinking yet, but it wasn’t made into a big deal, which I think is a sign of good friendship. It’s also much easier to go unnoticed now if you are at a bar or pub because there are so many more alcohol-free options. I enjoy an AF beer (Guinness 0.0 is the best), and I love a mocktail. From the beginning, there have been so many benefits to not drinking that I’ve never really found it challenging. Within the first couple of weeks, I noticed my acne had cleared up significantly, which is something I’ve struggled with since I was a teen. Mentally, over the first 6 to 12 months, I became much clearer-headed and generally happier. It also coincided with a change in my lifestyle, which was already underway, as I realised I no longer enjoyed late nights out. I’ve become much more of a morning person and would much prefer doing a day activity or dinner and being home by 10pm, knowing that I won’t waste the entire next day lying in bed. “I stopped drinking without pressure, and the benefits have been remarkable” My decision to give up drinking wasn’t a dramatic overnight choice; it evolved naturally over time. Around 10 years ago, I was a heavy drinker, going out several nights a week and often having drinks at home or even during lunch breaks. Eventually, I began cutting back for my health and finances. When I became pregnant during the COVID lockdowns, it felt effortless to stop completely. After my daughter was born, I drank occasionally, but never returned to my old habits. Last Christmas, I realised I hadn’t even thought about drinking throughout the festive season. That moment of clarity made me decide to continue without alcohol. Over the past 10 months, I’ve had only a handful of drinks on a few occasions. I’m not entirely teetotal; I’ve learned that balance works best for me. If I genuinely feel like joining in with a drink at a social gathering, I do it without guilt or pressure. Some friends were surprised at first, especially those who’d known my old lifestyle. Now, it’s simply part of who I am. The only awkwardness comes when telling new people that I rarely drink, worrying they might see me as dull, but that feeling soon passes. The benefits have been remarkable: better sleep, increased energy, fewer wasted hangover days, and reduced cravings. My new evening ritual is a glass of kombucha – MOMO’s elderflower flavour is my favourite. For anyone considering giving up alcohol, I’d say this: it’s easier than you think, and life feels brighter, calmer and more fulfilling without it. “I realised I didn’t need a pint in my hand to enjoy myself” What began as a simple Dry January challenge turned into something bigger. After completing the month, I decided to continue through the year, adhering to the NHS guideline of 14 units a week. I’d dipped in and out of giving up alcohol before, usually during January or November, but this time it felt different. As a new parent, I wanted more focus and energy, and reducing my drinking felt like a natural extension of a New Year’s resolution rather than a strict rule. At first, my friends joked that I wouldn’t be as fun, but over time they became genuinely proud, and I realised I didn’t need a pint in my hand to enjoy myself. Saying no to the first drink is always the most challenging part, but after that, it’s surprisingly easy. I’m a little less social in the evenings now, but the payoff is worth it: better sleep, clear mornings and a calm head. The absence of hangovers feels like a small luxury in itself. I still miss how alcohol can ease social situations, but I’ve found good alternatives like the Small Beer Company’s low-alcohol brews. They offer that familiar ritual without the fog that follows. My advice to anyone curious about cutting down is to start small, try a week or a month. You might find, as I did, that it’s not as difficult as you expect. "How will a drinks writer give up booze?" When I told everyone I was pregnant, a few reactions revolved around the general theme of, "how will a drinks writer give up booze for nine months?" In a professional capacity, things didn’t change that much. Pre-pregnancy, when tasting drinks, I would usually sip and then spit as a matter of routine. Bar reviews were less fun, not because of the mocktails, but because I much preferred to be in bed by 8pm every night. I thought not drinking during pregnancy would be much harder than it turned out to be – I guess because it wasn’t optional at all for me, it meant I didn’t really miss alcohol. What I did miss, though, were some of the routine and rituals around drinking – pouring out a glass of wine on a Friday evening, for example. I also remember walking past pubs in the summer, watching people outside drinking cold pints of lager, and feeling envious. In the end, I really delved into the world of non-alcoholic drinks and had fun making booze-free tipples taste delicious (spoiler: it’s easy). Anything fizzy works really well because the bubbles add texture and interest, and fermented drinks like kombucha add complexity. Flavour-wise, anything bittersweet tastes more grown-up than a super-sweet soft drink. The world of 0% spirits and beverages has also wildly improved in the last few years. I’m still not convinced about non-alcoholic gin, though (it mostly tastes like expensive flavoured water). Still, there are plenty of fab non-alcoholic aperitifs, beers and wines out there. Expert's advice There are so many benefits to giving up alcohol, from brighter mornings and fewer hangovers to better quality sleep, improved energy levels, more stable moods, and better brain function. Plus, because you’re likely to cut your sugar intake and consume fewer calories, you may lose some weight, too. But before you throw out the corkscrew and the bottle opener, take a moment to reflect on why you drink. Is a glass of your favourite tipple a way to de-stress, does it mark the end of a long day, or is it a crutch to help distract you from life’s ups and downs? Understanding why you pour that extra glass of vino is key to successfully replacing it with a suitable and healthier alternative. So, take time to figure out what role alcohol plays in your life; doing this will help you get to the right place for success. Tips to help you give up Decide what might work as your alternative – this may include a new stress-busting habit like yoga or running – so think beyond what goes in your glass Share your plans with friends and family Take it one day at a time Identify your triggers and minimise or avoid them, at least initially Social connection is important, but if this is likely to be a trigger, plan ahead and check out venues beforehand, so you can be sure they offer low-alcohol or no-alcohol options Check out the Drinkaware website for online resources, free tools, facts and advice. It also has information and contact details for alcohol support services. Enjoyed this? Check out more... Non-alcoholic drink ideas How to do Christmas without alcohol The healthiest alcoholic drinks What I discovered when I gave up drinking for a month Good Food Podcast – Dr Alex George on navigating mental fitness, healthy living and sobriety

From drinking raw eggs for muscle-building to cutting out vegetables altogether, find out the most shocking health 'advice' that has appeared in our social media feeds

The world of health can be a scary one. Thanks to social media, there is more dangerous misinformation spreading than ever before, and it can be hard to know what – or who – to believe. It seems there are endless influencers and 'experts' hitting you with a barrage of information or trying to sell you their latest supplements. These days, you only need an account to start posting health 'advice' on TikTok or Instagram, and many self-proclaimed experts are doing just that. In fact, a quick search of the term 'health advice' on TikTok brings up thousands of videos. It takes me only seconds to find a young woman who seems to have no credentials telling you to drink a glass of extra virgin olive oil once a month to 'detox your liver.' Sigh. As explained by The British Liver Trust: "you cannot physically detox your liver. There is no evidence that toxins build up in the liver and some of these diets can be dangerous for people with liver disease." This video has nearly 48,000 saves and that, quite frankly, isn't anywhere close to the most damaging 'advice' I've seen – this is just the tip of the iceberg. As a health editor for Good Food, I spend most of my time thinking about how to make health accessible and approachable for all. How can we share genuinely useful information in a way that's interesting and entertaining? Most importantly, we want to cut through the noise and be a voice you can trust. Head over to Good Health by Good Food on TikTok and Instagram, where we are doing just that. You'll find straight-talking facts with a no-BS approach, as well as tips from from nutritionists and experts, including NHS doctors. Read on to discover three of the most unhinged pieces of health 'advice' I've seen on TikTok. Next, check out 20 everyday habits which are probably harming your health; I'm a dietician, these 20 healthy eating tips will change the way you eat for good; and can this 'magic mushroom' help you find your focus? Myth 1: vegetables are bad for you People are saying vegetables are "very bad for you" as they contain "dangerous chemicals" and could in fact be poisoning us. This one is easy to eliminate. There is plenty of evidence that shows the importance of eating a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables. Doing so has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, diabetes and obesity. While we used to think five-a-day was the goal for good health, latest research has shown that aiming for 30 plant foods a week is, in fact, better for us. This is because different plants have different fibres, so eating more plants diversifies the types of fibre you eat. Fibre is essential for our gut health. Getting enough fibre lowers your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, helps manage your blood sugar levels and strengthens your immune system. Studies highlight that fruits and vegetables are also packed with important nutrients, which our bodies need to function. Spinach, for example, is a good source of bone-healthy vitamin K and plant compounds called polyphenols, which help to protect us from some cancers. Red peppers are remarkably rich in vitamin C, which plays a vital role in supporting the immune system. So, we'll be keeping the veg on our plate, thanks! Myth 2: you should be on the carnivore diet This involves eating animal products like meat, fish, eggs, animal fats and small amounts of dairy. The carnivore diet is high in protein and fat, and very low in carbohydrates. This is to send your body into a state of ketosis, which encourages the body to burn fats instead of carbohydrates for fuel. For this reason, it excludes all other foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds. The diet itself is not 'unhinged', per se, but what shocks me is the way it's touted as being 'the way humans are supposed to eat' or a much-needed 'reset' – meanwhile, some poor soul is frying up 12 shop-bought meatballs and covering them with grated cheese. I don't have to tell you that we were not, in fact, intended to eat highly processed foods. Followers of the carnivore diet, as with other low-carb diets, may experience some weight loss. However, much of the initial weight loss is actually water, and some people regain this weight once they resume a more balanced way of eating. To date, there have been no high-quality controlled studies analysing the effects of the carnivore diet. What we do know is that the carnivore diet contradicts our understanding of a healthy, balanced diet, which typically promotes the consumption of protein, fat and carbohydrates. It's also extremely restrictive, which means you'll be lacking essential vitamins and minerals as well as fibre. What's more, given all the advice we hear on limiting red meat in order to protect us from heart disease, it's unlikely to be good for you in the longer term. Myth 2: drink six raw eggs a day Let's all sigh together at this one. When I first saw this trend on my TikTok algorithm, I genuinely asked myself "what is happening with the world?!" People claim that eating raw eggs provides "more protein" and "builds muscle", but this sounded like a red flag to me, so I checked in with our expert nutritionist Kerry Torrens to get her take. "There is roughly the same amount of protein in raw and cooked eggs – the main difference is the protein is denatured when cooked. This makes it easier for our digestive enzymes to break it down for us to absorb. "That said, one study reported that levels of essential amino acids went up after eating five raw eggs, compared with boiled eggs, but there was no difference in the resulting muscle protein synthesis." So, I would be interested to know where the fitness influencers and muscle bros of 'EggTok' are getting their information. They also say that eating raw eggs "boosts energy" before a workout. What's wrong with oats, bananas and honey? All of these are great for a sustainable hit of energy, and much more appealing than a glass of raw eggs. I would like to end with my favourite claim: consuming raw eggs before bed will "increase sex drive." For this one, I have no words. TikTok, you left me speechless! So, I revert to Kerry's expertise: "There is no direct evidence that raw eggs support libido, but the nutrients the eggs contain, such as choline, vitamin D and the B group of vitamins, may help. But, that is likely to be only a modest effect at best." There you have it – three of the most unhinged pieces of health 'advice' I've seen on TikTok. This is, by no means, an exhaustive list, but merely the tip of the iceberg. Follow Good Health by Good Food on TikTok and Instagram for the next instalment. Now read: Not just for gym bros, why women need to get more protein too We asked experts what they really think of weight loss jabs 10 mistakes you might be making on a protein boost There are safer alternatives to mouth taping, according to experts Hidden salt: 10 foods sabotaging your sodium levels All health content on goodfood.com is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local health care provider. See our website terms and conditions for more information. Kerry Torrens BSc. (Hons) PgCert MBANT is a Registered Nutritionist with a post graduate diploma in Personalised Nutrition & Nutritional Therapy. She is a member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and a member of the Guild of Food Writers. Over the last 15 years she has been a contributing author to a number of nutritional and cookery publications including Good Food.

Discover everything you need to know about cholesterol and how to limit its impacts on your body

Cholesterol is a word that often sparks concern, but how much do you really know about it? You might know it’s bad to have high cholesterol – but how can you tell if yours is too high? Or perhaps you’ve heard some foods are bad for your cholesterol – but did you know some foods can lower your levels too? While many associate cholesterol with heart disease and dietary restrictions, there’s much more to the story. Understanding cholesterol is about more than just avoiding certain foods. It’s a complex topic that involves genetics, lifestyle, and your overall health. Knowing your numbers and following expert advice can help you take control of your cholesterol and protect your heart. Here are our surprising facts about cholesterol you might know, from its essential role in the body to the latest advice on managing your levels. 1. Cholesterol is essential for life Nutritionist Kerry Torrens says, ‘It may come as a surprise to learn that cholesterol is essential for health.’ Cholesterol is a fatty, waxy substance found in every cell of the body. It’s vital for forming cell walls, producing hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone, making vitamin D, and generating bile to help digest fats. Much like salt or carbs, it can be excessively demonised but without cholesterol, our bodies simply wouldn’t function properly – so the key is knowing the difference between the so-called ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol. 2. Your body makes most of its cholesterol Kerry explains, ‘Around 75% of cholesterol is made in the liver, with the rest coming from the food we eat.’ This means that even if you cut out all dietary cholesterol, your body would still produce what it needs for essential functions. 3. Not all cholesterol is ‘bad’ Cholesterol travels through the blood in particles called lipoproteins. Kerry explains, ‘What determines if cholesterol is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ isn’t the cholesterol, but the type of lipoprotein that transports it.’ Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is often labelled ‘bad’ – this moves cholesterol from the liver and carries it all over the body, so high levels mean the LDL can get deposited and can lead to plaque build-up in the arteries. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is considered ‘good’ as it does the reverse: it helps remove excess cholesterol from the blood, transporting it back to the liver. 4. High cholesterol is often symptomless Most people with high cholesterol will not experience any symptoms. This can feel concerning if you’re worried about having high cholesterol, as the first sign may be a heart attack or stroke. The good news is that cholesterol can be measured by a blood test – you might be eligible on the NHS once you’re after 40. There are also certain signs that may indicate you might be at risk, including lifestyle and diet factors such as being overweight or obese, having a diet high in saturated fats or ultra processed foods. In rare cases, advanced familial hypercholesterolemia can cause visible signs, such as yellowish deposits on the skin or around the eyes. 5. Total cholesterol isn’t the whole story For years, the focus was on total cholesterol, but experts now advise looking at the breakdown and knowing what this means. You can have a ‘normal’ total cholesterol but an unhealthy balance of LDL and HDL, so it’s important to understand all your numbers. Put simply, you want to keep your LDL low and HDL higher. 6. High cholesterol affects more than half of UK adults Whilst it may be trending to worry about protein or supplements, high cholesterol is a dangerous issue that affects a huge proportion of the population. About 53% of UK adults have cholesterol levels above the recommended amount. This makes high cholesterol one of the most common health concerns in the country. Perhaps surprisingly, it is greater among women than men. 7. Age and gender influence cholesterol levels Cholesterol levels tend to rise as we age, hence why we see levels peak in older segments of the population. After menopause, women often experience an increase in LDL cholesterol, making older age and post-menopausal women particularly at risk. The section of the population with the highest prevalence of raised cholesterol was women aged 55-64, where 79% had raised cholesterol levels. 8. Your genes play a role Your unique mix of LDL and HDL depends on your genes, as well as diet and lifestyle. If high cholesterol runs in your family, you may be genetically predisposed to elevated levels. Familial hypercholesterolaemia is a genetic condition that can cause dangerously high cholesterol from a young age. 9. Foods high in saturated and trans fats raise cholesterol Red meat, butter, processed meats, fast food, and tropical oils such as coconut oil are all high in saturated or trans fats, which can increase LDL cholesterol and overall heart disease risk. Replace some of these in your diet with unsaturated fats (found in avocado, olives and oily fish) to benefit your heart, and aim for no more than a third of the fat in your diet to be from saturated forms. 10. Refined carbohydrates can also increase cholesterol It’s not just fat you need to watch. Diets high in refined carbs, such as white bread, pastries, and sugary foods, can elevate insulin and lead to the production of LDL cholesterol, therefore increasing your levels of bad cholesterol. 11. Some foods help lower cholesterol Oats, barley, beans, pulses, nuts, seeds, and foods rich in unsaturated fats, such as olive oil and oily fish, can help lower LDL cholesterol. Plant stanols and sterols, found in avocados and fortified foods, can block cholesterol absorption in the gut. Aim to eat two portions of oily fish per week – the omega-3 fatty acids they contain may help lower harmful blood triglycerides. 12. Fibre is your friend Soluble fibre, found in oats, flaxseeds, beans, and lentils, helps the body remove excess cholesterol. Oats and barley are rich in the soluble fibre beta-glucan, which forms a gel that attaches to cholesterol and inhibits its absorption. Kerry suggests that ‘a daily intake of about 3g of beta-glucan is considered an adequate amount to make a difference – that’s three servings of oats or barley per day’. A diet high in fibre is recommended for anyone looking to manage their cholesterol. 13. Exercise can improve your cholesterol profile Regular physical activity, including both cardio and strength training, can boost HDL (‘good’) cholesterol and lower LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol. Even a daily brisk walk can make a difference – aim for moderate, aerobic activity for at least 30 minutes most days. 14. Smoking and excess alcohol make things worse We know smoking is bad for your health and lungs – but did you know it can impact your cholesterol levels too? Smoking and vaping lower HDL cholesterol and worsen your cholesterol balance. Excess alcohol can raise cholesterol and other blood fats, increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke. 15. Medication may be needed for some For those at high risk, or with a genetic predisposition, lifestyle changes alone may not be enough. Statins are the main medication prescribed to lower cholesterol, and your GP can help you weigh the benefits and risks based on your individual health profile.

Forget about the supplements – these fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamin C, with some even exceeding your daily needs

When most people think of vitamin C, oranges are usually the first food that springs to mind. But, oranges aside, there is a wealth of other fruit and vegetables that are brimming with this essential vitamin. While it may also be tempting to reach for a supplement, it is entirely possible to meet your daily vitamin C requirements through a varied and colourful diet. The foods shared prove that vitamin C is found in far more than just oranges. By including a variety of fruit and veg in your diet, you can easily meet your daily vitamin C needs, as well as enjoying a wealth of flavours along the way. Why is vitamin C important? Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a vital water-soluble vitamin that the body cannot store, meaning we need to obtain it regularly from our food. It plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy skin, blood vessels, bones, and cartilage, and is essential for wound healing. Vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant, helping to protect cells from damage and supporting the immune system. In the UK, adults are recommended to have 40mg of vitamin C per day, a target that is easily achievable with the right foods. Although severe deficiency is rare, a lack of vitamin C can lead to tiredness, irritability and, in extreme cases, scurvy. Fortunately, a balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables can provide all that you need. Raw fruit and vegetables will contain the most vitamin C, but if you need to cook them at all, steaming appears to be the best method for retaining nutritional value. 10 unexpected foods that contain your daily vitamin C 1. Blackcurrants Blackcurrants are small, purple-black berries that pack a mighty punch when it comes to vitamin C. Just one 80g serving (a cupped handful) contains about 160mg vitamin C – four times the daily requirement. Their tartness makes them perfect for jams or compotes, or simply stir them through yogurt. Use them to make homemade blackcurrant jam or a refreshing sorbet for a boost of both flavour and nutrition. Discover our top 10 ways to cook with blackcurrants for more ideas. 2. Red peppers Red peppers are a vibrant, versatile source of vitamin C. Half of a large red pepper (about 80g) delivers around 100mg vitamin C – more than twice your daily needs – as well as reasonable amounts of vitamins E and K, folate and fibre. Their sweet, crisp texture is ideal for salads, stir-fries or roasting. Add them to a roasted red pepper & sweet potato soup, toss into a colourful couscous salad or simply enjoy them raw as a crunchy snack. 3. Green peppers Green peppers might be less sweet than their red counterparts, but they are equally impressive in their vitamin C content. Half of a large green pepper provides around 96mg per serving. Slice them into a zesty salsa, add to a stir-fry or use as a base for Turkish-style one-pan eggs. 4. Kiwi fruit A single medium kiwi (about 80g) offers roughly 47mg vitamin C, or just over the daily recommended intake. They're also a good source of vitamin K and fibre. Their bright green flesh is delicious scooped straight from the skin, added to a fruit salad or used as a topping for yogurt. Try whizzing into a tropical smoothie for a fruity start to your day. 5. Strawberries Just seven medium strawberries (80g) contain around 46mg vitamin C. Strawberries are rich in polyphenols, and including them in your diet may improve digestion and brain function, as well as support heart health. Sweet and juicy, they're also low in calories – and with that same amount of berries counting as one of your five-a-day, they also make a great healthy treat. Perfect for breakfast bowls, bakes or simply eaten on their own. For a levelled-up breakfast, try them as a topping for banana oat pancakes or blended into a berry-packed smoothie. See more of the health benefits of strawberries. 6. Broccoli (raw) Raw broccoli is a surprising source of vitamin C, with an 80g serving providing about 63mg. Its mild, crunchy florets are ideal for salads or crudités or they can be blended into juices or smoothies. Broccoli is still a useful source of vitamin C, even if cooked – though the vitamin C content drops to about 48mg per 80g serving, because it's sensitive to heat and is water-soluble. Lightly steam to retain the most nutrients, or toss into a broccoli stir-fry for a fast midweek meal. Discover more of the health benefits for broccoli. 7. Kale (cooked) Kale is often hailed as a 'superfood', and while there's no such thing, it's understandable why it gets so much hype. A cooked 80g serving supplies around 57mg vitamin C, along with a host of other nutrients – it contains twice the vitamin E as spinach, and contributes plant compounds like beta-carotene. These nutrients are important for supporting a healthy immune system. Add cooked kale to pasta and curries, such as this creamy pesto & kale pasta or warming coconut & kale fish curry. Alternatively, stir-fry with garlic and chilli for a simple side dish. 8. Papaya Papaya is a tropical delight, with half a small fruit (about 80g) delivering 48mg vitamin C, along with some vitamin A, folate and potassium. Its sweet orange flesh is best enjoyed fresh in fruit salads, blitzed into smoothies or paired with lime in a salsa. Use papaya as a vibrant topping for breakfast bowls or in a salad with seared beef & tamarind dressing. 9. Guava Guava is a lesser-known tropical fruit that is exceptionally rich in vitamin C. One fruit (about 55g) provides approximately 126mg vitamin C – three times your daily requirement. They're also a good source of fibre, folate and potassium. Enjoy guava by scooping out the inside or eating it whole without the skin (you'll need to remove the seeds in larger fruit). Or, try it juiced, added to fruit salads for a fragrant twist or enjoyed as a jam. 10. Oranges Oranges are the classic choice, with a small one (about 120g) containing around 62mg vitamin C – all your daily needs, as well as a good mix of vitamins and minerals, such as folate, calcium and magnesium. Oranges are easy to eat as a snack, but can also be added to salads and desserts. For a zingy lunch, add orange segments to a beetroot, orange & hazelnut salad, or use in a citrus salsa to top breakfast porridge. Don’t neglect the peel though: making up 40-50 per cent of the fruit, the peel is richer in minerals like iron and copper than the flesh. If you're drinking unsweetened fruit juice, do bear in mind that it can only count as one of your five-a-day, regardless of the amount you drink. Guidelines suggest that intake is limited to one 150ml glass per day – this is because crushing fruit into juice releases the natural fruit sugars, which can damage teeth. Find out more about the health benefits of oranges.

Discover the results of our annual taste test and shop for the best festive buys, including mince pies, cakes, puddings, mains and sides

From smoked salmon to Christmas cake, our expert panel blind-tasted more than 180 products to find the UK supermarket buys that should grace your table this holiday season. For over 400 buyers' guides, visit our reviews section. We've also got all the Christmas gifting inspiration you need, like subscription services and best hampers, in our gifts hub. See the best letterbox gifts, 50 best budget gifts under £15, advent calendars and much more. Good Food Christmas Taste Awards 2025 Starters Best smoked salmon Joint winner: Aldi Specially Selected the ultimate salt-aged Himalayan smoked salmon Buttery and smooth, this is a great example of a classic smoked salmon. Available from: Aldi in-store (£3.99) Joint winner: M&S Collection cherry & chestnut wood smoked salmon This has a creamy, soft and smooth texture, rich flavour and attractive darker colour from the cherry and chestnut wood smoke. Available from: M&S in-store (£6) Ocado (£6) Best hot canapé Joint winner: Aldi Specially Selected mini Barber’s cheese & ham scones We haven’t seen mini scones as a canapé before, and these impressed us with good buttery flavour, a salty tang from the ham and a melty cheese filling. Available from: Aldi, launching soon (£4.99) Joint winner: Tesco Finest scallop & prawn toast Deeply golden and crisp, with black and white sesame seeds, these toasts are also well-filled and spiced with spring onions, garlic and ginger for subtle heat. Available from: Tesco, launching soon (£5.50) The main event Best turkey crown Joint winner: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference British free-range bronze turkey crown with pork, apricot, pear, cranberry & candied ginger stuffing For a showstopper, this does the job with its golden, glossy glaze and crispy bacon that has good smoky flavour. The meat is juicy and complemented by a fruity apricot and cranberry stuffing. Available from: Sainsbury's (£22.75 per kg) Joint winner: M&S Oakham hot maple-glazed turkey crown This will add some extra flavour to your Christmas table – judges loved the sticky, peppery hot maple glaze and stuffing packed with fruit. Available from: M&S (£50) Ocado (£50) Best alternative Christmas main Winner: Booths British porchetta Here’s an eye-catching centrepiece with moreish, salty, crunchy crackling. The pork is tender, with a herby filling rolled inside. Available from: Booths (£21, 1.55kg) Runner-up: Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Discovery 35-day dry-aged Aberdeen Angus rump joint with a velvety tarragon & pepper cream sauce A joint that's easy to cook and carve, and comes with a sharp mushroom sauce. The meat stayed tender and juicy in the centre once cooked. Available from: Sainsbury's, launching soon (£25) Best gammon Winner: M&S slow-cooked bone-in Heritage Gold pork gammon This bone-in joint is deeply golden brown, with juicy meat that pulls apart easily and well-balanced levels of sweetness and smokiness, without being overpowering. Available from: M&S, launching soon (£36) Best pigs in blankets Winner: Tesco Finest 10 pork & caramelised onion pigs in blankets Crispy bacon, flavourful sausage with visible herbs, plus a glaze for extra sweetness – this has everything we’re looking for when it comes to this classic side. Available from: Tesco, launching soon (£3.25) Runner up: Lidl Deluxe pigs in blankets A chunky sausage if you like larger pigs in blankets. This has good flavour that keeps its heat well. Available from: Lidl, launching soon Best vegetarian main Winner: M&S Collection mushroom, Barber’s cheddar & leek en croute A good choice for a veggie centrepiece with beautifully burnished, crisp pastry. The filling has big chunks of mushroom, a creamy sauce and good seasoning. Available from: M&S in-store (£12.50) Ocado (£12.50) Festive desserts Best Christmas cake Winner: M&S perfectly matured iced fruit cake We love this pretty cake; the layered floral design on the icing makes it feel special and luxurious. The cake is also a generous size, with lots of sultanas and nicely balanced spice, plus good almond flavour in the layer of marzipan. Available from: M&S in-store (£24) Ocado (£22) Best alternative Christmas cake Winner: Booths enchanted forest cake This has a very cute festive design with a pretty snowy scene. The icing is light and sweet, and the cake is fudgy and chocolatey. Available from: Booths, launching soon (£28) Best Christmas pudding Winner: M&S Collection 12-month matured Christmas pudding with pecans & panettone Matured for a year, this is a delicious pudding with a tall, rounded shape, glossy appearance and firm texture. There's plenty of fruit and large chunks of nuts within, so it really delivers the flavour, including citrus and a hint of alcohol. Available from: M&S in-store (£16) Ocado (£16) Best showstopper dessert Winner: Morrisons Signature Collection Belgian chocolate & praline star This has a striking modern design, and is filled with a rich chocolate ganache. The praline adds crunch and a pronounced hazelnut flavour. Available from: Morrisons (£15) Best trifle Winner: Lidl Deluxe Amontillado sherry trifle Made with premium sherry, this is a traditional trifle with a generous layer of jellied fruit, a hit of booze and thick custard to balance out the neatly piped cream on top. Available from: Lidl, launching soon (£4.99) Runner-up: Aldi Specially Selected irresistible tiramisu trifle A great alternative to traditional flavours, for those who love a tiramisu or coffee-flavoured pud. It has smart piping decoration and layers of rich coffee mousse. Available from: Aldi, launching soon (£4.99) Best biscuit tin Winner: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference chocolate chip shortbread present tin The judges enjoyed these sweet, crumbly, buttery biscuits. They have satisfying crunch and are studded with creamy chocolate chips. Available from: Sainsbury's, launching soon (£8) Runner-up: Morrisons milk biscuit selection Crowd-pleasing chocolate biscuits with smooth, sweet milk chocolate and a well-balanced ratio of chocolate to biscuit. Available from: Morrisons (£6) Festive bakes Best classic mince pies Winner: Morrisons The Best Signature Collection mince pies Deep-filled mince pies with soft, buttery pastry and a pretty festive star design. The mincemeat filling is juicy and citrussy, with strong orange flavour. Available from: Morrisons (£2) Runner-up: Booths six all butter mince pies The pastry is pleasingly crumbly and the pies are neatly filled with sweet, jammy mincemeat. Available from: Booths, launching soon Best flavoured mince pies Winner: Morrisons The Best cherry bakewell mince pies As well as the mincemeat, these have a frangipane topping that is soft with good almond flavour that’s not too sweet. Flaked almonds add a bit of crunch on top. Available from: Morrisons (£3.50) Best gluten-free mince pies Winner: Waitrose freefrom mince pies Judges noted that the pastry has a great texture that's biscuity and crunchy, and it crumbles well. The mincemeat has plump fruit and a good level of citrus to balance the sweetness. Available from: Waitrose (£3) Best vegan mince pie Winner: Waitrose mince pies A thin, crisp layer of pastry with deep golden edges and a generous level of mincemeat that contains plenty of juicy sultanas. Available from: Waitrose & Partners (£2.25) Runner-up: Asda OMV! mince pies Pretty mince pies with crimped edges and a festive star – these would look great at a Christmas get-together. The pastry is crumbly and the mincemeat soft and smooth. Available from: Asda (£1.98) The judging process Thirteen supermarkets entered their best Christmas products in 18 categories. Food was prepared and cooked (following pack instructions) by an independent home economist. Packaging was removed and judges tasted all items blind, then submitted comments and a score out of 10 for each product via anonymous judging forms. The process was overseen by an independent adjudicator. This year, we tested 185 products to find the best in each category. We also awarded ‘highly commended’ status to high-scoring entries. All prices correct at time of publishing. If you have any questions or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.

Muscle growth isn’t just built in the gym, it’s built in the kitchen too. To support strength and hypertrophy goals, meals should prioritise high-quality protein sources, sufficient calories, and nutrient-rich foods that help the body repair and rebuild, ideally within 2 hours post- training. Whether you're an athlete or recreational lifter, consistency is key, and your gains start in the kitchen. Muscle building is a long-term commitment and the right meals can keep you consistent and energised. These recipes offer variety, quality protein, and balanced macronutrients to support gains while keeping mealtimes enjoyable. Fuel smart, train hard, and keep building. 1. Harissa chicken traybake An easy, high-protein option that’s great for batch cooking. Chicken thighs offer a juicy protein source, while potatoes and veg round out the fuel and blend of micronutrients. 2. Beef & bean chilli bowl with chipotle yogurt Lean beef, kidney beans, and brown rice offer a complete mix of protein, fibre, and fuel - ideal post-workout or as a muscle-building meal prep staple. 3. Puy lentils with seared salmon A powerhouse of protein and omega-3s. Lentils boost the fibre and fuel content while helping you stay fuller for longer - perfect for those focusing on lean gains. 4. Low fat turkey bolognese A lighter take on a classic, this lean turkey version still delivers plenty of protein, while wholewheat pasta provides slow-release fuel to support recovery and muscle maintenance. 5. Squash, feta & bulgar wheat salad Plant-based proteins combined with slow-release fuel and healthy fats make this salad a muscle-friendly vegetarian option, great for a lighter meal or training day lunch. 6. Chicken & cashew noodles Lean chicken and healthy fats from cashews make this a great muscle-building meal. Serve with rice or noodles to hit those extra energy targets. 7. Smoky cod, broccoli & orzo bake A lean, protein-rich option perfect for athletes in a structured training phase. Cod is low in fat but high in protein, while the veggie base adds flavour and nutrients. 8. Easy lentil curry Great for plant-based muscle support. Lentils provide protein and iron, supporting energy production, and when served with rice or naan, it becomes a well-rounded recovery meal. 9. Steak & sweet potato chips Classic muscle fuel. Lean steak delivers complete protein and creatine, while sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamins and slow releasing fuel. 10. Chicken & lemon skewers Easy to prep and protein-packed. This dish is great for BBQ season or bulk prep, offering lean chicken with a spice hit and fuel-rich flatbreads for refuelling.

Fancy a cosy autumnal dinner that keeps costs down? Try our budget-friendly gnocchi dish and nine more recipes that all feature affordable storecupboard ingredients

If you’re after a simple, cosy meal that's easy on your wallet, there’s one recipe that deserves a spot on your midweek rotation. Cheesy, comforting and full of flavour, it’s the perfect way to warm up as chillier nights draw in. Our irresistible Tuscan sausage gnocchi is the ultimate cure for a dull weeknight dinner, and also makes use of everyday kitchen staples. Keep scrolling to discover nine more thrifty favourites to cook this October from the UK’s largest recipe archive, each one celebrating the very best of autumn produce. For even more ideas this season, explore our autumn family dinners brimming with hearty soups, curries and stews. Looking for lighter, seasonal lunches? Our autumn lunch ideas are sure to hit the spot. And, if you’re not quite ready to say goodbye to summer, our autumn dishes with a summer twist are perfect for easing into the new season. 1. Tuscan sausage gnocchi Looking for a dinner that's as easy as it is comforting? Look no further than our Tuscan sausage gnocchi. Made using simple, everyday ingredients such as gnocchi, frozen veg and stock, it's an autumnal winner that's easy on the purse strings. Removing the sausage skins to break the meat up into small pieces also helps stretch this dish a bit further. What's more, it's easily freezable, so you can enjoy leftovers for another day. Find more cosy sausage dinners in our round-up of family sausage recipes and sausage pasta recipes. We also have plenty of sausage casserole recipes, healthy sausage recipes and sausage pie recipes. 2. Korean-style cauliflower & carrot baked rice Make the most of handy microwave rice pouches to save time cooking this Korean-inspired veggie dinner. It's perfect for a low-hassle midweek meal, though be warned: it’s quite spicy! This vegan dinner has health benefits to boot, as it's low in fat and low-calorie. Try it for dinner tonight and watch it become a new weeknight favourite. See more of our best vegetarian and rice recipes, cauliflower dinners and carrot recipes. We also have our collection of Korean-style recipes. 3. Curried chickpea brothy pasta Make a batch of spiced lentils, then use it as a base for this warming veggie pasta dish with curried chickpeas and kale. It's a smart way to use up storecupboard staples such as canned chickpeas and tomato purée. It can also be on the table in just 30 minutes, served with fluffy flatbreads for mopping up the broth. If you like the look of the above, check out our best pasta soup recipes, vegan chickpea recipes and lentil soup recipes. 4. Sausage, miso & savoy cabbage one-pan roast Enjoy rich umami flavours like miso and tahini in this hearty sausage and bean all-in-one traybake. It makes brilliant use of kitchen staples that you probably already have, like chilli flakes, canned butter beans and rice vinegar. You can also substitute the pork sausages for a veggie alternative. Try it this week for a new spin on a sausage one-pan that the whole family will enjoy. We have plenty more one-pan midweek meals for easy dinner inspiration, as well as hearty vegetarian traybakes and butter bean recipes. 5. Air fryer mac & cheese Put your trusty air fryer to good use with this golden mac and cheese. The ultimate comfort food dish, this simple recipe keeps the ingredient list to a minimum, making it perfect for hassle-free cooking. Cooking it in an air fryer also creates a lovely crisp topping. Can evenings get any cosier than curling up on the sofa with a bowl of bubbling hot mac & cheese? We think not! See our 10 twists on macaroni cheese for more cheesy inspiration, or take a look at more easy autumn air fryer recipes and vegetarian air fryer recipes. 6. Chicken satay curry Love satay chicken skewers? If that's a yes, you'll be an instant fan of this creamy, peanut-packed curry, which brings all those flavours into one comforting dinner. It's likely that you'll have most of the storecupboard ingredients to hand already, with the recipe also using chicken thighs, an inexpensive cut of meat. Serve with plenty of rice and a big squeeze of lime. Find more satay recipes in our collection, then take a look at our easy chicken curry recipes, chicken thigh ideas and autumn chicken dinners. 7. One-pot creamy nduja pasta Had a long week and want something quick and indulgent without too much washing-up? This one-pot pasta dish with nduja and olives is just the ticket. Balancing creamy mascarpone with punchy nduja and a generous scattering of parmesan on top, it's made for those cosy autumn evenings on the sofa. It's also a standout dinner party dish to serve to friends or family. Discover more warming dinner ideas in our autumn pasta recipes, nduja recipes and nutritious one-post dishes. 8. Chorizo egg-fried rice Ready in just 30 minutes, this easy midweek family dinner packs a flavour punch thanks to crisp chorizo, fresh spring onions and grated carrots. It's a delicious way to use up any frozen peas lurking in the freezer, plus budget-friendly staples such as garlic, rice and eggs. It's also a brilliant gluten-free dinner option. When ready to serve, scatter over the green parts of the spring onions and drizzle over soy sauce or crispy chilli oil, if you like. Check out our egg-fried recipes for more easy dinners, or browse our chorizo recipes and 30-minute meals. 9. Gnocchi with peas & pancetta Make the most of potatoes (that often end up in supermarket reduced sections) in this thrifty, tasty gnocchi dish with peas and pancetta. Got a busy week? Get ahead by making a batch, then freezing for another day. You could even try transforming your potato peels by tossing them with a little neutral-tasting oil and some seasoning, then air-frying at 180C for 5-10 mins, shaking the basket regularly until crisp and golden. See more of our trusty freezable recipes, gnocchi recipes and top 10 potato recipes. 10. Roasted cauliflower & chicken curry Roast a whole cauliflower for this chicken curry recipe, then serve with cooked rice, naans or poppadums for a hearty, veg-packed dinner. It makes great use of everyday spices, along with storecupboard staples like chopped tomatoes and coconut milk. Serving up to eight, it's perfect for a Friday night fakeaway with a group of friends. Try more cauliflower recipes for dinner, along with high-protein curry recipes and healthy chicken curry recipes. Enjoyed this? Discover more: October recipes Pasta recipes with 5-star ratings that you'll make again and again Crowd-pleasing chicken recipes with 5-star ratings Top autumn vegan recipes Our most popular healthy recipes

Baking and cooking recipes for everyone

I was recently reunited with something I miss very much – a loaded apple tree! Friends of mine who had a house in the French countryside had a tree that, come fall, had so many apples, the limbs threatened to break off. Not wanting to be an accomplice in apple-cide, I decided to do my part to save the tree, and the apples, and make...

I was recently reunited with something I miss very much – a loaded apple tree! Friends of mine who had a house in the French countryside had a tree that, come fall, had so many apples, the limbs threatened to break off. Not wanting to be an accomplice in apple-cide, I decided to do my part to save the tree, and the apples, and make Apple Jelly. Ten years later, my friends sold their house, which ended my bounty of apples (and medlars.) So how happy was I when some other friends bought a house in Brittany, which had not one, not two…but four apple trees. Score! The varieties were Reine de Reinette, Canada, and Boskop, which I found out when a concerned neighbor saw someone (me) swiping apples off the trees, and the ground, loading up sacks of them. I think he figured I was pilfering the pommes, but was reassured when I told him I was friends with the owner of the mini-orchard. After talking with him a few minutes, I realized he was an expert on the apples and not only knew about the varieties of apples, but also what to do with them and nodded in approval when I told him I was going to make Apple Jelly. He was happy to help me fill some bags, which included green varieties, which are high in pectin and help the jelly set, and are more acidic than other apples, which make the jelly well-balanced and delicious. (Calvados, the famed apple brandy from Normany, use very acidic apples since the flavor is more pronounced once cooked.) To make Apple Jelly, it’s probably a good idea to either a friend with an apple tree (with an explanation ready in case a neighbor comes by…) or get apples from a source where they might sell you apples that are dented or dinged, which are called pommes à cuire (cooking apples) in France, and are quite popular. At the markets, those apples are usually the first to get sold as people use the bargain beauties to make compotes and tarts with. And French bakers like to use a variety of apples in dessert, like Apple Cake, as the flavor is more interesting than if using just one variety. In the end, I came home with over 50 pounds (23kg) of apples in all shapes, colors, and conditions. And all went to a good cause. This recipe uses a good deal of apples but makes a half-dozen jars, which is good if you’re anything like me and need to reward your friends, and perhaps a local apple expert, with a jar of jelly. Print Apple Jelly While some sources say to National Center for Food Preservation cook the apple jelly to 220ºF (104ºC), every time I've made this, it jelled at around 230ºF (110ºC). So it’s best to use a thermometer but also to test your jelly by dropping a dab on a chilled plate, putting it in the freezer for a few minutes, then checking to see if the mixture has jelled by nudging it and seeing if it mounds and wrinkles, as shown in the post. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can use the "nudge" method to test your jelly. One pound (450g) of apples cooked will yield about 1 cup (250ml) strained juice from the cooked apples. So if you have fewer apples, or you get a different yield (since all apples are different), you can use that as a guideline and add 3/4 cup (150g) sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice per cup of strained apple juice. You can easily halve this recipe, too. Note that in step #3 depending on the size of your strainer or colander, you may need to use two, as I do. One tip is when putting the apples in the strainers if you can't get them all in, after filling them up, let the mixture sit 5 to 10 minutes; it'll settle down and compress, and you should be able to add the rest after that. Servings 6 jars, 1 cup (250ml) each Ingredients 8 pounds (3.75kg) apples 10 cups (2.25L) water 6 cups (1,2kg) sugar 1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 teaspoons Calvados brandy, or Cognac Instructions Rinse the apples and cut them coarsely into chunks, then put them and the cores and seeds, into a very large stockpot. Add the water, cover, and bring to a boil. When bubbling, reduce the heat a bit, leave the lid askew, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the apples are tender and cooked through. Line a mesh colander with a piece of muslin cloth or a few folds of cheesecloth (or use a jelly bag and stand) and set it over a deep bowl, then ladle the apples and the liquid into the colanders. (I use two lined colanders since it was quite a bit of apples.) Let stand or at least 3 hours (but you'll get more juice if you let the apples drain around ~8 hours), and during that time, no matter how tempting it looks, do not press down at any time on the apples to extract more juice or the jelly will get cloudy. The next day, measure out the juice. You should have about 8 cups (2L) but may get a little more. Pour the juice into a large, non-reactive pot fitted with a candy thermometer, add the sugar and lemon juice, and bring to a boil. During cooking, as any white foam forms on the surface while the jelly is cooking, gently skim it off with a ladle. (See Note at the end of the recipe for some idea about repurposing the apples and the foam.) Cook until the temperature reaches 220ºF (104ºC). At that point, turn off the heat and begin testing the jelly on a chilled plate in the freezer, using the method mentioned in the headnote. When it wrinkles and holds its shape, it’s done. If not, continue to cook and re-test it at intervals. This batch set at 230ºF (110ºC). Remove from heat, stir in the liquor, and ladle into clean jars, then cap tightly. Notes Storage: I don’t preserve my jelly or jams in heat-treated jars because I eat them quickly, but store mine in the refrigerator where they’ll keep for several months. If you wish to preserve them, you can find instructions for canning at the University of Georgia website. Notes: The cooked apples can be passed through a food mill and used as applesauce, or for Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Nonfat Gingersnaps, or my favorite Granola recipe. Any foam scraped off the top of the jelly while cooking can be refrigerated or frozen, and added to your next batch of jam. It's especially great used in jams made with low-pectin fruit, such as strawberries, apricots, peaches, pineapple, or cherries. 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I’ll be at AXS design, one of my favorite shops in Paris, celebrating the release of Ready for Dessert on Sept 30th from 5:30 to 7pm. AXS is filled with treasures, including French dinnerware, glasses and linens, and lots more. They were kind enough to lend me some of their beautiful items for the photos in book, so I’m thrilled they’re hosting the book launch...

I’ll be at AXS design, one of my favorite shops in Paris, celebrating the release of Ready for Dessert on Sept 30th from 5:30 to 7pm. AXS is filled with treasures, including French dinnerware, glasses and linens, and lots more. They were kind enough to lend me some of their beautiful items for the photos in book, so I’m thrilled they’re hosting the book launch and signing. Books will be available for purchase and I’ll be on hand to personalize them for you. Thanks to Comté for providing samples of French cheese for the event. See you there!

It’s almost ready! Coming this Fall is the new, completely revised edition of Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. [It’s now available at ==> Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at the links below.] When my publisher told me they wanted a new edition of the book, I decided to revise the book completely, from top to bottom. Ready for Dessert is a compilation of...

It’s almost ready! Coming this Fall is the new, completely revised edition of Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. [It’s now available at ==> Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at the links below.] When my publisher told me they wanted a new edition of the book, I decided to revise the book completely, from top to bottom. Ready for Dessert is a compilation of my favorite recipes, so I knew that I wanted to keep my signature Chocolate chip cookies, the Chocolate-cherry biscotti accented with black pepper, and classic Black & white cookies, along with everyone’s favorite, the Fresh ginger cake, as well as a tangy Lemon semifreddo, and the recipe for the Coconut layer cake I made for Alice Waters’ father on his birthday every year. Order Ready for Dessert now! To sweeten the pot, I added brand-new recipes to Ready for Dessert, favorites culled from my kitchen in Paris, including Île flottante (inspired by the version I always order at a favorite local bistro), a very special Riz au lait (rice pudding) topped with crunchy, candied nuts and salted butter caramel sauce, buttery Palets Breton cookies, and my version of the iconic, and irresistible (truly!), Maple tart from Tapisserie in Paris, the pastry shop of the highly-regarded restaurant Septime, so you can make it at home. One of my favorite pictures (and recipes) from the new edition of Ready for Dessert is the Marjolaine cake. We made several of these cakes for the photo shoot and gave leftovers to the local butcher shop – and now I’m their favorite customer. Award-winning photographer Ed Anderson, who photographed my books, My Paris Kitchen, Drinking French, and The Perfect Scoop, returned to Paris to shoot the pictures for the book, in my kitchen and backyard, as well as out-and-about in the city. Another bonus was that I got to work with two of my favorite food stylists, Elisabet der Nederlanden and George Dolese. We had a blast shopping in Paris for ingredients, and making the recipes in my kitchen, then eating them as well. When the food stylists end up devouring your recipes during a photo shoot, that’s the highest compliment a cookbook author can have. They bake and cook food all day long, so are picky about what they eat. (And boy, did they eat!) I also invited friends to come by and join us, so you’ll find guests shots in the book as well. The all-new edition of Ready for Dessert is now available at your local independent bookseller and online. Below are some bookstores and online retailers where you can order the book: | Amazon | Bookshop.org | Now Serving | Barnes & Noble | Omnivore | Book Larder | Kitchen Arts & Letters | Bold Fork | Books are Magic | Amazon France | Powell’s | RJ Julia | Strand | Smith & Son Paris | Amazon UK | Archestratus | Politics and Prose | Vivienne Culinary Books | Book Passage | Elliot Bay | Village Books | East End Books | Indigo Canada | Amazon Australia | Shakespeare and Company Paris |

There’s a certain ease and simplicity to free-form tarts like this. Sometimes they’re called a crostata, sometimes a galette. You can call it whatever you want, but I call it a fast way to use great fruit when it’s in season, without a lot of fuss. At the beginning of summer, when rhubarb is still lingering around, and strawberries are elbowing their way forward, it’s a...

There’s a certain ease and simplicity to free-form tarts like this. Sometimes they’re called a crostata, sometimes a galette. You can call it whatever you want, but I call it a fast way to use great fruit when it’s in season, without a lot of fuss. At the beginning of summer, when rhubarb is still lingering around, and strawberries are elbowing their way forward, it’s a good thing the two go so well together. And I’m happy to help them hook up. I remember a neighbor had a big rhubarb plant in their backyard and we used to dip the raw stalks in a cup of sugar and eat them. (Somehow, we knew not to eat the leaves, which are toxic.) I still remember, not just the fact that you could get free food from the earth, but that something could have so much flavor. Some kids aren’t fond of things that are tangy but I’ve always loved the contrast of sweet and tart. Recently I was so excited to find such beautiful berries that I bought three big baskets of them. I made a little batch of Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, and another batch of Strawberry Vodka, both of which I hope will prolong the season…unlike this tart, which lasted not so long around here. I first learned to make tarts like this from Jacques Pépin, when he came to work with us and began his shift by rolling out dough for fruit tarts. He actually double-doughed his tarts, rolling out two rounds of dough, and sandwiching the fruit between the two. Being French, he brushed the top with lots of butter and liberally dusted the top with sugar. Today I usually make them open-faced, but do brush the crust with lots of butter and a generous sprinkling of sugar, which makes a crunchy crust, and is a nice contrast to the tender fruit-forward filling. When I posted a picture of this tart on social media, with a promise to share the recipe, a friend, Ann Mah, asked me how I dealt with all the juice from rhubarb, which can exude a moderate amount. Hothouse rhubarb is generally redder in color and holds its color better than field-grown rhubarb once baked. However, I’ve never found much of a correlation between if it’s grown indoors or out, and how much juice it exudes. That said, as insurance, I sprinkle the dough with a little bit of almond flour to absorb any errant juices. But I don’t mind things being a little bit messy; a friend’s Norwegian grandmother once told me that if pie doesn’t fall apart when you slice it, it’s not going to be any good. This tart slices nicely but tastes great. So you’re getting the best of both worlds here, in more ways than one. Print Strawberry Rhubarb Tart I often sprinkle a little almond flour on the tart dough, to soak up any extra juices that may come out of the fruit when it's baking. You can use cracker or bread crumbs, crumbled amaretti cookies, a bit of flour, or leave it out. For those who want to reduce the sugar, feel free to cut the sugar in the filling down to 1/2 cup (100g). For another variation, you could swap out fresh pitted cherries for the strawberries, or mix a basket or two of raspberries or blackberries with the rhubarb, in place of the strawberries. This tart is sometimes called a galette or crostata and is baked free-form. It could also be baked in a tart pan as well. Be sure to cover the baking sheet well if using parchment paper, to catch any juices that may run out during baking. I used an unrimmed baking sheet for this one but use a rimmed one if you want to make sure you're containing any errant juices. Servings 8 servings Ingredients For the tart dough 1 1/2 cups (210g) flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (4oz, 115g) unsalted butter cubed and chilled 6 tablespoons (90ml) ice water For the filling 3 cups (13oz, 380g) diced rhubarb (trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch, 2cm pieces) 2 cups (10oz, 300g) strawberries hulled and quartered zest of 1 lemon preferably unsprayed 2/3 cup (130g) sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch 2 tablespoons almond flour (optional) 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter turbinado or granulated sugar for finishing the tart Instructions To make the tart dough, mix the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also make it in a food processor, or by hand, using a pastry blender.) Add the cold butter and mix until the butter pieces are the size of peas. Add the ice water and continue to mix just until the dough comes together. Gather the dough with your hands, shape it into a disk, wrap it plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Put the rhubarb and strawberries in a medium bowl with the lemon zest. Sprinkle the sugar and corn starch on top, but do not mix the ingredients together yet. (If you do, they'll start to juice and may be overly juicy by the time you're ready to use them.) Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºF). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a 14-inch (36cm) circle and place it on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the almond flour over the tart dough, if using. Mix the fruit together with the sugar and corn starch and place the fruit into the center of the tart dough, then spread it with your hands, leaving 3-inch (8cm) of space between the fruit and the edge of the dough. Fold the edges of the dough up and over the fruit filling. Brush the crush liberally with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the tart until the filling is cooked and bubbling, and the crust is golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and slide the tart off the baking sheet, onto a cooling rack. Notes Serving: Serve the tart on its own, or with Vanilla Ice Cream, White Chocolate and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream, or Cinnamon Ice Cream, or a dollop of crème fraîche. Storage: The unrolled dough can be refrigerated for up to three days, or frozen for up to two months. The baked tart is best the same day but can be stored at room temperature for up to two days. (The dough will get softer the longer it sits.)

Dinner in Paris generally starts at 8 pm, especially in restaurants, and I get ravenously hungry between lunch and dinner. Parisians do dine rather late – often not until 9:30 pm or later, and that’s an awfully long stretch. So French people visit their local pâtisserie for an afternoon snack, known as le goûter, although nowadays Parisians often call it le snack. Le snack is often...

Dinner in Paris generally starts at 8 pm, especially in restaurants, and I get ravenously hungry between lunch and dinner. Parisians do dine rather late – often not until 9:30 pm or later, and that’s an awfully long stretch. So French people visit their local pâtisserie for an afternoon snack, known as le goûter, although nowadays Parisians often call it le snack. Le snack is often nothing more than a buttery financier or a tender madeleine. At home, French children at home are often given a split piece of baguette with a bar of dark chocolate tucked inside to keep them happy until dinner. But my snack of choice is invariably les chouquettes: Cream puffs covered with crunchy nuggets of sugar, then baked until golden-brown. The eggy, pillowy puffs are piled uneventfully behind the counter and sold in crisp little paper sacks, each one holding about 100 grams, or about 10. I found that engaging the counter person in a few words of niceties will often mean that before the ends of the bag are twisted shut, an extra puff will be tossed in as a little gift for l’américain. Nothing is easier to make than chouquettes and you can bake them right with ingredients you likely already have on hand. The only thing you’ll need to find is pearl sugar, which gives the puffs their signature crunch. Some tell me you can buy it at Ikea stores, or you can find it at King Arthur or on Amazon. If you have sugar cubes, you can crush those up into rough chunks and use those, although they’re not quite the same. And if you’re like me, and like chocolate, you could press some chocolate chips into a few of the puffs before baking. This is one of my favorite of all French snacks and I can polish away a whole bag, or tray, in no time. These are best made and eaten right away, or later the same day – if they last that long! Print Chouquettes From The Sweet Life in Paris Shaping the mounds of dough is easiest to do with a pastry bag, although you can use two spoons or a spring-loaded ice cream scoop. Pearl sugar is available in the U.S .from King Arthur and at G. Detou in Paris, and is also available from French companies such as Daddy (called perles de sucre) and Vahiné (sucre chouquettes). You can approximate pearl sugar by crushing sugar cubes in a sturdy zip-top freezer bag with a rolling pin or hammer. Course Dessert Cuisine French Servings 6 servings Ingredients 1 cup (250ml) water 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar 6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter cut into small chunks 1 cup (140g) flour 4 large eggs at room temperature Glaze: 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon milk Pearl sugar Instructions Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (220 C.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. (Depending on the size of your baking sheets, it may take two.) Heat the water, salt, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and dump all the flour in at once. Put the pan back on the heat and stir rapidly until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Allow dough to cool for two minutes, then briskly beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth and shiny. Using two spoons, scoop up a mound of dough with one spoon roughly the size of an unshelled walnut, and scrape it off with the other spoon onto the baking sheet. You can also use a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/2-inch tip and pipe them. Place the mounds evenly-spaced apart on the baking sheet(s). Brush the top of each mound with some of the egg glaze then press the pearl sugar over the top and sides of each mound. Use a lot. Once the puffs expand rise, you’ll appreciate the extra effort (and sugar.) Bake the cream puffs until puffed and well-browned, about 25 to 30 minutes. If they get too dark midway through baking, lower the heat of the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and continue baking. (If you want to make them crispier, you can poke a hole in the side with a knife after you take them out of the oven to let the steam escape.) Notes Storage: The cream puffs are best eaten the same day they’re made. Once cooled, they can be frozen in a zip-top freezer bag for up to one month. Defrost at room temperature, then warm briefly on a baking sheet in a moderate oven, until crisp.

In some places, eggs are in short supply. For bakers, that may present a problem for us. But the folks at King Arthur Baking have provided an excellent guidelines to using egg substitutes, with tips for using everything from seltzer and flax seeds, to chickpea liquid and fruit puree, so you can keep on baking. Check out their detailed guide to egg substitutions guide here!

In some places, eggs are in short supply. For bakers, that may present a problem for us. But the folks at King Arthur Baking have provided an excellent guidelines to using egg substitutes, with tips for using everything from seltzer and flax seeds, to chickpea liquid and fruit puree, so you can keep on baking. Check out their detailed guide to egg substitutions guide here!

I’ve been on a marmalade bender lately. Well, it’s actually been for the last few weeks. Winter, of course, is marmalade season and the markets in Paris are heaped with citrus: Corsican clementines, pretty yellow bergamots, hefty pink grapefruits from Florida (although some infer appellations from elsewhere – namely, the Louvre), leafy lemons from Nice, and lots and lots of oranges. The stands are so...

I’ve been on a marmalade bender lately. Well, it’s actually been for the last few weeks. Winter, of course, is marmalade season and the markets in Paris are heaped with citrus: Corsican clementines, pretty yellow bergamots, hefty pink grapefruits from Florida (although some infer appellations from elsewhere – namely, the Louvre), leafy lemons from Nice, and lots and lots of oranges. The stands are so piled up that it’s not uncommon to be walking down the aisle and have an orange roll off of the piles and land on your foot. (Which is why it is a good idea to wash any fruit before you use it.) This means I’ve got so many jars of marmalade, that when my friend Luisa stopped by and saw the jars piled on top of a shelf in my bedroom, she said “I’ve doing the same thing ” at her apartment in Berlin. Sometimes I think jam-making could be classified as an epidemic and if so, there’s ample evidence that I’m ready for an intervention. While kumquats were once classified with their look-alike citrus brethren and sistern (admittedly, it can be hard to tell as it’s difficult to get a look under their navels), they are now placed in another genus category (Fortunella), even though they share many characteristics of citrus fruits. One of those characteristics is that they are winter fruits. And another is that they are très bon pour la santé (good for your health), containing lots of vitamin C. And they also make you feel happier, since not only does their tangy-bitter flavor brighten up even the darkest of winter day, nothing makes me happier than to wake up in the morning and gaze at my shelf of marmalade first thing in the morning. I was especially happy when I was doing my shopping at the outdoor market and came across a big bin of kumquats. I scooped up a nice-sized bag of them and brought them home, where they patiently waited in the refrigerator until I decided what to do with them. Originally I’d considered giving them a quick-candying and strewing them over poached prunes with a scoop of ice cream. But I ended up sticking my fingers into the bowl of prunes a few too many times during the week and ended up with a small puddle of cinnamon-spiced dark syrup pooled in the bottom of a container in my refrigerator, which I didn’t think would go with anything. So I decided to get out my little serrated knife, slice up my Fortunella fruits, and make marmalade. I added a couple of lemons not just to bulk it up, but because I thought with the added sugar, the marmalade would benefit from some extra acidity. I normally spoon my marmalades on morning toast, but after I made this batch, I had cleaned up the kitchen and was going to reward myself to a nice bowl of split pea soup for lunch with some Comté cheese and – like most good ideas (and a few of the bad ones) – it suddenly occurred to me that the tart marmalade might be nice with the nutty cheese I was cutting into batons. And sure enough, it was. Fortunately I have three nice jars of marmalade to add to my collection. So far this year I’ve made Seville orange marmalade (eight jars) and four jars of mixed marmalade, using the bergamots and citron that were plucked off a tree in Sicily. After all that slicing, seeding, and simmering, the last pot of marmalade has been jarred and stored; they’ll last me through the winter. And if I am prudent, a number of spring and summer mornings as well. Print Kumquat Marmalade Many of the little rings of kumquats will, unfortunately, come apart as you cook the marmalade. The reward, however, is gorgeous jars of tangy marmalade that you’ll be happy to spread on your morning toast or serve with a bit of cheese after dinner. I served mine with Comté, but a nice goat cheese or another nutty mountain cheese, like Gruyère, would pair nicely with it. It takes a bit of patience to slice and pluck out all the seeds from the kumquats, but you can get 2 to 3 jars of marmalade for your efforts. I use a small serrated knife to slice off the stem end, then start slicing the kumquats crosswise, until I get close to the center. Finally, I stick the tip of the knife into the area where the seeds are and slip them into a small bowl. Because the seeds are rather large, any that you miss you can usually find just by doing a little scanning of your pile of sliced kumquats. I use oval Nagami kumquats, which are more puckery than the round Meiwi kumquats, which you sometimes come across. Do try to get organic or unsprayed fruit from your local market or natural food store. The kirsch is optional, but it does nicely round out the flavor of the marmalade. You can substitute another liquor, such as gin, Grand Marnier or Cointreau, light rum, or a dash of brandy. Or it can be omitted, if you wish. Ingredients 2 lemons stemmed, halved lengthwise, seeded, and very thinly sliced 1 pound (450g) kumquats stemmed, seeded, and sliced Reserve the seeds from the lemon and kumquats 5 1/2 cups (1.3L) water 2 cups (400g) sugar pinch of salt Optional: 1/2 teaspoon kirsch or other liquor Instructions Put the lemon slices in a large non-reactive pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the lemons are translucent, about 5 minutes. Drain. (Discard the water.) Put the blanched lemons back in the pot. Tie the seeds from the lemons and kumquats securely in a piece of cheesecloth and add the seed sack to the pot along with the sliced kumquats and water. Bring to a boil; remove from heat, cover, and let stand 24 hours. The next day, put a small plate in the freezer. Add the sugar and salt to the pot, and cook the marmalade for 30 to 45 minutes over medium heat. Remove the bag of seeds and when it’s cool enough to handle, squeeze the seeds in the cheesecloth using your hands or place it in a ladle and press it with the back of a soup spoon (being careful not to break the fabric and release the seeds) over the jam pot to so the pectin goes directly into the marmalade mixture. Continue cooking until it has reached the jelling point, about 220ºF (104ºC) degrees, if using a candy thermometer. To test the marmalade, turn off the heat and put a small amount on the plate that has been chilled in the freezer and briefly return it to the freezer. Check it in a few minutes; it should be slightly jelled and will wrinkle a bit when you slide your finger through it. If not, continue to cook until it wrinkles slightly on the chilled plate when you nudge it. Remove from heat, then stir in the kirsch (if using), and ladle the mixture into clean jars. Notes Note: I store my jams and marmalades in a cool place, often the refrigerator if not planning to use them within a few weeks. if you wish to can or preserve them, you can check out these canning tips. Related Recipes Kumquat Marmalade (Recipe Girl) Kumquat Marmalade with Star Anise (Drizzle & Dip) Sunday Morning Kumquat Jam (Amateur Gourmet) Small Batch Kumquat Marmalade (Food in Jars) Maple Kumquat Marmalade (A Bloggable Feast)

Whenever I mention “Chocolate Chip Cookies,” this recipe seems to come up in the conversation. I’ve been making chocolate chip cookies all of my life, and am always happy to add new ones to my repertoire. I’ve made them with various kinds of flours, different types (and sizes) of chocolate, some with nuts (or cocoa nibs), and others without. In some cases, the salt in...

Whenever I mention “Chocolate Chip Cookies,” this recipe seems to come up in the conversation. I’ve been making chocolate chip cookies all of my life, and am always happy to add new ones to my repertoire. I’ve made them with various kinds of flours, different types (and sizes) of chocolate, some with nuts (or cocoa nibs), and others without. In some cases, the salt in the chocolate chip cookies may be in the butter, or sprinkled on top. Or there might be a double-dose of chocolate in them. But I haven’t done too much tinkering with the butter, because to me, that’s one thing that’s non-negotiable in chocolate chip cookies. But when I heard about tahini, my loyalty to butter was put into question. You (and I) can relax, because these chocolate chip cookies do use butter, but get an underlying richness from sesame paste, a common ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking that I always keep on hand. So although I thought I’d done everything possible that a man could do to a chocolate chip cookie, and then some, I was finally ready to tackle a batch of these chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is adapted from Modern Israeli Cooking by Danielle Oron, that also was in the New York Times. In addition to having everything on hand, they were easy to mix up, and the soft sesame paste made a dough that was hard not to snack on before the cookies went into the oven. I prefer to chop chocolate for chocolate chip cookies, rather than use conventional chocolate chips. I have nothing against chocolate chips, but most are made of what’s called baking-resistant chocolate, which is designed to hold their shape once baked. I like big, oozing chunks of chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies, and I don’t care so much what they look like, so much as how they taste. So I took a knife to a block of chocolate and made my own. Some makers are now producing what are called chocolate “chunks” which may or may not have similar qualities, but chopping a block of chocolate, while a bit messy, puts me in one of my happy places. And I’m happy to make my own chips, or chunks, I should say. These cookies were some of the best chocolate chip cookies that have ever come out of my oven, and I don’t say that lightly. The tahini gives them a gentle savory taste, with a faint musky flavor that pairs remarkably well with dark chocolate and a touch of salt, so don’t be afraid to use a very strongly flavored chocolate. I futzed with the original recipe a little, to make them chewier, and couldn’t resist adding even more chocolate. But can you blame me? Print Salted Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies Adapted from Modern Israeli Cooking: 100 New Recipes for Traditional Classicsby Danielle Oron I used chopped chocolate, rather than chocolate chips, for these cookies since I wanted large chunks of oozing chocolate rather than little bits of chocolate here and there. (But feel free to use chips if you'd like.) Normally when I chop chocolate for cookies, I add any small bits and pieces on the cutting board along with the bigger chunks. But for these, I wanted distinct, more assertive pieces of chocolate, so I sorted through and just used large chunks, saving the smaller bits for another baking project. I baked these cookies in a larger size, then tried them in smaller portions, and give baking times for each. Whichever size you bake them in, since everyone's oven is different, it's important to use visual clues rather than rely on precise minutes and numbers to tell when they're done. Keep an eye on them during the final minutes of baking; the cookies are done when quite pale in the center and browned around the edges. Note that the dough is best when it rests in the refrigerator overnight. You could bake them sooner, if you just can't wait. Servings 18 Ingredients 8 tablespoons (115g, 4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature 1/2 cup (120ml) tahini well stirred 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar 1/2 cup (90g) packed light brown sugar 1 large egg at room temperature 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150g) flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt 2 cups (280g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips flaky sea salt such as Maldon or fleur de sel Instructions In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, tahini, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy. (The dough can also be made in a large mixing bowl, stirred with a spatula.) Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Add the egg, the yolk, and vanilla, and continue to mix for another minute, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl during mixing, to make sure the eggs are getting incorporated. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and kosher or sea salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just combined, then add the chocolate chips. Do not overmix. Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Form the cookies into rounds using an ice cream scoop, or your hands. For small cookies make each 1 1/2-inch (3,5cm), for larger cookies, make them 2-inches (5cm) round. Place them evenly spaced on the baking sheets, 3-inches (8cm) apart). Bake one sheet at a time, so you can keep an eye on them, in the middle rack of the oven. Bake the cookies, turning the baking sheet in the oven midway during baking, until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but still pale in the center. For small cookies, about 12 minutes, for larger cookies, about 14 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle cookies with a bit of flaky sea salt, and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Bake the remaining cookies the same way. Notes Storage: These cookies will keep for two or three days at room temperature, but are definitely better the same day they're baked. The unbaked dough can be refrigerated for up to one week, and frozen for up to two months. Notes: Nut and seeds butters, such as peanut and almond, have different oil content than tahini, and I don't think they could be swapped out. (If you do try it with another nut or seed butter, let us know how they come out in the comments.) For those looking for a chocolate chip cookie without tahini, check out these Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or my recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies in Ready for Dessert. Related Posts and Recipes Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies Tahini and Almond Cookies Baking Ingredients and Substitutions How to Make Tahini Ingredients for American Baking in Paris Soom Tahini (Amazon) Gluten-free baking and Substitutions

Starting in late December, pastry shops in Paris start jumping the gun, and windows and showcases begin filling up with Galettes des rois, or King Cake, in anticipation of the celebration of Epiphany, on January 6th. Because it’s such a popular treat, and lucrative for bakeries, the period of availability seems to extend a few more days every year and it’s not unusual for find...

Starting in late December, pastry shops in Paris start jumping the gun, and windows and showcases begin filling up with Galettes des rois, or King Cake, in anticipation of the celebration of Epiphany, on January 6th. Because it’s such a popular treat, and lucrative for bakeries, the period of availability seems to extend a few more days every year and it’s not unusual for find bakeries peddling them until the end of the month of January. It’s hard to blame them (and those of us who buy them) because they’re so good. Years ago, I used to bake them when I worked in restaurants, and they’re called Pithiviers, named for the town in the Loiret (south of Paris) where they allegedly originated. There are two kinds of King Cakes in France; one is layers of puff pastry filled with almond cream, and the other is a circular yeasted cake, more popular in the south of France, festooned with colorful, sticky candied fruit. Although the ones from the south look more festive, there’s something appealing about munching on flaky, buttery puff pastry with a layer of crème d’amandes stuffed inside. (Some use almond cream enriched with a bit of pastry cream, which is easier if you have a bakery, where pastry cream is often on hand.) The good thing about making your own is that you can dial up the almond filling. Plus every year, in addition to extending the period of availability, prices seem to nudge up and I’ve seen some jaw-dropping prices in bakery windows. On the other hand, some bakers get creative and use hazelnut or pistachio flour instead of almond, or perfume their galettes with rose, candied kumquats, and even chocolate. Taking liberties with tradition is a tricky thing in France as it’s not always a good idea to mess with a good thing, but it is tradition to bake a fève (bean) into the tart and whoever gets the bean (preferably a child – and crafty parents have learned to cut around the pieces to make sure a kid gets the trinket!) gets to be the roi (king) for the day and wear a gilded paper crown that bakeries often give with the galettes. Nowadays les fèves come in all shapes, sizes, and materials. Cartoon characters are popular in France, as are French historical or religious figures. And upscale bakeries like Pierre Hermé, Ladurée, and Aoki, have annual fèves that change. Not only is it fun to see them, but some have become quite collectible. Elsewhere, it isn’t considered a wise idea (ie: hiding things in baked goods) that can be dangerous to young folks if swallowed, so if you want to join the tradition and add a fève, you should be more prudent and use a whole almond or a piece of dried fruit instead. Because who doesn’t want to be king for a day? (Even those of us who don’t completely enclose all of the filling!) Print Galette des rois When working with puff pastry, it’s important to keep it well-chilled and work quickly when rolling as it tends to get stubborn as it warms up. Keep the second piece in the refrigerator until after you’ve rolled out the first. After rolling, brush off any excess flour. And make sure to seal the edges really well to avoid the filling leaking out. NOTE/UPDATE: Speaking of leaking, every year I get a message from someone whose filling leaked out. It's very important to make sure the edges are well-sealed. Use plenty of water and do your best to ensure that the filling is very well enclosed. I'm unable to answer further questions on that subject as that's the best advice I can give you. Frozen puff pastry can often be found in the freezer section of well-stocked supermarkets. Avoid brand that list fats other than butter in the ingredients for best results. If you don’t want to use alcohol, simply omit it or use a few drops of orange flower water in its place. A few people noted in the comments that some of the butter ran out of the tart during baking. Although I don’t do it, some recipes advise that you can add 2-3 teaspoons of cornstarch to the almond filling, which you are welcome to do as extra insurance. Ingredients Almond Filling 1 cup (100g) almond flour 1/2 cup (100g) sugar pinch salt zest of 1/2 orange unsprayed 3 1/2 ounces (100g, 7 tablespoons)) unsalted butter cubed, at room temperature 2 large eggs at room temperature 2 teaspoons rum 1/8 teaspoon almond extract 1 pound (450g) puff pastry divided in two pieces, chilled a whole piece of almond or candied fruit to be the fève Glaze 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon milk Instructions To make the almond filling, in a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the almond flour, sugar, salt, and orange zest. Mash in the butter until it’s completely incorporated. Stir in the eggs one at a time, along with the rum and almond extract. (The mixture may not look completely smooth, which is normal.) Cover and chill. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface, roll one piece of puff pastry into a circle about 9 1/2-inches (23cm) round. Using a pot lid, plate, or bottom of springform pan as a template, trim the dough into neat circle. Place the dough on the baking sheet. Cover it with a sheet of parchment paper or plastic film, then roll the other piece of dough into a circle, trim it, and lay it on top. Chill the dough for thirty minutes. Remove the dough and almond filling from the refrigerator. Slide the second circle of dough and parchment or plastic from pan so that there is only one circle of dough on the parchment lined baking sheet. Spread the almond filling over the center of the dough, leaving a 1-inch (3cm) exposed border. Place an almond or piece of candied fruit to act as the fève (prize) somewhere in the almond filling, if you wish. Brush water generously around the exposed perimeter of the dough then place the other circle of dough on top of the galette and press down to seal the edges very well. (At this point, you may wish to chill the galette since it’ll be a bit easier to finish and decorate, although it’s not necessary. It can be refrigerated overnight at this point, if you wish.) To bake the galette, preheat the oven to 375ºF (180ºC.) Flute the sides of the dough (as shown in the photo) and use a paring knife to create a design on top. Stir together the egg yolk with the milk and brush it evenly over the top – avoid getting the glaze on the sides, which will inhibit the pastry from rising at the edges. Use a paring knife to poke 5 holes in the top, to allow steam escape while baking. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the galette is browned on top and up the sides. (During baking, if the galette puffs up too dramatically in the oven, you may want to poke it once or twice again with a paring knife to release the steam.) Remove from the oven and slide the galette off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. The galette will deflate as it cools, which is normal. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I’m somewhat of a grump about bread pudding. It’s not that I don’t like it, but to me, bread pudding is something you eat at home, like fruit salad. I don’t need someone cutting up a bowl of fruit for me nor do I need someone tearing up leftover bread and serving it forth. (And handing me a bill for it.) Bread pudding is home...

I’m somewhat of a grump about bread pudding. It’s not that I don’t like it, but to me, bread pudding is something you eat at home, like fruit salad. I don’t need someone cutting up a bowl of fruit for me nor do I need someone tearing up leftover bread and serving it forth. (And handing me a bill for it.) Bread pudding is home fare, but if you want to go out and shell out some big bucks for a bowl, that’s fine with me. But once you taste this one, I doubt you’ll find a better one anywhere. I was inspired to make it while paging through Autentico, by Rolando Beremendi, a terrific book on how to cook authentic Italian cuisine, without any preachy baggage. It’s fresh and modern. Sure he’s an evangelical for using the best Italian ingredients, but he makes his case by showcasing the beautiful products available in Italy (Rolando owns Manicaretti Italian food imports, which are sold at Market Hall Foods), such as Tuscan farro, which I used to make his Farro torta the other day, spicy peperoncino piccante (red pepper paste), Sicilian capers, and jars of honey that range in flavors from chestnut to eucalyptus, depending on availability. During the holidays, panettone starts showing up on the shelves at markets and food shops. But not just in Italy; panettone has become popular around the world. The sweet bread is usually studded with candied fruit, citrus zest, and raisins, which bakers often take in different directions, adding everything from chocolate to caramel. Rolando’s Budino de panettone intrigued me, using panettone as a base, topped with demerara sugar. So I used his budino as inspiration for this bread pudding, baked in a pan where brown sugar had been moistened with butter, so it creates a juicy, caramel-like topping, with the bonus of additional sauce to spoon over the bread pudding when it’s turned out. It’s not swimming in sauce but has just enough so that anyone who wants an extra spoonful can have one. And who doesn’t want an extra spoonful of sauce? It’s that time of the year, when you may be gifted one too many panettones (or panettoni). And while you might not think it’s possible to have too much panettone, this is a welcome reprieve from French toast or panettone ice cream, if you do find yourself with an overload of loaves. Print Panettone Bread Pudding Inspired by Autentico by Rolando Beremendi Because of the brown sugar, that makes a nice, caramel-like sauce while the bread pudding is baking, you've got some leeway with the granulated sugar. I used 1/2 cup (100g) in the custard, but you can dial it down to 1/4 cup (50g), or anywhere in between, since panettone is already sweetened. (And they vary in sweetness, too.) If you don't have panettone, you can make this bread pudding with brioche or challah. Since those breads aren't so sweet, I'd use 1/2 cup (100g) of granulated sugar. I have a fairly heavy-duty square cake pan so I melted the butter and brown sugar together right in the pan on the stovetop. If your pan is flimsy, and you're concerned, you can cook the butter and brown sugar together in a saucepan, then pour it into your cake pan. Don't worry too much if the brown sugar is a bit thick and/or lumpy; once baked, it'll smooth out nicely. Servings 10 servings Ingredients 1 1/4 pounds (560g) panettone, cubed (about 9 cups) 3/4 cup (170g) packed light or dark brown sugar 6 large eggs at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (see headnote) 3 cups (710ml) milk or half-and-half 3 tablespoons (45g) unsalted butter cubed Instructions Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Spread the cubed panettone on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned, turning them over once or twice during baking, so they toast relatively evenly. They'll take about 20 minutes or so. While the panettone is toasting, warm the butter in a sturdy 9-inch (22cm) square cake pan over low heat on the stovetop with the the brown sugar, stirring until the butter is melted and the sugar is moistened. Use a spatula to coax it so it covers the bottom of the cake pan, with no bare spots. Remove from heat and set aside. Arrange the toasted panettone cubes evenly in the cake pan. Whisk the eggs together in a medium bowl with the vanilla extract, salt, and granulated sugar. Gradually whisk in the milk until well-combined. Pour the custard over the panettone cubes and press down gently to make sure all the bread cubes are soaking in the custard. Put the cake pan in a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and fill the larger pan with hot water so it reaches halfway up the outsides of the cake pan. Bake the bread pudding until it feels barely set in the center, but don't overcook it, about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven, and wearing oven mitts, carefully lift the bread pudding out of the water bath and set it on a cooling rack. If serving it warm, let the bread pudding cool for at least 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the bread pudding from the pan and set a large serving platter or rimmed baking sheet upside down over the bread pudding. Grasping both the cake pan and serving platter, simultaneously turn both over, being careful to avoid getting any of the warm brown sugar sauce on you. Remove the cake pan, and cut into squares for serving. Notes Serving: Some like their bread pudding warm, but this one is equally good at room temperature, or even chilled. You can serve it on its own, with a pour of heavy cream (or whipped cream), or a scoop of your favorite ice cream, such as Vanilla Ice Cream or Cinnamon Ice Cream. I served mine with Sorghum Ice Cream. Storage: You can refrigerate the baked bread pudding for up to three days. If you want to make it in advance, you can store it in the cake pan, then unmold it before serving.

For people who, like, totally love food.

We love these pumpkin coffee cake muffins! A family favorite, the pumpkin muffin is tender, moist and flavorful. The cinnamon streusel is so crumbly and crunchy, giving it the perfect coffee cake texture. Perfect for fall! I’m here with your weekend treat! These pumpkin coffee cake muffins are super delicious – basically like pumpkin cake […]

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We love these pumpkin coffee cake muffins! A family favorite, the pumpkin muffin is tender, moist and flavorful. The cinnamon streusel is so crumbly and crunchy, giving it the perfect coffee cake texture. Perfect for fall! I’m here with your weekend treat! These pumpkin coffee cake muffins are super delicious – basically like pumpkin cake – and swirled with a cinnamon streusel that is crumbly and crunchy and wonderful. You won’t only want these on the weekend… trust me. I’m hoping they become a fall staple in your kitchen. They are SO good. And can I just tell you: They use a whole can of pumpkin! This is KEY because you don’t have to find a half-open can in your fridge in a month that’s filled with mold. I love when recipes call for the whole can and I can just use it up. No need to save it when you’re just going to toss it. I also love coffee cake because it’s a great excuse to turn cake into a breakfast food. I mean, in my family, it’s always been one. My mom and my aunt are the queens of eating cake for breakfast. Now, I consider myself someone of a pumpkin muffin connoisseur. My kids and Eddie LOVE my pumpkin muffins, so much that I even make them in the summer. Year round! And just last night, I made a big batch for Max who is leaving for a hockey tournament. They are always a hit, so tender and moist and very satisfying. Which is how I knew they’d be PERFECT in a coffee cake muffin. I mean, take this muffin and add a bunch of cinnamon streusel deliciousness? I’m game. They are also incredibly easy to make. I mix everything in one giant bowl, then I use a cookie scoop to transfer the batter into the liners. When it comes to coffee cake muffins, I like to use the tulip muffin liners. You can easily find these on amazon! I love to use them because some of that crumbly topping will inevitably fall or spill off and this is a great way to contain it all. It gives you a little more space to have a coffee cake muffin with that crunch on top. The best part of the coffee cake muffin is that there is streusel inside of it! So you scoop a little batter into a liner, sprinkle on some of the streusel and then add more batter on top. (more…) The post Pumpkin Coffee Cake Muffins. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

These are 16 of my favorite meals to prep ahead for the week – dishes that hold up well day after day! Soups, pastas, grain bowls and salads, these are my favorite things to eat for lunch or make ahead for busy weeknights! Let’s make dinner super easy during the crazy fall season! With a […]

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These are 16 of my favorite meals to prep ahead for the week – dishes that hold up well day after day! Soups, pastas, grain bowls and salads, these are my favorite things to eat for lunch or make ahead for busy weeknights! Let’s make dinner super easy during the crazy fall season! With a bunch of meals that I adore – ones that still taste fantastic a few days after making them. I am allll about the easy meals I can prep ahead of time to make sure we have something to delicious to eat on busy nights – or at least eat for lunches. While we can easily fall back on our go-to of something like a grain, grilled chicken or salmon and roasted vegetables, these ones below are more complete dishes that add variety and some excitement to our prepped meals. That is KEY! I don’t want to eat something boring or something that doesn’t sound good – and I hate any sort of meal prep to go to waste. Below you’ll find a few of my favorite bowls, soups, pastas and even two kale salads that hold up well for about three days! What are your favorite fall meals to make ahead for the week? 16 Fall Meal Prep Meals For Next Week (more…) The post 16 Fall Meals You Can Prep Ahead For Lunches or Dinners. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Over the last few months I have found so many new skincare products that I adore! I was introduced to skin flooding/the 7 layer toner method on tiktok and it has become such a huge part of my routine. It’s a great way to start the day and unwind at night too. Through this, I […]

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Over the last few months I have found so many new skincare products that I adore! I was introduced to skin flooding/the 7 layer toner method on tiktok and it has become such a huge part of my routine. It’s a great way to start the day and unwind at night too. Through this, I have found so many great new-to-me products for my skin. I have mostly dry, slightly sensitive skin and am all about the moisture. These are just a few of the products I am loving right now, some of which happen to be in the amazon prime sale. 16 Beauty Products I’m Loving Right Now Prequel Half and Half Moisturizer. You will see a TON of milky toners/ceramide moisturizers in this post. They have changed my skin. And this is my favorite. It’s called a moisturizer and definitely works as one – I use it as the final layer of skincare before a heavier moisturizer or before sunscreen. I adore it! It feels like silk. Prequel Oil Cleanser. I’ve double cleansed my skin for years now and this tops all oil cleansers for me. It’s affordable, so gentle, moisturizing and doesn’t have a scent. I love it and use it twice a day. Prequel Vitamin C. I swear this is not a prequel ad (hello, I wish!) but the products are just SO good. Easy to get at target or on amazon and great prices for the quality. This is VERY similar to the skinceuticals vitamin c – which I have used for close to 10 or 15 years and is super pricey. I have now replaced it with this and the Educated Mess Vitamin C which I also love. Medicube Zero Pore Pads. I like the mild version since my skin is dry. I will use these twice or three times a week and they are great. Don’t hurt my skin barrier, strip the skin or break me out. Eadem Cashmere Peel. I LOVE this peel because it is so gentle and good for sensitive skin. It doesn’t dry out my skin at all. I use it once a week. Haruharu Barrier Essence. This is my #1 milky toner!! I adore this. It feels incredible on the skin and it is my last layer before moisturizer. Laneige Cream Skin. This is another one of my favorite milky moisturizing toners. I bought the mister with it and it’s perfect! Mists so gently on the skin and is incredibly moisturizing. I use this before the Haruharu barrier essence above. I’m From Rice Toner. Another milky toner! This one is lighter than the two above. I use it before both. It’s very calming, soothing and great for sensitive skin. I’m From Mugwort Essence. This goes on before the rice toner above. This feels INCREDIBLE on the skin. It’s soothing, makes you feel glowy and very hydrated. I love it. Inkey List Hydro Barrier Serum. This serum is SO hydrating, it feels like putting butter on your face, in the best way possible. I use this after toners, before moisturizer. Innisfree Glowy Finish Sunscreen. One of the sunscreens I am loving right now. I will use this on its own or under sunscreen. Does not break me out at all. Haruharu Wonder Airyfit Sunscreen. Another SPF that I love. Same as above – great under sunscreen and alone. Also doesn’t migrate into my eyes which is huge. Hanni Splash Salve. This is a body product and has changed my skin. You put it on in the shower and just quickly rinse it off as your last step. It does leave a moisturizing oil/cream on your skin and then you pat dry. I add more body cream and oil after. It really seals in the moisture! I never want to be without this in my shower. Cyklar Vanilla Verve Body Wash. I don’t know what it is about this scent but it is incredible. It’s a warm, more mature vanilla scent that isn’t too sweet. I want to smell like this all the time. Also, the body wash is so moisturizing. This bottle is also big and it lasts forever! Kosas Wet Stick. This is the best lipstick/balm hybrid ever! It is very moisturizing and glossy – also one of those that you can put on without a mirror. And it looks like your lips but better! Oribe Dry Heat Protectant. I got my hair done in May and learned something: I should be using heat protection with every step of heat. This has been a huge game changer for me. So has finding dry heat protectants! I prefer a dry version if I’m heat styling my hair. This one smells incredible, sprays nicely and locks in the style without it weighing down my hair or leaving it sticky or crunchy. I think I’ll use it forever. The post 16 Beauty Products I’m Loving Right Now. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

This sticky apple cider chicken is such a lovely fall meal! Chicken thighs are browned and served with a sticky cider sauce alongside a crunchy, refreshing autumn slaw. It’s the best combo and very light, satisfying and flavorful.  Fall dinners are my favorite!  This sticky apple cider chicken is tender and flavorful. It complements the […]

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This sticky apple cider chicken is such a lovely fall meal! Chicken thighs are browned and served with a sticky cider sauce alongside a crunchy, refreshing autumn slaw. It’s the best combo and very light, satisfying and flavorful. Fall dinners are my favorite! This sticky apple cider chicken is tender and flavorful. It complements the cold, refreshing crunchy slaw in the best way – the combo is wonderful! It’s light and easy but very filling. I love when a satisfying meal is simple and fantastic! I also need to come up with any and every excuse to use apple cider this time of year. It’s one of my favorite things ever. For well over a decade, I’ve been making a chicken thigh recipe with apple cider and honey that we LOVE. They get broiled and have a ridiculous amount of flavor for being made with very simple ingredients. Because of that, it’s also a combo I lean towards when coming up with new recipes. Or just when I’m thinking of what to make Eddie for dinner! While I always have that on the brain, I also LOVE the method that I use for my salmon. Honey or maple syrup and water (or another liquid!) are mixed together and then you pour it in the skillet. It simmers and bubbles and gets so sticky and delicious! All of that to say, this recipe is a hybrid of both of those. In addition to my absolute adoration of apple cider (it’s so much better than pumpkin) and the desperate need for the crunchiest texture in the world, a quick slaw as a side is a must. This is how I make it! First, the chicken. I season it with my favorite spices, then sear it in a cast iron pan. I like to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but skin-on would also be delish here. When the chicken is deeply golden on both sides, I pour in a mixture of apple cider, water and honey. Just like I mentioned above, it bubbles and simmers and gets deliciously sticky. Just then, I stick the pan in the oven to finish the chicken so it’s super tender and not over cooked. It usually doesn’t take very long. The bit of sauce will reduce too but you can still spoon it over the chicken to serve. Then, while the chicken finishes in the oven, I make a quick slaw! Chop some apples, celery and red onion! Then finely grate some carrots. I like that this is a lettuce-less and cabbage-less slaw because it is SO packed with intense flavor and crunch. The dressing for the slaw is, let’s say, a creamy vinaigrette. There is still a touch of creaminess because it balances the sticky chicken so well. I whisk together some mayo, apple cider vinegar, garlic and honey. The result is a perfectly tangy yet creamy and light dressing. The slaw stays super crunchy but has a lovely coating of flavor. It pairs so well with the chicken! There’s warm chicken with a sticky sauce and a crunchy, cooling and refreshing slaw! Best combo ever. (more…) The post Sticky Apple Cider Chicken with Autumn Slaw. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

The best of the best amazon prime day deals! Everything I have and love and recommend. I love prime day! I always find so many great things – last year I did the majority of the kids’ christmas shopping (my 2025 kids picks are here) on this day! Since we moved over a year ago, […]

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The best of the best amazon prime day deals! Everything I have and love and recommend. I love prime day! I always find so many great things – last year I did the majority of the kids’ christmas shopping (my 2025 kids picks are here) on this day! Since we moved over a year ago, I have been able to find SO many home deals during this sale. Today I’m sharing my top 25 favorites – the things I think are really worth it in the sale and have made a difference in my everyday life! Most of these probably sound familiar because they are in my monthly favorites over and over again. Everything is something I have and love! You can find more of my picks here, as well as my amazon store front. Top 25 Amazon Prime Day Deals Easy Everyday! You can grab my newest cookbook as well as all my others on sale today! Parchment Paper Sheets. I buy these over and over again. Can’t live in my kitchen without them! Kindle Paperwhite. I can’t live without my kindle these days. Max also has one and uses it constantly when we’re on the go. I take mine everywhere. I actually get anxious if I forget it at home! I also have the tiny kindle which I love to take in small bags or leave in my car so I always have it! Magnatiles. Possibly the most versatile toy ever – my kids (ages 10 to 3) all still adore magnatiles. They keep them busy and are easy transportable. They have built some really cool things with them! Toniebox. Jordan absolutely loved his Toniebox. It is incredible and I wish these existed when Max was his age! Yoto Mini. This is what Emilia and Max have – it’s like the toniebox but for older kids. Emilia has used hers every single day for YEARS. She listens to it at night, we take it in the car, on vacation, everything. Osea Body Balm. I love all Osea products, but this balm feels incredible on the skin. Almost like a serum. I use it right after the shower, before the oil. Pro Belgian Waffle Maker. I love this waffle maker. Last year I started doing waffle bar parties and I have two of these going during the parties. They are super simple to use! And make delish waffles too. Rotary Cheese Grater. It’s definitely mac and cheese, casserole and cheesy potato season! This makes grating cheese to perfection SO much easier. I don’t know why I haven’t always used one. I love it. And use it multiple times a week! It’s very easy to clean and I put the parts in the dishwasher too. Rubbermaid Glass food storage. These are what we’ve used for years for food storage – Eddie uses them every day to take lunches to work. I use every size for leftovers! I put them in the dishwasher and they hold up great. Digital Meat Thermometer. Can’t live without this. Great gift, great to have on hand. I use it all the time. Wall Charger, Surge Protector. I have a few of these and I like to travel with them. They are also great in the kitchen. We all have so many different devices these days that having this is necessary. Samsonite luggage. We bought this exact luggage for my mom two Christmases ago and it’s excellent. She loves it, it’s very easy to spin (she is tiny and in her 70s) and walk with. Cordless Dust Buster. We have three of these! They live in all corners of the house and garage and are so easy to prop up on the charger. We also use them for our cars. Kasa Outdoor Smart Plugs. The indoor kasa plugs are what I’ve used for christmas decor for many years. They hook up to alex and you can use voice commands. Having an outdoor one is brilliant! Wool Dryer Balls. I stopped using dryer sheets years ago. I love the wool balls and aside from my kids using them as “snowballs,” they work great. The post Top 25 Amazon Prime Day Favorites! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

1. These pumpkin pie cookies look incredible. 2. Mentally I’m already in the holiday season! Mostly Thanksgiving. I can’t help it. Emilia does voice and they are rehearsing for their christmas recital… we’re already listening to the music. 3. That thing you’ve always wanted to do. This is so good! 4. TV things! I watched […]

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1. These pumpkin pie cookies look incredible. 2. Mentally I’m already in the holiday season! Mostly Thanksgiving. I can’t help it. Emilia does voice and they are rehearsing for their christmas recital… we’re already listening to the music. 3. That thing you’ve always wanted to do. This is so good! 4. TV things! I watched all of Monster on netflix, which is horrifying but I like Charlie Hunnam and he is so good in it. Like next level acting. 5. It’s prime day! I have all my favorites in my storefront. I also started a kids list because it’s birthday season at our house! I need a place to organize my ideas. 6. What are you reading? I’m excited that the new Frieda McFadden book comes out today! 7. I tried the starbucks protein coffee and I didn’t hate it. And that’s saying something because I’m scarred for life from protein powder in my early 20s. It was pure chalk. 8. What are you favorite color combos for family photos? I need some ideas! 9. Reading about panera’s downfall is so interesting. Someone said that now it tastes like overpriced nursing home food and I can’t get past that. My kids like it but I can’t do it anymore. The post Tuesday Things. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

This broccoli cheddar orzo soup is a fun twist on the classic! Broccoli cheese soup is cooked with tender orzo making it ridiculously satisfying and so delicious. It’s like a giant hug in a bowl! I may have your new favorite soup right here. This broccoli cheddar orzo soup is just like the classic, filling […]

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This broccoli cheddar orzo soup is a fun twist on the classic! Broccoli cheese soup is cooked with tender orzo making it ridiculously satisfying and so delicious. It’s like a giant hug in a bowl! I may have your new favorite soup right here. This broccoli cheddar orzo soup is just like the classic, filling with tender orzo and tons of flavor. It is ridiculously satisfying, easy to make and tastes incredible. Plus, cheese! How could it not be good? There is something about broccoli cheese soup that just screams COMFORT. It is such a cozy, warming dish that it almost can only happen in the fall and winter. And I’m pretty sure that broccoli cheddar soup was the gateway to broccoli for me. It’s now my favorite vegetables and my kids’ favorite too. I didn’t like it when I was younger but that’s just because I’m convinced that it wasn’t smothered in cheese enough for me to get on board. As soon as I started eating broccoli cheese soup, I was sold. Sidebar: actually a broccoli cheddar baked potato may have been first, but same thing. Lots of broccoli and cheese! Since broccoli cheddar soup is already on the cozier side, it might sound crazy to add some orzo to it. But it is so perfect. I liken it to adding rice to the soup. It adds even just a little more satiety and an incredible texture too. In fact, it’s as if you combined melty cheddar soup with risotto. That is EXACTLY what it’s like. In the best way possible. (more…) The post Broccoli Cheddar Orzo Soup. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Another week down! And it was a packed one. One of the last cross country practices. Sibling race! My little dream girl reading in church. Hockey practice. Another stop for mums. These are called pink pineapple flamingo. How we entertain ourselves in multiple pick up lines. Then the final XC practice of the season. Very […]

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Another week down! And it was a packed one. One of the last cross country practices. Sibling race! My little dream girl reading in church. Hockey practice. Another stop for mums. These are called pink pineapple flamingo. How we entertain ourselves in multiple pick up lines. Then the final XC practice of the season. Very pumped about some lollipops. We live here! Opening day of hockey season. Officially! My faves. Make a wish! Her jewelry, haha. The many faces of Jordan. So mischievous. The baby. Baby BFFs time. We’re into flag football season. He loves this and is so into it. Went to see the Taylor release party! And then it was the last XC meet of the season! It’s very bittersweet because I LOVE this but wow it takes up so much time. They both had such great seasons! Resorting to desperate measures after four hours in 85 degrees. How is this OCTOBER!!!! I’m annoyed. Give me cold. Baby racing. Second place for my sweetest girl!! She and her best friend coming in at the top of every race all season! Love her. And then straight from the race to the rink for Max! Yay October! The post A Week In The Life, Vol 40. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

I love ALL of the meals this week! What’s on your menu this week?! What To Eat This Week 15 minute sesame ramen noodles Chicken parm meatballs in vodka sauce Autumn chopped salad Crispy lemon cauliflower gnocchi Bang bang salmon bowls Crispy chicken caesar sandwiches Pickle lovers egg salad Baked pumpkin cheesecake oatmeal     […]

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I love ALL of the meals this week! What’s on your menu this week?! What To Eat This Week 15 minute sesame ramen noodles Chicken parm meatballs in vodka sauce Autumn chopped salad Crispy lemon cauliflower gnocchi Bang bang salmon bowls Crispy chicken caesar sandwiches Pickle lovers egg salad Baked pumpkin cheesecake oatmeal The post What To Eat This Week: 10/5/25. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Hello weekend! This week on the blog, I shared these chicken parm meatballs in vodka sauce. I also shared this autumn chopped salad, 31 recipes to make in October and these shredded beef sandwiches! My september favorites are here and I shared everything I read in august and september too! If you haven’t joined my substack […]

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Hello weekend! This week on the blog, I shared these chicken parm meatballs in vodka sauce. I also shared this autumn chopped salad, 31 recipes to make in October and these shredded beef sandwiches! My september favorites are here and I shared everything I read in august and september too! If you haven’t joined my substack newsletter yet, you can do so here! There’s a new menu for the week and a new peek inside our everyday life. You can find all my favorites in my amazon store front and LTK shop! Thank you for continuing to make the launch Easy Everyday absolutely amazing . If you haven’t got your book yet, you can order here! xo WHAT I’M LOVING THIS WEEK These bean and cheese taquitos look incredible. Baked ziti with ricotta. OMG yum. Craving this apple cinnamon oatmeal. Carrot cake bars look amazing. These spiced nuts look like the best snack. Frozen apple cider margs! I love them. The best pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Apple crumble is a classic. And I need pumpkin coffee cake too. Butternut squash chicken soup looks unreal. Need to try this tomato butter. Chai vanilla bean hot toddy! Yes please. Loving this french onion soup so much. Honeynut squash hummus is fabulous. The post Currently Crushing On. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Eat to Live. Cook to Love.

Crispy, crunchy, and not in the least bit slimy, our easy oven-roasted okra recipe will quickly become your new favorite way to cook this often overlooked and underestimated vegetable. With a few simple techniques, you can achieve crunchy perfection in your very own oven (no deep frier, air fryer, or finicky batter/breading necessary). Seasoned with […]

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Crispy, crunchy, and not in the least bit slimy, our easy oven-roasted okra recipe will quickly become your new favorite way to cook this often overlooked and underestimated vegetable. With a few simple techniques, you can achieve crunchy perfection in your very own oven (no deep frier, air fryer, or finicky batter/breading necessary). Seasoned with olive oil, soy sauce, and togarashi for a flavor-packed and umami rich side dish that’s—dare I say—even more satisfying than French fries. Okra often gets a bad rap, often stereotyped as slimy and unappetizing. But perhaps… you’ve just been cooking it wrong. Roasting the okra high and dry reduces any lingering sliminess (one of the main factors in a person’s dislike of okra, I’ve found). The result is delightfully crispy, and nearly as satisfying as a deep-fried French fry with a fraction of the oil. While I almost always line my baking pans with parchment, in the case of this recipe, the parchment actually impedes the browning process (not to mention you’re not technically supposed to put parchment in high heat environments, so keep it for the cookies, ok?) Instead, an unlined, light colored aluminum sheet pan produces the crispiest results. (more…)

Well this is exciting… today we’re launching not one, but TWO new food pun t-shirt designs! We couldn’t decide which design to launch next… so we decided to do both. Just in time for fall baking and gifting season (hello perfect gift for the food lover in your life!) Live Laugh Loaf features an original […]

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Well this is exciting… today we’re launching not one, but TWO new food pun t-shirt designs! We couldn’t decide which design to launch next… so we decided to do both. Just in time for fall baking and gifting season (hello perfect gift for the food lover in your life!) Live Laugh Loaf features an original design made from block relief prints of actual sourdough bread slices (psst, the original prints are also available for sale here.) You know you knead it.⁠ Eyes on the Pies features an original illustrated design with retro ad-inspired pie illustration and hand lettering. Crust me, you want a slice of this!⁠ During the preorder, we’re offering this design in two colors: light pink for Women’s styles, and soft taupe for Unisex styles (note the taupe color is ONLY available for preorder and will not be stocked afterwords, so if you want it, grab it now!) And get this: both designs are also available on high quality, 100% cotton flour sack tea towels (and stickers on the way too!) As an extra incentive, get an exclusive discount when you pre-order before October 10th (plus guarantee the size/style/color you want!) Expected shipping the first week of November, just in time for peak pie season. Donut delay, order yours today! Pre-order Now for an exclusive price » And psst! We still have Snaccident Prone tees, towels, and stickers in stock! Please note that for orders containing in-stock and pre-order products, the entire order will ship when the preorder product becomes available. If you need the in-stock item sooner, please place a separate order.

I’d like to introduce you to your future favorite eggnog: deliciously smooth, perfectly sweet, and devilishly boozy, with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, French vanilla, and banana that’ll make you think you’re drinking liquid banana bread, even though there’s no actual banana in it. This is our go-to eggnog recipe that we make around this time […]

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I’d like to introduce you to your future favorite eggnog: deliciously smooth, perfectly sweet, and devilishly boozy, with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, French vanilla, and banana that’ll make you think you’re drinking liquid banana bread, even though there’s no actual banana in it. This is our go-to eggnog recipe that we make around this time every year. I know it sounds ridiculous to make your holiday eggnog in September, but trust me that aging your homemade eggnog is the key to achieving the a velvety thick texture and deep, complex flavor without the harsh burn of the alcohol (but all of the fun). Look, I know you’re probably thinking, who is this chick posting EGGNOG recipes in SEPTEMBER?! Like, that’s worse than the Xmas merch showing up in stores the day after Labor Day. And I don’t disagree with you. But—and hear me out here—if you want to make the best homemade eggnog this side of the nuthouse… you need to make it now. My advice: drop what you’re doing and make a batch of this eggnog NOW. Don’t wait a week, let alone a month. September is the perfect time to make your holiday nog. Taylor actually has a recurring yearly reminder in his calendar for this very reason. Because fresh eggnog doesn’t hold a candle to the aged stuff, and, while some folks age theirs for upwards of a year, we’ve found that 3 months is just about perfect. After whipping it up (which will take you less than 15 minutes), decant the fresh eggnog into clean glass bottles with tight fitting lids, and stash them in the very back of your fridge. Don’t be tempted to sneak any before December, you hear? At the very least wait until after Thanksgiving. Aging eggnog mellows the harsh burn of the alcohol, deepens the flavors, and enhances the texture, so come December, you’ll have the most luscious, smooth, perfectly sweet and devilishly boozy eggnog you’ve ever tasted, with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, French vanilla, and banana that’ll make you think you’re drinking liquid banana bread, even though there’s no actual banana in it. (more…)

I’d like to introduce you to the brown butter banana cake, your new BFF (or should I say, BBBCwCFF?) It’s surprisingly light for a banana cake, with the perfect balance of sweetness and ripe banana flavor that’s enhanced by toasty nuttiness of brown butter. Best of all, both the cake and frosting can be mixed […]

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I’d like to introduce you to the brown butter banana cake, your new BFF (or should I say, BBBCwCFF?) It’s surprisingly light for a banana cake, with the perfect balance of sweetness and ripe banana flavor that’s enhanced by toasty nuttiness of brown butter. Best of all, both the cake and frosting can be mixed by hand, no electric mixer needed. The fudge frosting is deeply and intensely chocolate—made with both melted chocolate and cocoa powder—with a silky smooth texture and shiny finish that stays soft even after being refrigerated. It’s the perfect fudgy compliment to the moist and tender banana cake, without the overpowering sweetness of other frostings (no powdered sugar in sight!) When it comes to developing recipes, which comes first, the cake or the frosting? Normally, for me, it’s the cake, but not here. No, this recipe started from the top—luscious swirls of deeply chocolate fudge frosting—and the cake soon followed. Would you believe that this fudge frosting was a complete accident? I found myself with a few random bowls of ganache/fudge left from my candied orange fudge swirl ice cream recipe (getting a fudge swirl that stayed soft and chewy even when frozen solid took a few tries to get right). Not wanting to waste the remnants, I combined the bowls of ganachey fudge and fudgey ganache, added a splash of cream, and whipped it with an electric mixer to smooth it all out. The result made a surprisingly delicious whipped fudge frosting, which I then slathered on top of a thrown-together-because-those-three-overripe-bananas-need-to-be-used-stat banana cake to bring to ceramics class, which my classmates promptly devoured. But despite the accidental awesomeness that was the first test cake, I somehow found myself sitting on this recipe for upwards of a year. Why? I can’t quite explain it. At first it was just about not wanting to post two square-ish bakes in a row, or posting too many cake recipes back to back, but when I finally revisited it, enough time had passed that the accidental frosting didn’t quite pass my exacting standards. It was close, but I knew I could make it better. (more…)

Sweet, salty, buttery, and fabulous, this unique ice cream flavor will have you craving more! Made with an eggless ice cream base steeped with real buttered popcorn, then churned into a dreamy, ultra-creamy ice cream that’ll satisfy sweet and salty snackers alike! Imagine the flavor of freshly popped popcorn drizzled in melted butter and generously […]

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Sweet, salty, buttery, and fabulous, this unique ice cream flavor will have you craving more! Made with an eggless ice cream base steeped with real buttered popcorn, then churned into a dreamy, ultra-creamy ice cream that’ll satisfy sweet and salty snackers alike! Imagine the flavor of freshly popped popcorn drizzled in melted butter and generously sprinkled with sea salt. And then imagine that flavor transformed into a sweet, salty, and ultra creamy homemade ice cream. It might sound like strange magic—and, to be fair, the way the cream absorbs so much of the popcorn flavor kinda is—this frozen mashup needs to go on your to-make list this summer! A few years ago Jeni’s had a limited edition ice cream flavor called Sun-Popped Corn. It was a pint-sized miracle. Truly. And I know you’re skeptical right now, considering the horror that is the popcorn jelly bean (seriously, who thinks that tastes good?) but trust me when I say that Jeni’s magical popcorn ice cream tasted nothing like that artificially flavored abomination. I’ve been wishing and hoping it’d come back for years, always checking the seasonal flavors when summer rolls around, but I’ve yet to see it again (there is a caramel popcorn flavor this summer, but it’s not quite the same). So, rather than pining for this elusive flavor for yet another summer, I decided I’d make my own instead. And let me tell you, it turned out way better than I ever could have imagined. (more…)

Indian Vegetarian Soul Food | Delicious, Easy Vegan & Vegetarian Recipes Powered by Indian Flavours

Let’s make a delicious, sweet and crisp Dubai Chocolate Burfi with just 8 ingredients and very little effort! This Indian milk fudge is inspired by the viral Dubai chocolate; a bar with milk chocolate filled with pistachio cream and crunchy shreds of kataifi, a type of shredded filo pastry. This recipe for Dubai Chocolate Burfi …

The post Dubai Chocolate Burfi appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Let’s make a delicious, sweet and crisp Dubai Chocolate Burfi with just 8 ingredients and very little effort! Learn how to make Dubai Chocolate Burfi This Indian milk fudge is inspired by the viral Dubai chocolate; a bar with milk chocolate filled with pistachio cream and crunchy shreds of kataifi, a type of shredded filo pastry. This recipe for Dubai Chocolate Burfi is… Vegetarian Easy to make Perfect for festivals like Diwali, Eid and Holi A simple Diwali recipe to make with children The most delicious Diwali sweet recipe While a massive slab is tempting, you should probably cut it into small pieces. Or don’t… you’re the boss. In any case, make this, share it and stop returning empty tupperware to your aunties this festive season! You’ll need to do a bit of stirring, which is actually the hardest part of making it, so even if you think you can’t cook, you can probably do this. What is burfi? Burfi is a creamy and delicious milk-based fudge with cardamom. It’s the simplest of all Indian sweets to make and my recipe for the burfi base calls for only 4 ingredients. The sweet treat known as burfi (or barfi) takes its name from the Hindi word barfī, which directly translates to ‘icy’ or ‘snowy’ (with baraf being the Hindi word for ‘ice’). This is a fitting name, as the confection is known for its cool, melt-in-the-mouth texture. If you’re familiar with a sweet like the Western coconut ice, you’ll immediately know the melty sensation I’m talking about! Dubai Chocolate Burfi recipe for Diwali, Eid and more! A note on ingredients… So you can make perfect Dubai Chocolate burfi every time! I’ll link the products and brands I use to make this show stopping Dubai Chocolate Burfi below, so you can be sure your recipe works every time. Milk powder My recipe here calls for full-fat milk powder, which is ESSENTIAL. Do not replace it with skimmed milk powder or brands like Nido, which will produce a very different texture to what we’re looking for. Note that while many people use mawa (milk solids) to make burfi, it will not work as a direct replacement for milk powder in this Dubai Chocolate Burfi recipe. Please stick to my recommendations below for the best results. Double cream Double cream (heavy cream) has the perfect amount of fat for making a smooth and creamy burfi. Don’t replace it with milk or butter in this specific recipe. If you’d like to make a burfi without cream, try my Plain White Burfi recipe instead. Icing sugar Icing sugar (powdered sugar) melts into the burfi milk quickly and easily which is ideal for this recipe since it doesn’t require a great deal of cooking. If you don’t have it, blitz granulated or caster sugar to a very fine powder before adding it to the burfi mixture. I don’t recommend replacing it with sweetener or sugar alternatives as I can’t guarantee it will work. Cardamom An essential add-in for giving any burfi its signature Indian mithai (sweet) flavour. Use green cardamom pods, cracked open and the black seeds ground to a fine powder. The green, papery husks can be added to tea later so don’t throw them away! Kataifi Kataifi (also called kadayif) is a pastry dough from the Mediterranean and Middle East, made by shredding traditional phyllo dough into exceptionally fine, hair-like strands. When it’s cooked with butter like in this recipe and/or baked, these strands turn wonderfully crispy and golden, providing a unique textural element to both sweet and savoury dishes, most famously the namesake dessert (such as this Kunafa recipe) where it is filled with cheese, mixed nuts and drenched in syrup. You can typically buy the ready-to-use frozen dough in the freezer section of Middle Eastern, Turkish, Greek, or speciality markets. Pistachio cream Not pistachio paste or pistachio butter. For this Dubai chocolate dessert recipe, you’ll need sweet pistachio cream, which is a blend of pistachios, (try to buy one with at least 30% pistachios), milk and sugar for a sweet and creamy flavour and texture. Milk chocolate Now this is down to you. I like to use a milk cooking chocolate for all my burfi, since it feels the most nostalgic to me. For context, this is what is traditionally used by Indian sweet shops. I like the Waitrose Belgian Milk Chocolate for Cooking. It melts very easily and produces wonderful results for Indian sweet making. Alternatively, you can use your favourite dark or white chocolate. Products I recommend for making Dubai Chocolate Burfi pisti pistachio cream whole milk powder Pisti Pistachio Cream (affiliate link) Whole milk powder (affiliate link) How to make Dubai Chocolate Burfi step-by-step 1. Make the crispy kataifi Saute the kataifi in butter, stirring all the time to ensure it’s an even shade of caramel brown. Do this over a medium-low heat until its shatteringly crisp. Let it break down into small bits as you stir. Transfer to a plate to cool down completely before using. 2. Prepare the burfi mix Pour the cream into a large, non-stick pan set over a low heat. Add the milk powder and icing sugar. Stir well with a flexible spatula, until all of the milk powder has been absorbed. It will look like too much milk powder but be patient and keep stirring. Increase the heat slightly and continue to stir ALL THE TIME. Don’t stop stirring as any mixture sitting at the base will brown. As it heats up, the mixture will begin to loosen. Switch to a potato masher to press out any lumps in the mixture. All in all, once the mixture is hot (and has visibly loosened to a more liquid state compared to when you started), you should cook it for a further 5 minutes. Do not overcook as this will lead to very hard, chewy burfi. The consistency for the finished burfi should be like that of smooth mashed potato. Stir in the cardamom. Remove it from the heat and press into a greased and lined tin measuring 15-cm x 20-cm (leaving a 3-cm overhang for easy lifting out later). Allow this to cool to room temperature. 3. Make the crispy pistachio cream layer Stir together the pistachio cream and cool kataifi. Spoon this over the cooled burfi layer and spread out evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. 4. Melt the chocolate Either use a double boiler to melt the chocolate, or microwave it in short bursts of 15-20 seconds, stirring gently between each burst until completely melted. Don’t overheat it, instead let it melt gently without too much stirring. Using cooking chocolate will help, since it’s much easier to melt. Pour the chocolate over the cooled pistachio layer. 5. Chill the burfi (requires patience) Cover the tin and pop the whole thing into the fridge for at least 8 hours. I know, it’s a long time to wait but I promise it’s worth it! 6. How to cut Burfi Since this is a triple-layered burfi, it requires at least 8 hours in the fridge before cutting for the cleanest pieces. I recommend removing the burfi from the fridge 15 minutes before cutting. A hot knife is your friend! Use a hot knife to gently melt and slice through the chocolate layer (to prevent the chocolate from cracking and snapping away). Let the knife glide through the crunchy pistachio and kataifi layer, and finally apply some extra pressure to cut through the burfi layer. Since it will be very cold, the burfi layer may seem hard to cut through but once sliced cleanly, the burfi can come to room temperature and soften perfectly for eating. Burfi storage instructions To store, keep the burfi pieces inside an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Allow it to come to room temperature before eating, otherwise white burfi layer will feel a little chewy. Once it reaches room temperature, each layer will be deliciously smooth, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture. Dubai Chocolate Burfi recipe | How to make Dubai Chocolate Burfi Yield: Serves 12-14 Dubai Chocolate Burfi Print Let's make a delicious, pistachio cream Dubai Chocolate Burfi with just 8 ingredients and very little effort! This recipe is inspired by the viral Dubai chocolate bar by FIX Dessert Chocolatier. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Additional Time: 8 hours Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes Ingredients For the burfi layer 250ml double cream (heavy cream) 300g whole (full fat) milk powder 140g icing sugar (confectioners' sugar) 6 green cardamom pods, seeds finely ground For the crispy pistachio cream layer 25g unsalted butter 65g kataifi (kadayif), pulled apart but not cut as it will break down later 250g pistachio cream, room temperature For the chocolate topping 180g milk cooking chocolate, chopped into very small pieces Instructions In a pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and add the kataifi dough. Stir constantly, allowing the strands to break down into small pieces, until the kataifi turns an even caramel brown and is shatteringly crisp. Immediately transfer the crispy kataifi to a plate and let it cool completely before using. In a large, non-stick pan over low heat, pour in the cream. Add the milk powder and icing sugar. Stir patiently with a flexible spatula until all the milk powder is fully absorbed. Slightly increase the heat and continue to stir constantly. Do not stop, as the bottom will brown quickly. As the mixture heats and loosens into a more liquid state, switch to a potato masher to press out any lumps. Once hot and loosened, cook for an additional 5 minutes, ensuring the final consistency is like smooth mashed potato. Stir in the cardamom. Do not overcook, as this will result in hard, chewy burfi. Remove from the heat and press the mixture evenly into a greased and lined 15-cm x 20-cm tin (use a 3-cm overhang on the lining for easy removal). Allow this layer to cool to room temperature. Once the kataifi is cool, combine it thoroughly with the pistachio cream. Spoon this mixture over the cooled burfi layer and spread it out evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes to firm up. Melt the cooking chocolate gently. Use a double boiler or microwave in short 15-20 second bursts, stirring between each one. Pour the melted chocolate over the chilled pistachio layer, spreading it quickly and evenly to form the top layer. Cover the tin with cling film (don't let it touch the chocolate) and refrigerate for at least 8 hours — this is crucial for clean, neat layers when cutting. Remove the chilled burfi from the fridge about 15 minutes before slicing. To cut, use a hot knife (run it under hot water and dry it quickly) to gently slice through the chocolate layer first. This prevents the chocolate from cracking. Allow the knife to glide through the crunchy pistachio layer, then apply firm pressure to slice through the cold burfi base. The finished slices will soften perfectly to room temperature for eating. Note that you can cut them into bars or squares of any size depending on how you wish to serve them. Notes To store, keep the burfi pieces inside an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Allow it to come to room temperature before eating, otherwise white burfi layer will feel a little chewy. Once it reaches room temperature, each layer will be deliciously smooth, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture. Nutrition Information: Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 214Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 86mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 2gSugar: 12gProtein: 5g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Indian / Category: Indian Sweets Love Sanjana If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for 15-Minute Mango Burfi Learn how to make Mango Burfi More delicious Indian sweet recipes 11 Burfi Recipes to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth Learn how to make the traditional South Asian milk fudge, burfi with these easy and creative recipes. Perfect Plain White Burfi 9 ingredients and 30 minutes prep and cook time is all you need. This plain milk powder burfi is the Indian sweet recipe my followers request the most. I think White Burfi has such a simple charm and universal appeal. Get the Recipe 15-Minute Mango Burfi This quick and simple recipe for the milky, fudgy South Asian sweet, Mango Burfi requires just a handful of ingredients and the texture is just like shop bought burfi! Get the Recipe Pistachio Burfi A must for pistachio lovers! Here's an easy recipe for melt-in-the-mouth Indian pistachio burfi made with REAL PISTACHIOS. It has true pistachio flavours (not just food colour or pistachio essence) and of course, gold and silver leaf on top. Perfect for gifting. Your family and friends will love it! Get the Recipe Perfect Besan Barfi Perfect Besan Barfi is a meltingly soft and creamy Indian sweet with roasted gram (chickpea) flour, sugar and nuts. Here's an entirely foolproof recipe that delivers amazing results every time. Get the Recipe Birthday Cake Burfi Sweet condensed milk burfi with a hidden layer of birthday cake and sprinkles! I created this recipe using my favourite eggless cupcake recipe and it's always a hit at parties. Get the Recipe Cookie Dough Chocolate Burfi What would you say if I told you that chocolate burfi + cookie dough had a party in my kitchen and things got pretty wild? Layers of cardamom burfi, classic chocolate chip cookie dough and milk chocolate combined to create the wickedest chocolate burfi you’ll ever experience. Get the Recipe Mohanthal Mohanthal is a buttery, melt-in-the-mouth Indian sweet with gram flour, cardamom, saffron and mace. It comes from Gujarat in western India. Enjoy as a square or as a hot fudge-like pudding with ice cream. Get the Recipe Easter Chocolate Burfi This super-duper chocolatey take on Indian Burfi puts Easter chocolate to work for a totally cute springtime sweet! It’s so easy and quick to make. It is adapted from my Perfect Plain White Burfi recipe and it’s completely foolproof. Each square of burfi is perfectly crumbly and melts in the mouth. Indian sweets have never been so simple! Get the Recipe Cashew and White Chocolate Burfi These diamonds of sweet fudge have a delicious, crumbly and chewy texture from the ground cashew nuts. Laced with ground cardamom and vanilla extract, floral undertones are created beneath a creamy layer of white chocolate. As soon as you take a bite, the fudge begins to melt on your tongue and a burst of subtle flavours take over. Bliss. Get the Recipe Pandan Chocolate Burfi You can make this in 10 minutes flat in the microwave. I love the sweet aromas of pandan, the Asian equivalent of vanilla. Layer up the flavours, set and cut into large squares. Get the Recipe Perfect Seeroh (Sooji Halwa) Perfect Seeroh (Sooji Burfi) is the ultimate quick-fix Indian dessert. My recipe can be ready to eat in as little as 20 minutes! I've pulled together all my best tips for making this iconic, buttery semolina sweet at home. Get the Recipe The post Dubai Chocolate Burfi appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

In my world, no wedding is complete without a divet of your lunch thali being filled with Vaal Chana nu Shaak (Gujarati Wedding Curry). This is a curry you’ll never find in your run-of-the-mill Indian restaurant. And that’s because this deliciously robust field bean and black chickpea curry is strictly reserved for big, bold Indian weddings. …

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In my world, no wedding is complete without a divet of your lunch thali being filled with Vaal Chana nu Shaak (Gujarati Wedding Curry). A beloved Gujarati wedding dish This is a curry you’ll never find in your run-of-the-mill Indian restaurant. And that’s because this deliciously robust field bean and black chickpea curry is strictly reserved for big, bold Indian weddings. This Gujarati Vaal and Kala Chana nu Shaak is… Vegan Gluten free Nut free No onions No garlic My traditional Gujarati Vaal and Kala Chana nu Shaak recipe So let me share my traditional Gujarati Vaal and Kala Chana nu Shaak recipe, which my grandfather Odhavji Thankey would make for weddings when he was working as a chef and caterer. The quantity in which he would cook it was so huge that measuring by eye was the only feasible option. Vaal and Chana is packed full of protein and fibre It really was unbelievable stuff to be cooking for hundreds upon hundreds of people. I find the most addictive thing about vaal nu shaak is its incredible hot, sweet and sour flavours. Curry without garlic, onion and ginger The most astonishing thing about this big-flavoured curry is that it contains no onions, garlic or ginger which feels somewhat illegal when it comes to the Indian dishes most of us are used to. But actually, this isn’t unusual at all. Since this dish is made for hundreds of people at massive wedding celebrations, caterers for generations have accounted for multiple dietary requirements, some of which completely cut out these ingredients for their stimulating properties or because of how they’re grown. Where to buy vaal and kala chana? Dried vaal beans are also called field beans. You can find them in Indian food shops, or online. This is the brand I like best – Buy my favourite Vaal Beans on Amazon (affiliate link). Dried black chickpeas or kala chana can be found in most lIndian supermarkets. You can also buy these online. Buy my favourite dried Black Chickpeas on Amazon (affiliate link). For the farfar (crispy colourful crackers) I serve with my wedding thalis, buy online (affiliate link). To cook dried vaal and chana For cooking these dried beans, you must first soak them overnight (separately). The next day, the beans need to be pressure cooked (again, separately) for 30-40 minutes, or until very soft and tender. See the full recipe below for detailed instructions. What makes Gujarati dishes unique? Like many Gujarati dishes, the shaak is often prepared with a simple, yet powerful, spice blend that is balanced with sweet and sour elements. Recipes can vary from a ‘rasawala’ (with a watery gravy) to a sukha’ (drier) preparation. The use of roasted besan (chickpea or gram flour) is a common technique to thicken the gravy and add a nutty flavour. I love the aromas of roasting gram flour in this dish and it creates the most luscious sauce. In fact. the technique is not too different to roux-based cooking methods for making sauces in Europe. Gujarati wedding thalis Vaal and Kala Chana nu Shaak is an essential component of the traditional ‘thali’, which is a platter of various dishes and courses, all served together as a complete meal. If you like big plates, this is a serving style you’ll fall in love with! A typical Gujarati thali is a balanced meal, with a sweet dish (like puran puri or shrikhand), a farsan (savory snack, like dhokla), Gujarati Wedding Dal or Kadhi, and a variety of shaaks (curries) like the vaal and kala chana nu shaak, and sometimes potato and vegetable-based curries. The bean and lentil curry provides a hearty, protein-rich element that complements the other lighter, spicier, or sweeter dishes. Lucky dishes in Gujarati culture Certain dishes are considered ‘shubh’ or auspicious for special occasions. For example, eating mung beans and rice on New Year’s Day is said to ring in good fortune for the coming year. While Undhiyu is the most famous seasonal wedding dish, a hearty bean or lentil curry is a close second. Its presence indicates that no detail has been overlooked and that guests are being treated to a truly traditional and balanced feast. Where savoury and spicy meets sweet and sour Vaal and Chana is packed full of protein Gujarati cuisine is famous for its unique blend of sweet, sour, and spicy flavours. The vaal and kala chana shaak is a perfect example of this, often prepared with a touch of jaggery and tamarind or lemon juice, which creates a complex and satisfying taste that is characteristic of wedding feasts. Tamarind is my souring agent of choice, since it also gives the dish a rich deep red colour when paired with the tomatoes in the sauce. How to serve Vaal Chana nu Shaak (Gujarati Wedding Curry) The most common way to serve this curry is with puri, potato curry, shrikhand, rice and this Gujarati wedding dal. Pickles, sambharo, salad, farfar (fried crackers) and a glass of buttermilk (chaas) is totally traditional Gujarati wedding fare. Vaal Chana nu Shaak (Gujarati Wedding Curry) recipe | How to make Wedding Curry Yield: 6 servings Vaal Chana nu Shaak (Gujarati Wedding Curry) Print Learn how to make Vaal Chana nu Shaak (Gujarati Wedding Curry) the traditional way with this easy recipe. No onions, no garlic and pure veg. Ingredients 200g dried field beans (vaal/val) 200g dried black chickpeas (kala channa) 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda Hot kettle water For the curry: 4 tbsp oil 1 tsp carom seeds 3-4 dried Indian bay leaves 2 dried red chillies 1 star anise 1/4 tsp asafoetida (omit if gluten free) 3 tbsp gram flour 300g blended tinned tomatoes or passata 1 tsp ground turmeric 3 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground fennel 2 tsp salt 2 tsp concentrated tamarind paste 2 tbsp jaggery 3 tbsp chopped coriander Instructions Wash the vaal beans in plenty of warm running water, sorting through to check for small stones as you rinse them well. Drain and place in a medium-sized bowl. Repeat for the black chana, keeping these in a separate bowl from the vaal. Add 1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to each bowl and top up with plenty of hot kettle water (enough to cover by half). Allow to stand and soak overnight. The next day, tip the vaal along with the soaking liquid into a pressure cooker. Top up with another litre of hot kettle water and brush the sides of the pan and inside of the lid with oil. Cover and pressure cook for 30 minutes, or until soft (about 9 whistles in a traditional pressure cooker). Once the steam has subsided, carefully open the cooker and drain the beans, discarding the cooking liquid. Set aside. Repeat this process for the chana, cooking for 40 minutes or 12 whistles. Drain and set aside. Don't cook the beans in one pot at the same time, since they both have different cooking times. Heat oil in a heavy based pan set over a medium-low heat. Add the carom seeds, bay leaves, star anise, dried red chillies and asafoetida. Sauté for a few seconds before adding the gram flour. Stir very well, cooking the flour out until it becomes a light fudge colour, about a minute. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, chilli powder, cinnamon, fennel, salt, tamarind and jaggery. Give it a good mix before adding 700ml hot kettle water. Add the vaal and channa. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve. Notes This curry freezes beautifully. To freeze, cool the curry down completely. Pack into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, allow the curry to thaw at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Place in a saucepan, adding a splash of water and cook over a medium-low heat until piping hot and bubbling. Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Indian / Category: Indian Curry Recipes Love Sanjana If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Gujarati Wedding Dal Vegetarian Curry Recipes Learn how to make delicious vegetarian curry at home with this collection of simple, flavorsome curry recipes. Dive both home-style and restaurant-style vegan and vegetarian curry recipes which can be adapted to suit any tastes. From Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk, to Tofu Korma, Palak Paneer, Mushroom Rogan Josh, Potato Curry and even Vegan Butter Chicken! The Paneer Tikka Masala and Chana Masala recipes will become firm favorites in your home! Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk This simple Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk is rich with aromatic spices, nuts and a rainbow of colourful vegetables. Make it in an Instant Pot if you have one, or simply simmer away on the stove. Serve with dosa for a delicious vegan meal that's gluten free too. It also pairs perfectly with rice, roti or paratha. Feel free to add any vegetables you have in the fridge, as long as the total weight is around 600g. Get the Recipe Home-style Chana Masala A truly classic Indian dish of soft chickpeas and potatoes simmered with spices for a hot and sour finish. It's loaded with flavour and can be served with Bhatura (fried bread), roti, naan or rice. Best of all, this quick and easy version takes just 30 minutes to make. Try it for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Get the Recipe Matar Paneer Matar Paneer is a popular Indian dish made with paneer cheese and peas in a creamy tomato-based sauce. It's a delicious and nutritious vegetarian curry. This recipe for Matar Paneer is also easy to make, making it an amazing option for home cooks or people new to Indian food. Matar Paneer is typically served with rice, naan or roti, but feel free to choose your favourite accompaniments. Get the Recipe Keema Curry (Vegan) Unbelievable! This deeply flavoursome Indian Keema Curry features plant-based mince (soya mince), warming spices and fresh herbs. It's packed with protein and highly versatile. Enjoy it with naan, roti, rice... or even in hot sandwiches! A great vegetarian and vegan Keema recipe for batch cooking. It freezes beautifully, making it an excellent emergency meal for busy schedules. This is one of my go-to dinners all year round. Get the Recipe Gujarati Ravaiya (Stuffed Aubergine Curry) Gujarati Ravaiya (Stuffed Aubergine Curry) is a true vegan comfort meal from western India. Stuff baby aubergines with a spicy peanut masala for Gujarati grandma vibes. Continue Reading Tofu Korma A rich and creamy vegan Indian curry with tofu, aromatic spices and nuts. With a royal history, Korma is an emblem of imperial Mughal cooking traditions. Here's a plant-based Korma recipe everybody will love alongside rice and naan. It's mild and perfect for those who enjoy warm spices over chilli heat. Get the Recipe Indian Masala Baked Beans A dose of British nostalgia, complete with Indian spices. Almost every British South Asian home has its' own take on curried baked beans. I cook mine with ghee, cumin seeds and a liberal heap of garam masala. These spicy, buttery beans are delicious on toast, or with roti or rice. Get the Recipe Paneer Tikka Masala Learn how to make the most delicious Paneer Tikka Masala, just like your favourite Indian restaurant! Pieces of paneer (cottage cheese) and vegetables are first marinated in yoghurt and spices, and then skewered and grilled to smoky perfection. The tikka pieces are then removed from the skewer and folded into a creamy curry sauce made with tomatoes, spices and cream. Here's an easy to follow video recipe and video. Get the Recipe Spinach and Mushroom Curry A quick and easy Spinach and Mushroom Curry with delicious Indian flavours. Sometimes called mushroom saag or mushroom bhaji, this tasty 11-ingredient curry is simple enough to cook during busy weeknights and with few spices and ingredients. Add cauliflower, tofu, paneer, beans or butternut squash along with the spinach puree to increase the veg content. Get the Recipe Cabbage and Potato Curry This simple Cabbage and Potato Curry (Kobi Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday favourite Indian recipe. It pairs perfectly with roti for a wholesome main dish, or as a light vegetable side dish. It's a dry-style sabzi with tender white cabbage, soft potatoes and mild spices. I find this is an Indian curry recipe the whole family enjoys. Add a handful of peas to turn it into a more veg-heavy meal. Get the Recipe Palak Paneer Recipe (Easy, Beginner-friendly) A quick and easy Palak Paneer recipe with delicious, fresh flavours. Palak Paneer is a popular Indian restaurant dish that's made with spinach and paneer, a soft and squidgy Indian cheese. This tasty vegetarian curry is simple enough to cook during busy weeknights and with few spices and ingredients. This recipe for Palak Paneer is perfect for beginners and seasoned cooks alike. It's a great make-ahead dish and also freezes well. Serves 4 people as a main dish, or 6 as a side dish. Get the Recipe Vegetable Curry Recipe A delicious and nutritious Vegetable Curry recipe. This recipe for Vegetable Curry is also easy to make, making it an amazing option for home cooks or people new to Indian food. Prepare this dish with any veggies you have in the fridge, freezer or pantry. Vegetable Curry is typically served with rice, naan, paratha or roti, but feel free to choose your favourite accompaniments. Get the Recipe Melt-in-the-Mouth Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry I live and breathe Gujarati food. They are simple vegetarian dishes I eat every evening, and have done since I was young. Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry (Oroh) was one of those dishes mum would cook as a midweek dinner. Continue Reading 30-Minute Tindora Curry with Corn This simple, dry curry with ivy gourd and corn is delicious with roti, paratha or rice. If you’re on the hunt for a minimal-effort curry recipe to add to your weeknight meal rotation, you’re in the right place. Continue Reading Bharela Marcha (Stuffed Bullet Chillies) I stuff the chillies with mixed masalas, jaggery and besan (chickpea flour). Each one is like a hot little flavour bomb. Continue Reading Tofu Dopiaza Tofu Dopiaza is kadai-fried tofu with double onions, crunchy green peppers & aromatic masalas. A restaurant quality vegan curry recipe. Continue Reading Aloo Bhindi Tawa Masala Stuffed and steamed okra and baby potatoes cooked in a spicy tomato and yoghurt masala. Get the Recipe Saag Paneer Recipe This traditional Punjabi Saag Paneer recipe is pure magic! Soft paneer chunks in a creamy mustard greens and spinach curry. Every bite of this classic Indian curry will melt in your mouth. Make it with any leafy greens you have, although mustard leaves and spinach are the most typical. Get the Recipe Vegan Butter Chicken One of North India's most famous curries, Butter Chicken. Also known as Murgh Makhani, it's known for having a lusciously-smooth and tomato cream sauce laced with mild, fragrant spices. Get the Recipe Dahi Varo Oro (Burnt Aubergine in Yoghurt) Flame-grilled aubergine and crunchy peppers tossed with cooling yoghurt. This is a dish typical of Gujarati farming communities along the Kathiawar peninsula of western India. Serve it cold alongside your favourite Indian flatbread - millet or sorghum rotla are most traditional, but this tastes incredible with just about any type of unleavened bread. If you like the smoky flavours of Baba ghanoush, this will be your new go-to Indian dish. It even works well as a dip for parties, picnics and barbecues. Get the Recipe Saag Recipe Warming Punjabi Saag is a curry made from vibrant greens and spices. In the native tongue, it's referred to as Sarson da Saag, a peppery blend of mustard leaves and various greens beaten with ghee (clarified butter), onions, garlic and green chillies. Serve with Makki di Roti (cornmeal flatbread) for feast plucked straight from India's land of the five rivers, Punjab. Get the Recipe Paneer Curry Try this easy Paneer Curry recipe with a delicious mix of aromatic Indian spices. Sauté the soft cubes of Indian cottage cheese in a golden onion and tomato masala. The flavours of cumin, black pepper, ginger and garam masala add warmth and excitement. A kadai-fried curry like this (without too much sauce) is perfect to serve with naan, roti or paratha. I even like using it as a dosa filling when making Paneer Masala Dosa. If you prefer your Paneer Curry with a thick Indian gravy, try Paneer Makhani or Matar Paneer. Get the Recipe Mung Bean Curry Mung Bean Curry is wholesome Indian vegetarian dish to enjoy with roti. It's thick, creamy and cooked with an aromatic paste of ginger, green chilli and coriander. Shards of crispy, ghee-fried garlic add bold flavour and texture. Serve it as a main meal, or as a side dish for your favourite Indian recipes. It's particularly delicious with Kadhi and rice. Get the Recipe Vegan Katsu Curry This vegan katsu curry recipe (yasai katsu curry) combines aubergine and sweet potato coated in panko breadcrumbs, served with a creamy coconut curry sauce. Serve with salad and Japanese pickles. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients for the sauce — it all goes into one pot. Get the Recipe Mushroom & Black Chickpea Rogan Josh Try this hearty vegetarian take on Kashmiri Rogan Josh. My recipe uses juicy mushrooms and protein-rich black chickpeas for an aromatic curry that pairs beautifully with rice. Get the Recipe Restaurant-Style Shahi Paneer Delicious, rich & creamy Shahi Paneer is a vegetarian food hero in North Indian cuisine. Scoop this curry up with flaky parathas or serve with basmati rice. Get the Recipe Gobi Bhurji (Cauliflower Curry) Gobi Bhurji Gobi Bhurji (Cauliflower Curry) is one of my favourite ways to enjoy cauliflower. This north Indian-style Gobi Bhurji is perfect with buttered toast and soothing chai. Continue Reading Potato and Pea Coconut Milk Curry One of my favourite quick dinners growing up was pea and potato curry. It’s a simple staple in every Gujarati home and perfect with just rice and/or Homemade Chapattis – Gujarati Rotli depending on how hungry you are. Continue Reading Gujarati-Style Okra & Potatoes Gujarati-Style Okra & Potatoes (Bhinda Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday comfort food in many Gujarati homes, including mine. It’s usually scooped up with soft, hot rotlis (chapattis), which is our daily bread Continue Reading Vegan 'Butter' Cauliflower and Perfect Jeera Pilau Garnish the Vegan ‘Butter’ Cauliflower with a final flourish of chopped coriander and a drizzle of coconut milk for that luscious restaurant-style finish. Continue Reading Gujarati Potatoes and Spring Onions Sautéed in Chickpea Flour Fresh flavoured, dry curries are done so well by Gujaratis. It’s all about taking simple ingredients and packing in as much flavour as possible. Continue Reading Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak A tried and true recipe for Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak (dry-style potato curry). This is my mother’s exact recipe and the only way we make it at home. She has a few fabulous tips for achieving intense flavours and the perfect dry bhaji-style texture every time. This shaak pairs perfectly with Masala Poori and dahi (plain yoghurt). Continue Reading Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) While most of us use kidney beans as a filler ingredient in chillies, stews and salads, this Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) makes the humble red bean the star of the show. The sauce is deeply aromatic, smooth and robust enough to take the beans from basic to beautiful. This is North Indian comfort food at its best. Continue Reading Vegan Kadai Tofu & Vegetables Vegan Kadai Tofu & Vegetables is a raid-the-fridge dinner. Balanced, flavoursome and so easy to prepare! Zero waste. Continue Reading Gobi Musallam Whole-roasted cauliflower curry with a Mughlai-inspired curry sauce. Nuts, spices and warm flavours meld into this meltingly-soft cauliflower curry. Continue Reading Cardamom Tofu Curry Cardamom-scented cream is added to luxurious tomato sauce in this delicate and fragrant vegetarian tofu curry. Continue Reading Melt-Away Malai Kofta I call this creamy paneer kofta curry Melt-Away Malai Kofta simply because they melt away as soon as you put them in your mouth. Malai Kofta are the ultimate North Indian vegetarian curry recipe to dazzle friends and family. A celebration of rich flavours and warming spices. Continue Reading Bodhi's Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan) Bodhi’s Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan). A complete meal and super nutritious for the whole family. Don’t be fooled though, this buttery, curried veg and soya medley packs a huge flavour punch. It’s so moreish. Continue Reading Slow Cooker Aubergine Makhani Slow Cooker Aubergine Makhani. Beautiful, butter-soft aubergines in a rich makhani sauce. This velvety-smooth curry is perfect with rice and fluffy naan. Continue Reading Stuffed and Baked Baby Kolhapuri Aubergines If you’re a fan of vegetarian Indian main courses that pack enough punch to trounce any meaty curry, look no further. These gorgeous aubergines might be small but the smooth-as-velvet sauce and filling make it an unforgettable veggie curry you’ll want to make over and over again. Continue Reading The post Vaal Chana nu Shaak (Gujarati Wedding Curry) appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

My sweet and spicy Karela and Sweet Potato curry recipe is a delicious and healthy bitter gourd recipe! A unique vegetarian sabzi dish and weeknight meal for you and your family. This Karela and Sweet Potato Curry is… My childhood enemy I went to the Indian food market and bumped into my childhood enemy. This. …

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My sweet and spicy Karela and Sweet Potato curry recipe is a delicious and healthy bitter gourd recipe! A unique vegetarian sabzi dish and weeknight meal for you and your family. Learn how to cook karela (bitter gourd) in a new and delicious way This Karela and Sweet Potato Curry is… Vegetarian Super nutritious Gluten free A unique way to cook with karela, also known as bitter gourd My childhood enemy I went to the Indian food market and bumped into my childhood enemy. This. The Karelu. It’s a bitter melon, aka the PTSD-trigger vegetable for Asian kids. So I brought four home to see if I could erase my trauma by making them edible. I knew I’d need a sweet potato to help me. What are karela? Remove the seeds and pith from the karela Karela, also known as bitter melon or bitter gourd, is a tropical and subtropical vine widely cultivated for its edible fruit. It belongs to the same family as cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins. Spoiler: It’s not sweet the rest of its family members! What does karela taste like? As its name suggests, it has a distinctively bitter taste, which is a key characteristic of the vegetable. What are the different types of karela? Chop the karela into half moons, about 3mm thick There are different varieties of karela, but two common ones are: Indian bitter melon: This variety is typically smaller, with pointed ends and a dark green, jagged, spiky skin. I always thought they looked like crocodiles! Chinese bitter melon: This type is longer, a paler green, and has smoother, wart-like bumps. I find this one less bitter than the Indian one. Karela is a staple in many cuisines, particularly in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. It’s often used in curries, stir-fries, and soups. So if it tastes like medicine… Is karela healthy? Karela is a superfood! Karela is known for its potential health benefits and has been used in traditional medicine for centuries. It’s rich in nutrients like Vitamin C and Vitamin A, and some studies suggest it may help regulate blood sugar levels, among other things. How to remove bitterness from karela This is… a process. I’ve always been told by my elders that the goodness is in the skin, so I don’t peel it off even though it looks like a crocodile. Scrape out the seeds and pith and chop the karela thinly because big bites of this make me heave. If you like, you can indeed peel off the skin. Salt the karela Salt them heavily. With sea salt, or salt from the tears of children who were forced to eat these growing up. This draws out some of the bitterness. I then wash, squeeze and blanch the karela in two changes of turmeric water. How long does it take to cook karela? Simmer the karela in two changes of water to extract bitterness It takes about 40 minutes to simmer so I change the water after about 20 minutes. This is as much bitterness as I can draw out without physically taking them to my local jet wash. Adding sweetness To balance the cursed vegetable, we have a friendly sweet potato. After it’s roasted, it’ll lift the intense, medicinal flavour of the karela. For a similar reason, I caramelise a mountain of caramelised onions, even though I still can’t chop them without crying. That’s how important the sweetness is in a dish cooked with karela, or bitter melon. Adding spice We’re cooking in ghee and adding as many sweet, sour and savoury elements as we can. It’s all part of the plan to undermine the flavour of the karela. You’ll need cumin, fennel seeds and cashews. Caramelise the onions with a touch of ginger and then add fresh tomatoes, ground cinnamon, jaggery (unrefined cane sugar), chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Once the masala is cooked, add the roasted sweet potato and karela. Sauté for a few minutes and then… more distractions. Top with crispy fried onions, the kind you use in biryani and then fresh coriander. Try my Karela and Sweet Potato Curry recipe (below) Sweet potato really helps turn karela into a delicious meal! Now, this really is the most I can do to help such a wretched vegetable and since there’s I maxed out the sweet, sour and spicy flavours, plus the sweet potatoes act as a textural buffer so the whole thing isn’t as sad as karela nu shaak of the olden days. So if like me, you want to grow up and eat your vegetables, try cooking karela this way. I promise it’s not as bad as what we remember. Karela and Sweet Potato Curry Recipe | How to make Karela Sabzi with Sweet Potatoes Yield: Serves 4-6 Karela and Sweet Potato Curry Print Karela (bitter gourd) cooked with sweet potatoes, caramelised onions, butter and spices. This fresh take on Gujarati-style karela nu shaak (dry karela sabzi) is great for those who find the traditional methods for cooking karela too bitter. Enjoy with chapatis. Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes Ingredients 4 karela 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp turmeric 1 large sweet potato (or 2 medium), any colour - I used white flesh sweet potato 2 tsp oil 3 tbsp ghee 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp fennel seeds 10 cashews 2 medium brown onions 1/2 tsp minced ginger 2 medium tomatoes 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp jaggery 1 1/2 tsp chilli powder 1/4 tsp turmeric 1/4 tsp salt 1 tbsp salted butter, to stir in at the end Handful crispy fried onions Handful chopped fresh coriander Instructions Wash the karela well and trim both tips. Cut in half lengthways and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and pith. Slice the karela into half moons, about 3mm thick. Place the karela slices in a bowl and toss with 2 tsp salt. Allow to stand for 20 minutes, while you prepare the sweet potato and onions. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1.5-cm chunks. Transfer to a roasting dish and coat with 2 tsp oil. Roast at 200ºC fan/400ºF for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly golden brown and cooked through. Set aside. Peel and slice the onions, about 1.5mm-thick. Set aside. Place the karela in a sieve or colander. Wash thoroughly under cold running water for 2-3 minutes, turning and squeezing to remove as much of the salt as possible. Drain and squeeze again, to remove as much bitter liquid as you can. Fill a saucepan with hot kettle water. Add the karela and 1/2 tsp turmeric. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and return to the pan, along with another batch of fresh hot kettle water. Simmer again for 20 minutes, or until tender. The total cooking time for the karela will be around 40 minutes in a pan set over medium heat. Drain well and set aside. Place the ghee in a large non-stick pan or wok set over medium heat. Once the ghee has melted, add the cumin, fennel seeds and cashews. Sauté for a minute and then add the onions and ginger. Cook over a medium-low heat stirring very frequently for 20-30 minutes, until the onions have caramelised. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, jaggery, chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes. Tip in the sweet potatoes and karela, along with the butter. Stir well, cooking over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Garnish with crispy fried onions and fresh coriander. Nutrition Information: Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 223Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 1016mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 4gSugar: 10gProtein: 3g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Indian / Category: Curry Recipe Love Sanjana If you like this, you’ll enjoy my recipe for Okra and Potato Fries Curry Okra and Potato Fries Curry Recipe Vegetarian Curry Recipes Learn how to make delicious vegetarian curry at home with this collection of simple, flavorsome curry recipes. Dive both home-style and restaurant-style vegan and vegetarian curry recipes which can be adapted to suit any tastes. From Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk, to Tofu Korma, Palak Paneer, Mushroom Rogan Josh, Potato Curry and even Vegan Butter Chicken! The Paneer Tikka Masala and Chana Masala recipes will become firm favorites in your home! Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk This simple Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk is rich with aromatic spices, nuts and a rainbow of colourful vegetables. Make it in an Instant Pot if you have one, or simply simmer away on the stove. Serve with dosa for a delicious vegan meal that's gluten free too. It also pairs perfectly with rice, roti or paratha. Feel free to add any vegetables you have in the fridge, as long as the total weight is around 600g. Get the Recipe Home-style Chana Masala A truly classic Indian dish of soft chickpeas and potatoes simmered with spices for a hot and sour finish. It's loaded with flavour and can be served with Bhatura (fried bread), roti, naan or rice. Best of all, this quick and easy version takes just 30 minutes to make. Try it for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Get the Recipe Matar Paneer Matar Paneer is a popular Indian dish made with paneer cheese and peas in a creamy tomato-based sauce. It's a delicious and nutritious vegetarian curry. This recipe for Matar Paneer is also easy to make, making it an amazing option for home cooks or people new to Indian food. Matar Paneer is typically served with rice, naan or roti, but feel free to choose your favourite accompaniments. Get the Recipe Keema Curry (Vegan) Unbelievable! This deeply flavoursome Indian Keema Curry features plant-based mince (soya mince), warming spices and fresh herbs. It's packed with protein and highly versatile. Enjoy it with naan, roti, rice... or even in hot sandwiches! A great vegetarian and vegan Keema recipe for batch cooking. It freezes beautifully, making it an excellent emergency meal for busy schedules. This is one of my go-to dinners all year round. Get the Recipe Gujarati Ravaiya (Stuffed Aubergine Curry) Gujarati Ravaiya (Stuffed Aubergine Curry) is a true vegan comfort meal from western India. Stuff baby aubergines with a spicy peanut masala for Gujarati grandma vibes. Continue Reading Tofu Korma A rich and creamy vegan Indian curry with tofu, aromatic spices and nuts. With a royal history, Korma is an emblem of imperial Mughal cooking traditions. Here's a plant-based Korma recipe everybody will love alongside rice and naan. It's mild and perfect for those who enjoy warm spices over chilli heat. Get the Recipe Indian Masala Baked Beans A dose of British nostalgia, complete with Indian spices. Almost every British South Asian home has its' own take on curried baked beans. I cook mine with ghee, cumin seeds and a liberal heap of garam masala. These spicy, buttery beans are delicious on toast, or with roti or rice. Get the Recipe Paneer Tikka Masala Learn how to make the most delicious Paneer Tikka Masala, just like your favourite Indian restaurant! Pieces of paneer (cottage cheese) and vegetables are first marinated in yoghurt and spices, and then skewered and grilled to smoky perfection. The tikka pieces are then removed from the skewer and folded into a creamy curry sauce made with tomatoes, spices and cream. Here's an easy to follow video recipe and video. Get the Recipe Spinach and Mushroom Curry A quick and easy Spinach and Mushroom Curry with delicious Indian flavours. Sometimes called mushroom saag or mushroom bhaji, this tasty 11-ingredient curry is simple enough to cook during busy weeknights and with few spices and ingredients. Add cauliflower, tofu, paneer, beans or butternut squash along with the spinach puree to increase the veg content. Get the Recipe Cabbage and Potato Curry This simple Cabbage and Potato Curry (Kobi Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday favourite Indian recipe. It pairs perfectly with roti for a wholesome main dish, or as a light vegetable side dish. It's a dry-style sabzi with tender white cabbage, soft potatoes and mild spices. I find this is an Indian curry recipe the whole family enjoys. Add a handful of peas to turn it into a more veg-heavy meal. Get the Recipe Palak Paneer Recipe (Easy, Beginner-friendly) A quick and easy Palak Paneer recipe with delicious, fresh flavours. Palak Paneer is a popular Indian restaurant dish that's made with spinach and paneer, a soft and squidgy Indian cheese. This tasty vegetarian curry is simple enough to cook during busy weeknights and with few spices and ingredients. This recipe for Palak Paneer is perfect for beginners and seasoned cooks alike. It's a great make-ahead dish and also freezes well. Serves 4 people as a main dish, or 6 as a side dish. Get the Recipe Vegetable Curry Recipe A delicious and nutritious Vegetable Curry recipe. This recipe for Vegetable Curry is also easy to make, making it an amazing option for home cooks or people new to Indian food. Prepare this dish with any veggies you have in the fridge, freezer or pantry. Vegetable Curry is typically served with rice, naan, paratha or roti, but feel free to choose your favourite accompaniments. Get the Recipe Melt-in-the-Mouth Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry I live and breathe Gujarati food. They are simple vegetarian dishes I eat every evening, and have done since I was young. Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry (Oroh) was one of those dishes mum would cook as a midweek dinner. Continue Reading 30-Minute Tindora Curry with Corn This simple, dry curry with ivy gourd and corn is delicious with roti, paratha or rice. If you’re on the hunt for a minimal-effort curry recipe to add to your weeknight meal rotation, you’re in the right place. Continue Reading Bharela Marcha (Stuffed Bullet Chillies) I stuff the chillies with mixed masalas, jaggery and besan (chickpea flour). Each one is like a hot little flavour bomb. Continue Reading Tofu Dopiaza Tofu Dopiaza is kadai-fried tofu with double onions, crunchy green peppers & aromatic masalas. A restaurant quality vegan curry recipe. Continue Reading Aloo Bhindi Tawa Masala Stuffed and steamed okra and baby potatoes cooked in a spicy tomato and yoghurt masala. Get the Recipe Saag Paneer Recipe This traditional Punjabi Saag Paneer recipe is pure magic! Soft paneer chunks in a creamy mustard greens and spinach curry. Every bite of this classic Indian curry will melt in your mouth. Make it with any leafy greens you have, although mustard leaves and spinach are the most typical. Get the Recipe Vegan Butter Chicken One of North India's most famous curries, Butter Chicken. Also known as Murgh Makhani, it's known for having a lusciously-smooth and tomato cream sauce laced with mild, fragrant spices. Get the Recipe Dahi Varo Oro (Burnt Aubergine in Yoghurt) Flame-grilled aubergine and crunchy peppers tossed with cooling yoghurt. This is a dish typical of Gujarati farming communities along the Kathiawar peninsula of western India. Serve it cold alongside your favourite Indian flatbread - millet or sorghum rotla are most traditional, but this tastes incredible with just about any type of unleavened bread. If you like the smoky flavours of Baba ghanoush, this will be your new go-to Indian dish. It even works well as a dip for parties, picnics and barbecues. Get the Recipe Saag Recipe Warming Punjabi Saag is a curry made from vibrant greens and spices. In the native tongue, it's referred to as Sarson da Saag, a peppery blend of mustard leaves and various greens beaten with ghee (clarified butter), onions, garlic and green chillies. Serve with Makki di Roti (cornmeal flatbread) for feast plucked straight from India's land of the five rivers, Punjab. Get the Recipe Paneer Curry Try this easy Paneer Curry recipe with a delicious mix of aromatic Indian spices. Sauté the soft cubes of Indian cottage cheese in a golden onion and tomato masala. The flavours of cumin, black pepper, ginger and garam masala add warmth and excitement. A kadai-fried curry like this (without too much sauce) is perfect to serve with naan, roti or paratha. I even like using it as a dosa filling when making Paneer Masala Dosa. If you prefer your Paneer Curry with a thick Indian gravy, try Paneer Makhani or Matar Paneer. Get the Recipe Mung Bean Curry Mung Bean Curry is wholesome Indian vegetarian dish to enjoy with roti. It's thick, creamy and cooked with an aromatic paste of ginger, green chilli and coriander. Shards of crispy, ghee-fried garlic add bold flavour and texture. Serve it as a main meal, or as a side dish for your favourite Indian recipes. It's particularly delicious with Kadhi and rice. Get the Recipe Vegan Katsu Curry This vegan katsu curry recipe (yasai katsu curry) combines aubergine and sweet potato coated in panko breadcrumbs, served with a creamy coconut curry sauce. Serve with salad and Japanese pickles. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients for the sauce — it all goes into one pot. Get the Recipe Mushroom & Black Chickpea Rogan Josh Try this hearty vegetarian take on Kashmiri Rogan Josh. My recipe uses juicy mushrooms and protein-rich black chickpeas for an aromatic curry that pairs beautifully with rice. Get the Recipe Restaurant-Style Shahi Paneer Delicious, rich & creamy Shahi Paneer is a vegetarian food hero in North Indian cuisine. Scoop this curry up with flaky parathas or serve with basmati rice. Get the Recipe Gobi Bhurji (Cauliflower Curry) Gobi Bhurji Gobi Bhurji (Cauliflower Curry) is one of my favourite ways to enjoy cauliflower. This north Indian-style Gobi Bhurji is perfect with buttered toast and soothing chai. Continue Reading Potato and Pea Coconut Milk Curry One of my favourite quick dinners growing up was pea and potato curry. It’s a simple staple in every Gujarati home and perfect with just rice and/or Homemade Chapattis – Gujarati Rotli depending on how hungry you are. Continue Reading Gujarati-Style Okra & Potatoes Gujarati-Style Okra & Potatoes (Bhinda Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday comfort food in many Gujarati homes, including mine. It’s usually scooped up with soft, hot rotlis (chapattis), which is our daily bread Continue Reading Vegan 'Butter' Cauliflower and Perfect Jeera Pilau Garnish the Vegan ‘Butter’ Cauliflower with a final flourish of chopped coriander and a drizzle of coconut milk for that luscious restaurant-style finish. Continue Reading Gujarati Potatoes and Spring Onions Sautéed in Chickpea Flour Fresh flavoured, dry curries are done so well by Gujaratis. It’s all about taking simple ingredients and packing in as much flavour as possible. Continue Reading Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak A tried and true recipe for Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak (dry-style potato curry). This is my mother’s exact recipe and the only way we make it at home. She has a few fabulous tips for achieving intense flavours and the perfect dry bhaji-style texture every time. This shaak pairs perfectly with Masala Poori and dahi (plain yoghurt). Continue Reading Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) While most of us use kidney beans as a filler ingredient in chillies, stews and salads, this Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) makes the humble red bean the star of the show. The sauce is deeply aromatic, smooth and robust enough to take the beans from basic to beautiful. This is North Indian comfort food at its best. Continue Reading Vegan Kadai Tofu & Vegetables Vegan Kadai Tofu & Vegetables is a raid-the-fridge dinner. Balanced, flavoursome and so easy to prepare! Zero waste. Continue Reading Gobi Musallam Whole-roasted cauliflower curry with a Mughlai-inspired curry sauce. Nuts, spices and warm flavours meld into this meltingly-soft cauliflower curry. Continue Reading Cardamom Tofu Curry Cardamom-scented cream is added to luxurious tomato sauce in this delicate and fragrant vegetarian tofu curry. Continue Reading Melt-Away Malai Kofta I call this creamy paneer kofta curry Melt-Away Malai Kofta simply because they melt away as soon as you put them in your mouth. Malai Kofta are the ultimate North Indian vegetarian curry recipe to dazzle friends and family. A celebration of rich flavours and warming spices. Continue Reading Bodhi's Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan) Bodhi’s Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan). A complete meal and super nutritious for the whole family. Don’t be fooled though, this buttery, curried veg and soya medley packs a huge flavour punch. It’s so moreish. Continue Reading Slow Cooker Aubergine Makhani Slow Cooker Aubergine Makhani. Beautiful, butter-soft aubergines in a rich makhani sauce. This velvety-smooth curry is perfect with rice and fluffy naan. Continue Reading Stuffed and Baked Baby Kolhapuri Aubergines If you’re a fan of vegetarian Indian main courses that pack enough punch to trounce any meaty curry, look no further. These gorgeous aubergines might be small but the smooth-as-velvet sauce and filling make it an unforgettable veggie curry you’ll want to make over and over again. Continue Reading The post Karela and Sweet Potato Curry appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Let’s make Okra and Potato Fries Curry, Gujarati style. This is based on the Bhinda and Bateta nu Shaak my mum cooked growing up, with a little twist using air fried chips for speed and ease. I love cooking okra like this! This Okra and Potato Fries Curry is… Don’t forward this in the family …

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Let’s make Okra and Potato Fries Curry, Gujarati style. This is based on the Bhinda and Bateta nu Shaak my mum cooked growing up, with a little twist using air fried chips for speed and ease. I love cooking okra like this! Learn how to cook delicious Okra Curry! This Okra and Potato Fries Curry is… Vegan Quick Easy Air fryer friendly Not slimy at all! Don’t forward this in the family WhatsApp group. How do I reduce the sliminess of bhindi or okra? I like to cut okra thinly. In the pursuit of non-slimy bhindi, wash and dry them properly. They should be really dry. Dryness is key: As mentioned in the video, ensuring your okra is thoroughly dry before cooking is crucial. After washing, pat it vigorously with a kitchen towel or even let it air dry for a while. Excess moisture contributes to sliminess. Do not add water when cooking the bhindi or okra. Stir fry them over high heat, quickly. Do not overcook them. They should only be cooked in their own liquid. Cook okra over a high heat Cook okra over a high heat. A high heat helps to sear the outside quickly and reduce the release of mucilage. Don’t overcrowd the pan, as this will lower the temperature and steam the okra instead of frying it. Cook in batches if necessary. Add an acidic ingredient to your okra You can add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice once the okra is cooked. Tomatoes and tamarind paste are also good for reducing sliminess but they must be cooked throughly before you add them as they also contain liquid. For this reason, I like to add tomato paste. How long does ladyfinger last in the fridge? If your okra or ladyfingers are fresh (green, firm, slim), try to use them within 3 days. The older they are, the more limp they will become and you may notice they turn black in spots. Cooked okra curry like this is best eaten fresh. What can I use instead of ladyfinger or okra in recipes? French beans or runner beans are a good substitute for okra. How to cut okra Cut off the stems and the tips and then slice them on the bias, almost wafer thin. The thinner they are, the quicker they’ll cook, which is perfect for stir-frying, which is what we’re doing here, even though this is a curry. The spices I’m adding cumin, asafoetida, onions, garlic, chilies and tomato paste. Cook these out a bit before adding the dry spices, like chili powder, turmeric, ground coriander and cumin. Before the spices burn, add the bhindi and stir it well to coat it in the masalas. Cooking the okra curry You are forbidden to add any water to this. Forbidden (it’ll turn slimy!). Keep it over a high heat, stirring all the time to make sure nothing burns. If you add water, you’ll have Shrek’s dinner. Side note: Some dishes require the okra to be slimy for thickening While many dishes aim to reduce okra’s sliminess, there are several dishes where its mucilaginous quality is prized, like in gumbo, okara, and bamieh. But we’re making bhindi and chips. Cooking the French fries I probably don’t need to add this, but speaking of chips, I’ve air-fried mine, and you can, too. Add them to the pan, stirring well to coat them in all the spices. Easy okra recipe And this reminds me so much of the bhindi and bateta shaak my mom used to make growing up. We’d eat it with rotlis, so let’s make some. And that’s it, a weeknight-friendly way to cook okra curry and satisfy your craving for french fries. You might also like my recipe for Popcorn Bhindi or Aloo Bhindi Tawa Masala. Okra and Potato Fries Curry recipe | How to cook okra curry with potatoes, Indian style Yield: Serves 4 Okra and Potato Fries Curry Print And this reminds me so much of the bhindi and bateta shaak my mom used to make growing up. We'd eat it with rotlis, so let's make some. And that's it, a weeknight-friendly way to cook okra curry and satisfy your craving for french fries. Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients 300g okra, washed and dried thoroughly 200g frozen French fries, cooked according to packet directions (I air fried mine) 3 tbsp oil 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/8 tsp asafoetida 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 1 red chilli, cut into thin strips 1 tsp tomato purée 1 tsp chilli powder 1/2 tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp ground coriander seeds 2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbsp chopped coriander 2 tsp lemon juice Notes Heat the oil in a large non-stick wok or pan. Add the cumin and allow to sizzle for a few seconds before adding the asafoetida, garlic and onion. Sauté briefly before adding the red chilli and tomato purée. Add the chilli powder, turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin and salt. Stir for a few seconds before adding the okra and mixing well. Stir fry the okra for 8-10 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir all the time to prevent burning. Add the cooked French fries and stir to coat. Remove from the heat. Finish with lemon juice and fresh coriander and serve with roti. Nutrition Information: Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 356Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 977mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 5gSugar: 4gProtein: 13g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Indian / Category: 30-Minute Meals If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Aloo Bhindi Tawa Masala Aloo Bhindi Tawa Masala Vegetarian Curry Recipes Learn how to make delicious vegetarian curry at home with this collection of simple, flavorsome curry recipes. Dive both home-style and restaurant-style vegan and vegetarian curry recipes which can be adapted to suit any tastes. From Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk, to Tofu Korma, Palak Paneer, Mushroom Rogan Josh, Potato Curry and even Vegan Butter Chicken! The Paneer Tikka Masala and Chana Masala recipes will become firm favorites in your home! Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk This simple Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk is rich with aromatic spices, nuts and a rainbow of colourful vegetables. Make it in an Instant Pot if you have one, or simply simmer away on the stove. Serve with dosa for a delicious vegan meal that's gluten free too. It also pairs perfectly with rice, roti or paratha. Feel free to add any vegetables you have in the fridge, as long as the total weight is around 600g. Get the Recipe Home-style Chana Masala A truly classic Indian dish of soft chickpeas and potatoes simmered with spices for a hot and sour finish. It's loaded with flavour and can be served with Bhatura (fried bread), roti, naan or rice. Best of all, this quick and easy version takes just 30 minutes to make. Try it for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Get the Recipe Matar Paneer Matar Paneer is a popular Indian dish made with paneer cheese and peas in a creamy tomato-based sauce. It's a delicious and nutritious vegetarian curry. This recipe for Matar Paneer is also easy to make, making it an amazing option for home cooks or people new to Indian food. Matar Paneer is typically served with rice, naan or roti, but feel free to choose your favourite accompaniments. Get the Recipe Keema Curry (Vegan) Unbelievable! This deeply flavoursome Indian Keema Curry features plant-based mince (soya mince), warming spices and fresh herbs. It's packed with protein and highly versatile. Enjoy it with naan, roti, rice... or even in hot sandwiches! A great vegetarian and vegan Keema recipe for batch cooking. It freezes beautifully, making it an excellent emergency meal for busy schedules. This is one of my go-to dinners all year round. Get the Recipe Gujarati Ravaiya (Stuffed Aubergine Curry) Gujarati Ravaiya (Stuffed Aubergine Curry) is a true vegan comfort meal from western India. Stuff baby aubergines with a spicy peanut masala for Gujarati grandma vibes. Continue Reading Tofu Korma A rich and creamy vegan Indian curry with tofu, aromatic spices and nuts. With a royal history, Korma is an emblem of imperial Mughal cooking traditions. Here's a plant-based Korma recipe everybody will love alongside rice and naan. It's mild and perfect for those who enjoy warm spices over chilli heat. Get the Recipe Indian Masala Baked Beans A dose of British nostalgia, complete with Indian spices. Almost every British South Asian home has its' own take on curried baked beans. I cook mine with ghee, cumin seeds and a liberal heap of garam masala. These spicy, buttery beans are delicious on toast, or with roti or rice. Get the Recipe Paneer Tikka Masala Learn how to make the most delicious Paneer Tikka Masala, just like your favourite Indian restaurant! Pieces of paneer (cottage cheese) and vegetables are first marinated in yoghurt and spices, and then skewered and grilled to smoky perfection. The tikka pieces are then removed from the skewer and folded into a creamy curry sauce made with tomatoes, spices and cream. Here's an easy to follow video recipe and video. Get the Recipe Spinach and Mushroom Curry A quick and easy Spinach and Mushroom Curry with delicious Indian flavours. Sometimes called mushroom saag or mushroom bhaji, this tasty 11-ingredient curry is simple enough to cook during busy weeknights and with few spices and ingredients. Add cauliflower, tofu, paneer, beans or butternut squash along with the spinach puree to increase the veg content. Get the Recipe Cabbage and Potato Curry This simple Cabbage and Potato Curry (Kobi Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday favourite Indian recipe. It pairs perfectly with roti for a wholesome main dish, or as a light vegetable side dish. It's a dry-style sabzi with tender white cabbage, soft potatoes and mild spices. I find this is an Indian curry recipe the whole family enjoys. Add a handful of peas to turn it into a more veg-heavy meal. Get the Recipe Palak Paneer Recipe (Easy, Beginner-friendly) A quick and easy Palak Paneer recipe with delicious, fresh flavours. Palak Paneer is a popular Indian restaurant dish that's made with spinach and paneer, a soft and squidgy Indian cheese. This tasty vegetarian curry is simple enough to cook during busy weeknights and with few spices and ingredients. This recipe for Palak Paneer is perfect for beginners and seasoned cooks alike. It's a great make-ahead dish and also freezes well. Serves 4 people as a main dish, or 6 as a side dish. Get the Recipe Vegetable Curry Recipe A delicious and nutritious Vegetable Curry recipe. This recipe for Vegetable Curry is also easy to make, making it an amazing option for home cooks or people new to Indian food. Prepare this dish with any veggies you have in the fridge, freezer or pantry. Vegetable Curry is typically served with rice, naan, paratha or roti, but feel free to choose your favourite accompaniments. Get the Recipe Melt-in-the-Mouth Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry I live and breathe Gujarati food. They are simple vegetarian dishes I eat every evening, and have done since I was young. Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry (Oroh) was one of those dishes mum would cook as a midweek dinner. Continue Reading 30-Minute Tindora Curry with Corn This simple, dry curry with ivy gourd and corn is delicious with roti, paratha or rice. If you’re on the hunt for a minimal-effort curry recipe to add to your weeknight meal rotation, you’re in the right place. Continue Reading Bharela Marcha (Stuffed Bullet Chillies) I stuff the chillies with mixed masalas, jaggery and besan (chickpea flour). Each one is like a hot little flavour bomb. Continue Reading Tofu Dopiaza Tofu Dopiaza is kadai-fried tofu with double onions, crunchy green peppers & aromatic masalas. A restaurant quality vegan curry recipe. Continue Reading Aloo Bhindi Tawa Masala Stuffed and steamed okra and baby potatoes cooked in a spicy tomato and yoghurt masala. Get the Recipe Saag Paneer Recipe This traditional Punjabi Saag Paneer recipe is pure magic! Soft paneer chunks in a creamy mustard greens and spinach curry. Every bite of this classic Indian curry will melt in your mouth. Make it with any leafy greens you have, although mustard leaves and spinach are the most typical. Get the Recipe Vegan Butter Chicken One of North India's most famous curries, Butter Chicken. Also known as Murgh Makhani, it's known for having a lusciously-smooth and tomato cream sauce laced with mild, fragrant spices. Get the Recipe Dahi Varo Oro (Burnt Aubergine in Yoghurt) Flame-grilled aubergine and crunchy peppers tossed with cooling yoghurt. This is a dish typical of Gujarati farming communities along the Kathiawar peninsula of western India. Serve it cold alongside your favourite Indian flatbread - millet or sorghum rotla are most traditional, but this tastes incredible with just about any type of unleavened bread. If you like the smoky flavours of Baba ghanoush, this will be your new go-to Indian dish. It even works well as a dip for parties, picnics and barbecues. Get the Recipe Saag Recipe Warming Punjabi Saag is a curry made from vibrant greens and spices. In the native tongue, it's referred to as Sarson da Saag, a peppery blend of mustard leaves and various greens beaten with ghee (clarified butter), onions, garlic and green chillies. Serve with Makki di Roti (cornmeal flatbread) for feast plucked straight from India's land of the five rivers, Punjab. Get the Recipe Paneer Curry Try this easy Paneer Curry recipe with a delicious mix of aromatic Indian spices. Sauté the soft cubes of Indian cottage cheese in a golden onion and tomato masala. The flavours of cumin, black pepper, ginger and garam masala add warmth and excitement. A kadai-fried curry like this (without too much sauce) is perfect to serve with naan, roti or paratha. I even like using it as a dosa filling when making Paneer Masala Dosa. If you prefer your Paneer Curry with a thick Indian gravy, try Paneer Makhani or Matar Paneer. Get the Recipe Mung Bean Curry Mung Bean Curry is wholesome Indian vegetarian dish to enjoy with roti. It's thick, creamy and cooked with an aromatic paste of ginger, green chilli and coriander. Shards of crispy, ghee-fried garlic add bold flavour and texture. Serve it as a main meal, or as a side dish for your favourite Indian recipes. It's particularly delicious with Kadhi and rice. Get the Recipe Vegan Katsu Curry This vegan katsu curry recipe (yasai katsu curry) combines aubergine and sweet potato coated in panko breadcrumbs, served with a creamy coconut curry sauce. Serve with salad and Japanese pickles. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients for the sauce — it all goes into one pot. Get the Recipe Mushroom & Black Chickpea Rogan Josh Try this hearty vegetarian take on Kashmiri Rogan Josh. My recipe uses juicy mushrooms and protein-rich black chickpeas for an aromatic curry that pairs beautifully with rice. Get the Recipe Restaurant-Style Shahi Paneer Delicious, rich & creamy Shahi Paneer is a vegetarian food hero in North Indian cuisine. Scoop this curry up with flaky parathas or serve with basmati rice. Get the Recipe Gobi Bhurji (Cauliflower Curry) Gobi Bhurji Gobi Bhurji (Cauliflower Curry) is one of my favourite ways to enjoy cauliflower. This north Indian-style Gobi Bhurji is perfect with buttered toast and soothing chai. Continue Reading Potato and Pea Coconut Milk Curry One of my favourite quick dinners growing up was pea and potato curry. It’s a simple staple in every Gujarati home and perfect with just rice and/or Homemade Chapattis – Gujarati Rotli depending on how hungry you are. Continue Reading Gujarati-Style Okra & Potatoes Gujarati-Style Okra & Potatoes (Bhinda Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday comfort food in many Gujarati homes, including mine. It’s usually scooped up with soft, hot rotlis (chapattis), which is our daily bread Continue Reading Vegan 'Butter' Cauliflower and Perfect Jeera Pilau Garnish the Vegan ‘Butter’ Cauliflower with a final flourish of chopped coriander and a drizzle of coconut milk for that luscious restaurant-style finish. Continue Reading Gujarati Potatoes and Spring Onions Sautéed in Chickpea Flour Fresh flavoured, dry curries are done so well by Gujaratis. It’s all about taking simple ingredients and packing in as much flavour as possible. Continue Reading Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak A tried and true recipe for Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak (dry-style potato curry). This is my mother’s exact recipe and the only way we make it at home. She has a few fabulous tips for achieving intense flavours and the perfect dry bhaji-style texture every time. This shaak pairs perfectly with Masala Poori and dahi (plain yoghurt). Continue Reading Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) While most of us use kidney beans as a filler ingredient in chillies, stews and salads, this Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) makes the humble red bean the star of the show. The sauce is deeply aromatic, smooth and robust enough to take the beans from basic to beautiful. This is North Indian comfort food at its best. Continue Reading Vegan Kadai Tofu & Vegetables Vegan Kadai Tofu & Vegetables is a raid-the-fridge dinner. Balanced, flavoursome and so easy to prepare! Zero waste. Continue Reading Gobi Musallam Whole-roasted cauliflower curry with a Mughlai-inspired curry sauce. Nuts, spices and warm flavours meld into this meltingly-soft cauliflower curry. Continue Reading Cardamom Tofu Curry Cardamom-scented cream is added to luxurious tomato sauce in this delicate and fragrant vegetarian tofu curry. Continue Reading Melt-Away Malai Kofta I call this creamy paneer kofta curry Melt-Away Malai Kofta simply because they melt away as soon as you put them in your mouth. Malai Kofta are the ultimate North Indian vegetarian curry recipe to dazzle friends and family. A celebration of rich flavours and warming spices. Continue Reading Bodhi's Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan) Bodhi’s Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan). A complete meal and super nutritious for the whole family. Don’t be fooled though, this buttery, curried veg and soya medley packs a huge flavour punch. It’s so moreish. Continue Reading Slow Cooker Aubergine Makhani Slow Cooker Aubergine Makhani. Beautiful, butter-soft aubergines in a rich makhani sauce. This velvety-smooth curry is perfect with rice and fluffy naan. Continue Reading Stuffed and Baked Baby Kolhapuri Aubergines If you’re a fan of vegetarian Indian main courses that pack enough punch to trounce any meaty curry, look no further. These gorgeous aubergines might be small but the smooth-as-velvet sauce and filling make it an unforgettable veggie curry you’ll want to make over and over again. Continue Reading The post Okra and Potato Fries Curry appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Hot and crispy Boursin Aloo Paratha are Indian flatbreads with a potato and Boursin cheese filling. These Indian-inspired parathas have a little French twist with the herby, garlicky soft cheese. The surprising flavour combination works so well together! They’re fresh, flavoursome and just a little spicy. Serve Boursin Aloo Paratha steaming hot with your favourite …

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Hot and crispy Boursin Aloo Paratha are Indian flatbreads with a potato and Boursin cheese filling. These Indian-inspired parathas have a little French twist with the herby, garlicky soft cheese. The surprising flavour combination works so well together! They’re fresh, flavoursome and just a little spicy. Serve Boursin Aloo Paratha steaming hot with your favourite pickles and chai. They’re also delicious with garlic mushrooms. My Boursin Aloo Paratha are… Vegetarian Made with wholewheat chapati flour Comforting and flavoursome A taste of home Learn how to make Aloo Paratha with a French twist For all my Bour-sins I remember sneaking spoonfuls of Boursin garlic and herb cheese or those little French roulé cheeses from the fridge as a child. A thin shave of the herb-encrusted log, or a quick whip ’round the sides of the round so it wasn’t obvious a chunk was missing. After my small, sticky fingers rewrapped it in foil, you’d never know an illegal activity had taken place in our little Yorkshire kitchen. My mum would later ask my brother and I where all the Boursin was and we’d exchange glances in a criminal fashion, for we were both guilty of this cheese theft. I later discovered that such cheeses could be used for more than just globbing straight into my mouth. I’d melt it into pasta sauce, blitz it into broccoli or mushroom soup and spread it in my sandwiches. Enter: The Boursin Aloo Paratha Top the paratha with a dollop of Boursin A more recent application for such a rich and flavoursome cheese comes in the form of Aloo Paratha; A crispy Indian flatbread that’s what I’d consider a breakfast food of champions. It’s simple, home-style cooking which calls for easy spicing and just a little technique. How to cook potatoes for Aloo Paratha (Spoiler: Do not boil them) I’m often asked how to prevent a wet or sticky filling when making filling for Aloo Paratha. It’s no secret that I rely on my microwave for a great deal of meal prep shortcuts and this is one of those moments. If your Aloo Paratha filling is wet, sticky or sloppy, it’s because they’re full of moisture. Start with a fluffy roasting potato like Maris Piper or King Edward. Microwave the potatoes in their skins, until they’re very soft and tender to the squeeze. Let them cool and then peel off the skins. The insides will steam and excess moisture will evaporate this way. Don’t bother boiling the potatoes. This is a sure-fire way to make a sloppy Aloo Paratha filling which will be impossible to stuff inside dough and roll out. They can split and break if you boil them. Steps for making Boursin Aloo Paratha Scroll down for the full list of ingredients. 1. Make the paratha dough In a large bowl or thali, mix together the wholewheat atta (chapati flour), gram flour, salt and parsley. Make a well in the centre and gradually add the water. Use your hands to bring the mixture together. Once it starts looking like a shaggy mixture and more like a dough, knead for 1-2 minutes. Add the oil and continue to knead for a further 2 minutes until smooth and soft. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes before dividing into 6 equal balls. 2. Prepare the potato and Boursin filling Peel the cooked and cooled potatoes. Mash them in a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients for the filling except the Boursin and use clean hands to mash everything together. Add the Boursin and roughly break it into small pieces. It should crumble a little. Fold this in, taking care not to mash it smooth. The mixture should hold its shape when rolled into a ball. Divide the mixture into 6 large balls.Next, divide the rested dough into 6 balls, about the same size as the potato filling. Cover again. 3. Stuff the dough with potato and Boursin filling Dust the dough with some plain flour. Roll or pat the dough out to about 8cm in diameter, keeping the centre thicker than the sides. I like to use my hands for this. Refer to my video if you’re a visual learner or see my guide to stuffing paneer paratha here. Place a portion of potato filling on top and gently coax the dough around the filling, carefully stretching it to enclose. I like to form a modak or kibbeh shape at the top where it tapers and then pat down. Gently roll into a smooth ball (do not press it hard). I find this creates the most even coverage. Pinch the dough together to fully seal the filling inside the paratha dough. There should be absolutely no gaps or holes the filling could escape from during rolling. Repeat this process for the remaining portions of paratha dough and potato Boursin filling. 4. Roll out the paratha Dust the dough and a clean, dry work surface or rolling board with plain flour and place it seam-side dough. Use your first three fingers to press the dough into a round shape, about 5-cm wide. Try to keep the surface as even as possible. Use a rolling pin to roll the paratha out into a circle, about 22-cm wide. Dust with extra flour as necessary. The Boursin Aloo Paratha is now ready to cook. 5. Cook the Boursin Aloo Paratha Slap the paratha down onto a preheated tawa and cook set over a medium-high heat for 30-40 seconds. Flip it over with a spatula and apply a small amount of oil or ghee all over the partially-toasted surface of the paratha. Allow this side to cook for a minute before flipping it over and applying oil on the second side. Well rolled paratha should puff up but it’s not essential and won’t make a difference to the flavour. Once it is golden brown all over, remove from the tawa. Keep warm on a plate lined with a kitchen towel. Repeat for the remaining paratha. Boursin Aloo Paratha Recipe | How to make Aloo Paratha with Cheese | Paratha with French Cheese Yield: Makes 6 paratha Boursin Aloo Paratha Print Hot and crispy flatbreads with a potato and Boursin cheese filling. These Indian-inspired parathas have a little French twist with the herby, garlicky soft cheese. The surprising flavour combination works so well together! Fresh, flavoursome and just a little spicy. Serve hot with your favourite pickles and chai. Prep Time: 40 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes Ingredients For the filling 4 medium-sized potatoes (650g), steamed, microwaved or baked with their skins on until tender, cooled 150g Boursin with garlic and herbs 1 tsp minced ginger 2-3 green chillies, finely chopped 1 tsp garam masala 1 tsp ground cumin 1/4 tsp ajwain 3/4 tsp salt For the dough 350 g wholewheat chapati atta 2 tbsp chickpea flour, besan 1/2 tsp salt 3 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley (leaves only) 260 ml warm water 1 tbsp oil You will also need 3 tbsp ghee or oil, for spreading whilst cooking 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves 4-5 tbsp additional wholewheat chapati atta, for rolling out the paratha Instructions <ol><li>To make the dough: In a large bowl or thali, mix together the wholewheat atta (chapati flour), chickpea flour, salt and parsley. Make a well in the centre and gradually add the water. Use your hands to bring the mixture together. Once it starts looking like a shaggy mixture and more like a dough, knead for 1-2 minutes. Add the oil and continue to knead for a further 2 minutes until smooth and soft. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes.</li><li>To make the filling: Peel the cooked and cooled potatoes. Mash them in a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients for the filling except the Boursin and use clean hands to mash everything together. Add the Boursin and roughly break it into small pieces. It should crumble a little. Fold this in, taking care not to mash it smooth. The mixture should hold its shape when rolled into a ball. Divide the mixture into 6 large balls.</li><li>Next, divide the rested dough into 6 balls, about the same size as the potato filling. Cover again.</li><li>Pre-heat the tawa or frying pan.</li><li>Roll or pat the dough out to about 8cm in diameter. Place a portion of potato filling on top and pinch the dough together to fully enclose it inside. There should be no gaps or holes the filling could escape from during rolling. Watch my video for a visual guide.</li><li>Working on a floured surface, gently use your middle three fingers (palm-side down) to pat the dough into a thick round disc, starting from the centre and working your way outwards. This will help distribute the filling evenly.</li><li>Now, place the disc on a rolling board or clean work surface and use a rolling pin to gently roll the Aloo Paratha in a circular motion, between the centre and edges, but not too much over them. You can use your hands to turn it as you roll. Once it reaches the desired size, carefully roll up and down a few times to even out the surface. The paratha is now ready to be cooked.</li><li>To cook the paratha: Slap the paratha down onto a preheated tawa and cook over a medium heat for 30-40 seconds. Flip it over with a spatula and apply a small amount of oil all over the seared surface of the paratha. Allow this side to cook for a minute before flipping it over and applying oil on the second side. Well rolled Aloo Paratha should puff up slightly. Turn and cook again. Once it is golden brown on both sides, remove from the tawa. Keep warm on a plate lined with a kitchen towel. Repeat for the remaining parathas.</li><li>Serve hot with your favourite pickle. You can add an additional dollop of Boursin and chopped parsley on top if you like!</li></ol> Notes Freeze cooked Boursin Aloo Paratha in a stack, separated with sheets of baking parchment. Wrapped the stack well in cling film and aluminium foil for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen, in a pre-heated frying pan or tawa. No need to thaw first. Nutrition Information: Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 691Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 940mgCarbohydrates: 99gFiber: 17gSugar: 7gProtein: 19g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Indian / Category: Indian Breads If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Paneer Paratha Paneer Paratha recipe More delicious Indian flatbread recipes Aloo Paratha Mooli Paratha Spinach & Black Bean Paratha Chilli-Cheese Naan 24 Indian Breakfast Recipes Worth Getting Out of Bed For From traditional dishes that have been passed down for generations to modern Indian breakfast options that cater to the changing tastes of the community, there are countless Indian breakfasts to choose from. So, let's dive in and explore the rich and varied world of Indian breakfasts. Cheesy Masala Beans on Toast A cheesy dose of British nostalgia, Desified. Almost every British South Asian home has its' own take on curried baked beans. I cook mine with ghee, cumin seeds and a liberal heap of garam masala. These spicy, buttery beans are then slathered onto toast, topped with Cheddar and grilled until gooey and bubbling. Get the Recipe Punjabi Mooli Paratha Light and crispy radish-stuffed flatbreads from the land of Punjab. These make for a delicious Indian vegetarian breakfast alongside yoghurt, achar and masala chai. Get the Recipe Classic Sabudana Khichdi This is a delicious recipe for the famous Indian snack, Sabudana Khichdi; a savoury snack made with chewy tapioca pearls, potatoes, peanuts and spices. One bite and you’ll be hooked. Sabudana Khichdi is a traditional dish famed throughout India from Gujarat and Rajasthan, to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. for its’ comforting carb-on-carb foundations. And for good reason. Get the Recipe Indian Cheese Twists Flaky Indian Cheese Twists baked with a blend of two cheeses and Indian spices inside. Use ready-rolled puff pastry sheets for a quick-fix recipe. These Indian Cheese Twists are so simple to prepare and can be made with mostly store-cupboard ingredients. Serve with chai for a delicious Indian breakfast. Get the Recipe Perfect Handvo (Gujarati Lentil Cake) The most Perfect Handvo (Gujarati Lentil Cake) recipe. Gujarati Handvo is a golden, fermented rice and lentil cake with vegetables. Some Gujaratis call this delicious tea-time snack Ondhwo. This recipe for Handvo is one I make from scratch, using whole, soaked lentils and rice. No packet mix or handvo flour necessary. Get the Recipe Gobi Bhurji (Indian Scrambled Cauliflower) Gobi Bhurji (Indian Scrambled Cauliflower) is one of my favourite ways to enjoy a humble head of cauliflower. This north Indian-style Gobi Bhurji is perfect with buttered toast in the morning. This recipe for Gobi Bhurji is naturally free from gluten (provided you serve it with gluten-free bread). It can easily be made vegan if you switch the ghee for a healthy, vegan alternative like dairy-free spread or oil. Get the Recipe Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya The prospect of an Indian breakfast is sometimes just the kick I need to pull myself from my cosy bed. These Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya are the best way to coax me out from under the covers. Along with a spicy breakfast, there’s nothing more satisfying than using up leftovers. This recipe for Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya hits both of those spots. They’re made using grated bottlegourd (doodhi/lauki), cold leftover rice, chickpea flour and a medley of subtle spices. Get the Recipe Aloo Paratha (Potato-Stuffed Flatbread) Crispy, flaky Aloo Paratha (Potato-Stuffed Flatbread) are an emblem of soulful South Asian home cooking. Almost every home has their own unique recipe and this is my technique for making delicious Punjabi Aloo Paratha at home. Aloo Paratha are crispy on the outside, with a tender potato filling. The word ‘aloo’ refers to the potato stuffing and ‘paratha’ to the light and flaky bread. Of all the stuffed breads India is famous for, Aloo Paratha is the one loved in every family kitchen and such a popular breakfast option. Here’s how I make Aloo Paratha for my family. Get the Recipe Soft Gujarati Thepla Soft Gujarati Thepla are a staple any-time-of-the-day flatbread in Indian homes. Fresh fenugreek leaves give them their signature bitter caramel flavour. Paired with a handful of ground spices like turmeric and chilli powder takes them from everyday roti to a masala-rich paradise. Bonus: they can be made well in advance and stored for days. Get the Recipe Sprouted Mung Bean Breakfast Noodles My lightly stir-fried vermicelli noodles are tossed with crackled mustard seeds, curry leaves, chillies and turmeric for a big, punchy breakfast number you’ll cook again and again. Transform it into a filling, protein-rich Indian vegetarian lunch or dinner with the addition of tofu. Get the Recipe Vegan Saffron French Toast I love these topped with strawberries and maple syrup but you can add any toppings you like. Fruit is always a delicious choice but I won’t tell if you scatter a few chocolate chips on top. Get the Recipe Jalebi Paratha These Jalebi Paratha get their name from the bright orange Indian sweets, Jalebi because of their beautiful coiled shape. I hold this recipe and its stunning method for creating those layers of flaky goodness close to my heart because it’s the way Nanabapu taught my mum, and then exactly the way my mum taught me. A technique passed down the generations and a skill Nanabapu would have wanted us to share with other paratha lovers. Get the Recipe Golden Air Fryer Samosas Here’s a delicious recipe for the crispiest, Golden Air Fryer Samosas. You won’t believe these lightly-spiced, vegetable parcels aren’t deep fried! They’re vegan-friendly too. Each samosa is contains a mixture of vegetables, including potatoes, peas, carrots, corn and onions. There’s no need to deep fry then, just air fry to golden perfection. Follow my tips to learn how to cook samosas in the air fryer quickly and easily. Get the Recipe Crispy Potato Bhajias Crispy, spiced potato fritters are the most iconic of bhajias. Here’s a tried and true recipe that will leave you wanting more. Forged from the coming together of two distinct cuisines, Crispy Potato Bhajias have earned their place as a treasured dish on the Indian-East African dinner table. Vegan & gluten free option included. Get the Recipe Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak A tried and true recipe for Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak (dry-style potato curry). This is my mother’s exact recipe and the only way we make it at home. She has a few fabulous tips for achieving intense flavours and the perfect dry bhaji-style texture every time. This shaak pairs perfectly with Masala Poori and dahi (plain yoghurt) for breakfast. Get the Recipe Puffy Masala Poori Puffy Masala Poori will forever be a breakfast or wedding food in my eyes. Fried whole wheat flour bread with mild spices, a double layer and hollow middle. The little circles of dough rise before your very eyes for a magical cooking experience — and an even more spectacular eating experience. Definitely worth getting out of bed for! Get the Recipe Perfect Patra (Timpa/Alu Vadi) The ultimate guide to homemade Patra. These steamed colocasia leaves are rolled with sweet and sour tamarind paste inside. Pan-fry for a crispy vegan and gluten-free Indian snack. They're perfect for breakfast and a light way to start the day. Get the Recipe Garlic Butter Khichu (Papdi no Lot) Follow my video tutorial and make this easy Garlic Butter Khichu (Papdi no Lot) recipe. These steamed Indian rice dumplings are soft and chewy in texture. I dip them in the most delicious garlic butter to finish. The combination of garlic butter and cumin against the blank canvas of the rice flour dumpling is so comforting and delicious. Don't eat before a meeting! 😀 Get the Recipe Khaman (Instant Chickpea Flour Dhokla) Khaman (instant chickpea flour dhokla) is a soft and fluffy steamed chickpea flour cake from Gujarat, western India. This airy, sweet and sour cake is prepared with spices, freshly-grated coconut and coriander leaves. The world of Gujarati farsan, or savoury snacks is as complex as it is vast. 100 varieties of gathia made from fried chickpea flour (besan) are identified by shape, texture and seasoning. Delicious! Continue Reading Very Good Homemade Masala Chai Here’s my favourite homemade Chai Masala blend. As the title suggests, I think it’s very good. Get the Recipe Mumbai Sandwich Meet The Ultimate Mumbai Sandwich. Stuff this ultra-crispy vegetarian toastie with masala potatoes, melting cheese, beetroot, onions and, wait for it… an extra slice of toast soaked in green chutney — a.k.a. the ‘Moist Maker’. Top with crunchy sev (fried chickpea flour noodles) for a true taste of Mumbai street food. Get the Recipe Paneer Bhurji Kati Rolls This is not just any old wrap. This is a flavoursome, satisfying chapatti wrap filled with rich paneer, tangy lemon and mouth-watering spices. Seriously, M&S would be proud. These kati rolls are simple, filling and perfect for breakfast. You can stuff them with anything you like, from scrambled paneer to Bombay potatoes. Get the Recipe Bullet Banana Daal Vada Traditional Gujarati Daal Vada are crunchy, spicy and perfect for dipping into yoghurt. My East-African version incorporates bananas to add a hint of sweetness against the intense chilli and lemon heat. The magical thing about adding ripe banana to the batter is that it reacts with the lemon and baking powder, creating a puffy, fluffy-in-the-middle fritters that still have an incredible golden crunch on the outside because of the ground mung daal, urad daal and rice. Get the Recipe Masala Cheese Scones Never underestimate the power of Masala Cheese Scones and a mug of hot tea. This casual comfort combo is my go-to for when I need a dose of nostalgia. One bite of spicy cheese scone followed by a swift sip of sweet chai and I’m transported back to my childhood kitchen. Get the Recipe The post Boursin Aloo Paratha appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Learn how to make 10-Minute Quick Veg Meatball Manchurian in the Instant Pot, along with a delicious ginger and spring onion rice. Everything cooks in 10 minutes, all inside one pot! This Quick Veg Meatball Manchurian is… Air fryer veg manchurian recipe Make use of both the air fryer and Instant Pot with this quick …

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Learn how to make 10-Minute Quick Veg Meatball Manchurian in the Instant Pot, along with a delicious ginger and spring onion rice. Everything cooks in 10 minutes, all inside one pot! This Quick Veg Meatball Manchurian is… Vegan Easy to make Very speedy High in plant-based protein Air fryer veg manchurian recipe Make use of both the air fryer and Instant Pot with this quick and easy recipe for Veg Meatball Manchurian. I air fry the frozen plant-based meatballs until golden. Once the sauce is cooked, fold them in to retain their crisp, juicy texture. Using plant-based veggie meatballs is such a great hack for making manchurian, since all you need to do is air fry straight from frozen. I used the Moving Mountains plant-based meatballs for this veg manchurian, but any brand you like will work, such as Beyond Meat, Plant Pioneers, Quorn or Linda McCartney, etc. Vegetable-based (non-soy or wheat gluten) versions works too. It’s great with IKEA vegetable balls. What is Manchurian? Manchurian is a popular dish in Indian Chinese cuisine. It typically involves frying a main ingredient (like vegetable balls, chicken, paneer, or cauliflower) and then tossing it in a signature sauce. It’s a fusion dish, not traditionally found in China, but incredibly popular in India and other South Asian countries. The concept originates in East India, within the Hakka Chinese community. How to thicken sauce for manchurian The most common and effective way to thicken Manchurian sauce is by using a cornstarch slurry. This is a staple in Indo-Chinese cuisine for achieving that desirable glossy, clingy sauce. What is Manchurian served with? Gravy Manchurian is most commonly served as a main course with… Fried Rice: Such as Vegetable Fried Rice or Schezwan Fried Rice Noodles: Like Hakka Noodles or Schezwan Noodles Plain Steamed Rice More Indo-Chinese recipes you might like: Chilli Paneer Fried Rice Crispy Chilli Pumpkin Chilli Paneer Hakka Noodles Veggie Meatball Manchurian with Rice step-by-step 1. Prepare the Meatballs Air fry or cook the plant-based meatballs according to your packet instructions until golden and crispy. Set aside. 2. Build the Manchurian Sauce Place your Instant Pot on Sauté mode. Add the oil, minced garlic, and chopped chillies. Sauté for 5-10 seconds until fragrant. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for another 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Next, add the diced onions and peppers. Toss everything to combine well. 3. Season and Add Liquids After about a minute, pour in the soy sauce, vinegar, white pepper, MSG (if using), sugar, and salt. Stir-fry for another minute to let the flavors meld, then add the water. 4. Prepare and Cook the Rice (Pot-in-Pot Method) Place a metal trivet into the Instant Pot. Drain your soaked rice and transfer it to a heatproof stainless steel container. Add the grated ginger, a pinch of salt, sesame oil, chopped spring onions, and hot water to the rice. Cover the container with a tight-fitting lid and carefully place it on top of the trivet inside the Instant Pot. 5. Pressure Cook Secure the Instant Pot lid and set it to Pressure Cook on High for 5 minutes. Once done, perform a Quick Release of the steam. Carefully remove the lid and lift out the pot of cooked rice; set it aside. 6. Thicken the Sauce and Combine Switch the Instant Pot back to Sauté mode. Once the sauce comes to a boil, slowly pour in the cornflour and water mixture (slurry), stirring continuously. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens and develops that characteristic glossy, translucent sheen. 7. Finish and Serve Add the cooked meatballs to the thickened sauce and toss gently to ensure they’re well coated. Garnish generously with fresh chopped spring onions and serve your delicious Veggie Meatball Manchurian immediately with the prepared rice. 10-Minute Quick Veg Meatball Manchurian & Ginger Spring Onion Rice Recipe Yield: Serves 4 Quick Veg Meatball Manchurian Print The ultimate Veg Meatball Manchurian recipe with crispy plant-based meatballs in a hot and garlicky Indo-Chinese sauce. Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients 400g vegetarian meatballs / plant-based meatballs For the sauce: 1 tbsp oil 1 pepper, cut into wedges (I used 1/2 red and 1/2 green) 1 red onion, cut into petals 6 large cloves garlic 2 tbsp tomato puree 2-3 green chillies, sliced on the bias 2 tbsp dark soy sauce 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, white, brown or apple cider are all fine to use 1/4 tsp white pepper, or black pepper 1/2 tsp MSG, optional 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water 500ml hot water 2 spring onions, finely chopped For the rice: 200g long-grain Basmati rice, washed and soaked for 20 minutes 400ml hot water 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp minced ginger 2 spring onions, finely chopped Instructions Air fry or cook the plant-based meatballs according to the packet instructions. Place the Instant Pot on Sauté mode and add the oil, garlic and chillies. Sauté for 5-10 seconds and then add the tomato purée. Cook for 15 seconds, stirring all the time. Next, add in the onions and peppers. Toss to combine everything well. After a minute, add the soy sauce, vinegar, white pepper, MSG (if using), sugar and salt. Stir fry for another minute and then add the water. Place a metail trivet in the pot. Drain the soaked rice and place it in a heatproof stainless steel container. Add the ginger, salt, sesame oil, spring onions and hot water. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place on top of the trivet in the pot. Cover the Instant Pot and Pressure Cook on High for 5 minutes. Quick release the steam and remove the lid. Carefully lift the pot of rice out and set aside. Switch the pot back on to Sauté mode. Once the sauce comes to the boil, add the cornflour and water mixture. Stir well until the sauce thickens and develops a glossy, translucent sheen. Add the cooked meatballs to the sauce and toss well to coat. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve immediately. Notes Replace the plant-based meatballs with any of your favourite plant-protein meatballs or use vegetable balls if you prefer. Serve immediately. Store any leftovers in an airtight container and enjoy within 2 days. Heat through before serving. Nutrition Information: Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 grams Amount Per Serving: Calories: 450Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 1633mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 7gSugar: 11gProtein: 28g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Cuisine: Chinese / Category: Lunch If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Hakka Noodles Hakka Noodles recipe 12 Indo-Chinese Recipes with Big Flavor Try one of these delicious Indo-Chinese recipes tonight. The flavours of India and China come together in a blended fusion cuisine that's big on flavor. These Indo-Chinese recipes are vegetarian, easy and make perfect appetizers or side dishes on weeknights and for special occasions. You must try my famous Chilli Paneer and Hakka Noodles combo! Yield 6 servings Chilli Paneer (Restaurant-Style) Crispy paneer cubes wok-fried in a chilli and garlic sauce with crunchy peppers and onions. A real Indo-Chinese crowd pleaser and Indian restaurant favourite. This dish is perfect as an appetizer, or as part of a larger meal with rice or noodles. Get the Recipe Crispy Chilli Oil Aubergine Crispy Chilli Oil Aubergine is a fragrant chilli crisp stir fry with tempura aubergines and homemade chilli oil. This Indo-Chinese dish is a flavour explosion, so serve it with plain, steamed Jasmine rice or noodles. It’s delicious as a starter, main or alongside other dishes. Get the Recipe Vegetable Manchurian Flavour bomb incoming! For the ultimate Vegetable Manchurian, I toss crispy vegetable dumplings in a hot and garlicky Indo-Chinese sauce. It’s fiery, loaded with flavour and gives your favourite Asian restaurant a run for its’ money. Get the Recipe Air Fryer Sesame Mogo Toasts I couldn’t be more excited to share my little creation of Vegan Air Fryer Sesame Mogo Toasts with you. A lighter, vegan take Chinese restaurant favourite, sesame prawn toast using spiced cassava (mogo) to replace the shrimp. Get the Recipe General Tso's Paneer American Chinese takeout favourite General Tso’s Chicken gets a vegetarian makeover with this Desi Chinese-inspired fresh stir-fry dish, General Tso’s Paneer. Crisp-coated creamy paneer nuggets tossed in a sticky spicy, sweet and sour sauce. Get the Recipe Yield 4 servings Vegetarian Hakka Noodles Hakka Noodles are an any time, any place noodle affair. This vegetarian version makes for a delicious lunch or dinner. Serve them with other Indo-Chinese favourites such as Chilli Paneer or Gobi Manchurian, or simply as they are. These Vegetarian Hakka Noodles are the ultimate quick meal. Get the Recipe Paneer Gua Bao – Taiwanese Folded Buns I first fell in love with the spongy, cloud-like morsels that are Taiwanese folded buns when I sampled them from popular London street vendors, Yum Bun. After hearing all the Momofuku hype, these little burger-like buns had finally reached the streets of Britain. My first folded bun was filled with juicy Portabello mushrooms and crunchy, miso-glazed walnuts and they stirred one question in me. Gua Bao, where have you been all my life?! Get the Recipe Chilli-Garlic Tofu Noodle Bowls One of my favourite weeknight dinners is Chilli-Garlic Tofu Noodle Bowls. Stir-fried tofu with colourful veggies, noodles and heaps of chilli. My special touch to these is to add crispy okra strips and fried Thai basil leaves. They add the most beautiful crunch and are a delicious way of getting your okra fix as part of a dish that’s not curry. Get the Recipe Sticky, Crispy Chilli Khichi (Gujarati Rice Flour Dumplings) Gujarati rice dumplings dusted in cornflour and fried until crispy on the outside. Right before serving they are tossed in an intense sticky chilli sauce with lots of veg. Don’t be put off by the amount of ginger, chillies and garlic – it’s a lot but necessary to stand up to the somewhat plain rice flour khichi. It’s a delicious starter and a new, creative take on a Gujarati classic. My recipe for Sticky, Crispy Chilli Khichi serves six hungry people. Get the Recipe Indo Chinese-Style Chilli Yuba Fresh beancurd sheets stir-fried with onions, peppers, fresh basil and a sweet and sour chilli sauce. “Yuba” or tofu skin (also bean curd skin or bean curd sheet) is a form of protein made from soy beans. Soy milk, to be precise. During the boiling process, a skin forms on top of the soy milk. It is made up of protein and fats in the milk, similar to the kind that forms on top of dairy milk. Get the Recipe Crispy Chilli Pumpkin Try this recipe for Indo-Chinese Crispy Chilli Pumpkin tonight! Make the most of sweet, seasonal squash with this celebration of Indo-Chinese flavours. Be warned; This gets more and more addictive with each bite. It’s no secret that I’m a Chilli Paneer fiend. It’s probably one of the most iconic Indo-Chinese dishes, alongside the likes of Hakka Noodles and Vegetable Manchurian. Get the Recipe The post Quick Veg Meatball Manchurian appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Learn how to make the puffiest ever Paneer Paratha using my simple recipe. Anybody can make these simple Indian flatbreads stuffed with spiced cheese. Master homemade Paneer Paratha: Inspired by a local Punjabi dhaba I developed a recipe for this popular North Indian stuffed flatbread when I fell in love with the crispy, yet soft …

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Learn how to make the puffiest ever Paneer Paratha using my simple recipe. Anybody can make these simple Indian flatbreads stuffed with spiced cheese. Master homemade Paneer Paratha: Inspired by a local Punjabi dhaba I developed a recipe for this popular North Indian stuffed flatbread when I fell in love with the crispy, yet soft and squidgy textures and flavours at my local Punjabi dhaba in Leicester. A paneer paratha that PUFFS! It took many attempts to get it just right and it wasn’t long before I realised the secret to amazing Paneer Paratha lies in the simplicity of the spices! Featuring a savoury spiced paneer filling tucked inside whole wheat dough, it’s a beloved Punjabi breakfast staple. Give my Paneer Paratha recipe a go and let me know what you think. These Punjabi Paneer Paratha are vegetarian and can be made with less oil or ghee than usual if you’d like a lighter option. They’re perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I make Paneer Paratha when… I need a taste of home! It’s my ultimate comfort food and I could eat it any time of the day, alongside yoghurt, achar (pickle) and a cup of masala chai. It’s a good idea to batch cook paratha I also like to make Paneer Paratha in bulk so that I can stock my freezer with a par-cooked batch, ready for reheating in a hot frying pan later. They take just a few minutes to reheat and taste just like freshly-made paratha. These Paneer Paratha are… Vegetarian Easy to make Nut free Great for batch cooking How do you make parathas that don’t tear? First things first, make sure your dough is soft and elastic. My recipe below will never fail you. A good sign of well-made paratha dough is if it springs back very slowly when you press it. Secondly, ensure your filling is dry enough to easily roll into a ball without crumbling but moist enough to create enough steam that the parathas rise up beautifully, creating a double layer and crispy finish. Bonus tip: Make sure all the ingredients in your filling are finely chopped or minced! Big bits will cause tears as you roll these Indian flatbreads out. Steps for making the best Paneer Paratha 1. Make the paratha dough In a large bowl or thali, mix together the wholewheat atta (chapati flour), gram flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and gradually add the water. Use your hands to bring the mixture together. Once it starts looking like a shaggy mixture and more like a dough, knead for 1-2 minutes. Add the oil and continue to knead for a further 2 minutes until smooth and soft. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes before dividing into 6 equal balls. 2. Prepare the paneer filling Grate the paneer and place it in a large bowl. Add minced ginger, chillies, cumin, coriander seeds, fresh coriander and salt. Mash it together with your hands for 2-3 minutes until you can form a ball in your hands. If the mixture is very crumbly, it’s too dry. Add a tablespoon or two of water and continue to knead until it forms a ball that doesn’t fall apart. Divide into 6 equal balls. 3. Stuff the dough with paneer filling Dust the dough with some plain flour. Roll or pat the dough out to about 8cm in diameter, keeping the centre thicker than the sides. I like to use my hands for this. Refer to my video if you’re a visual learner. Place a portion of paneer filling on top and gently coax the dough around the filling, carefully stretching it to enclose. I like to form a modak or kibbeh shape at the top where it tapers and then pat down. Gently roll into a smooth ball (do not press it hard). I find this creates the most even coverage. Pinch the dough together to fully seal the paneer filling inside the paratha dough. There should be absolutely no gaps or holes the filling could escape from during rolling. Repeat this process for the remaining portions of paratha dough and paneer filling. 4. Roll out the paratha Dust the dough and a clean, dry work surface or rolling board with plain flour and place it seam-side dough. Use your first three fingers to press the dough into a round shape, about 5-cm wide. Try to keep the surface as even as possible. Use a rolling pin to roll the paratha out into a circle, about 22-cm wide. Dust with extra flour as necessary. The Paneer Paratha is now ready to cook. 5. Cook the Paneer Paratha Slap the paratha down onto a preheated tawa and cook set over a medium-high heat for 30-40 seconds. Flip it over with a spatula and apply a small amount of oil or ghee all over the partially-toasted surface of the paratha. Allow this side to cook for a minute before flipping it over and applying oil on the second side. Well rolled Paneer Paratha should puff up. Once it is golden brown all over, remove from the tawa. Keep warm on a plate lined with a kitchen towel. Repeat for the remaining Paneer Paratha. Serve hot with your favourite pickle, plain yoghurt and/or masala chai. More delicious Indian flatbread recipes Aloo Paratha Mooli Paratha Spinach & Black Bean Paratha Chilli-Cheese Naan Paneer Paratha Recipe | Easy Homemade Indian Cheese Flatbread Yield: Makes 6 Paneer Paratha Print Master the best Paneer Paratha! Learn how to make soft, puffy Indian cheese stuffed flatbread. Delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Ingredients For the dough 350 g wholewheat chapati atta 2 tbsp gram flour (besan/chickpea flour) 1/2 tsp salt 260ml warm water 1 tbsp oil For the filling 500g paneer, grated if shop-bought or crumbled if homemade 3-cm piece ginger, peeled and minced 4-5 green chillies, minced 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds, coarsely ground 3/4 tsp salt 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves You will also need 2 tbsp oil or ghee, for spreading whilst cooking 4 tbsp additional wholewheat chapati atta, for rolling out the paratha Instructions To make the dough: In a large bowl or thali, mix together the wholewheat atta (chapati flour), chickpea flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and gradually add the water. Use your hands to bring the mixture together. Once it starts looking like a shaggy mixture and more like a dough, knead for 1-2 minutes. Add the oil and continue to knead for a further 2 minutes until smooth and soft. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes. To make the filling: Grate the paneer and place it in a large bowl. Add minced ginger, chillies, cumin, coriander seeds, fresh coriander and salt. Mash it together with your hands for 2-3 minutes until you can form a ball in your hands. If the mixture is very crumbly, it’s too dry. Add a tablespoon or two of water and continue to knead until it forms a ball that doesn’t fall apart. Divide into 6 equal balls. Next, divide the rested dough into 6 balls, about the same size as the paneer filling. Dust the dough with some plain flour. Roll or pat the dough out to about 8cm in diameter, keeping the centre thicker than the sides. I like to use my hands for this. Refer to my video if you’re a visual learner. Place a portion of paneer filling on top and gently coax the dough around the filling, carefully stretching it to enclose. I like to form a modak or kibbeh shape at the top where it tapers and then pat down. Gently roll into a smooth ball (do not press it hard). I find this creates the most even coverage. Pinch the dough together to fully seal the paneer filling inside the paratha dough. There should be absolutely no gaps or holes the filling could escape from during rolling. Repeat for all the dough and filling balls. Cover. Pre-heat a tawa or frying pan. Gently use your middle three fingers (palm-side down) to pat the dough into a thick round disc, starting from the centre and working your way outwards. This will help distribute the filling evenly. Once it's around 5-cm wide, use a rolling pin to gently roll the paneer paratha in a circular motion, between the centre and edges, but not too much over them. You can use your hands to turn it as you roll. Once it reaches around 22-cm wide, carefully roll up and down a few times to even out the surface. Slap the paratha down onto the preheated tawa and cook over a medium heat for 30-40 seconds. Flip it over with a spatula and apply a small amount of oil all over the surface of the paratha. Allow this side to cook for a minute before flipping it over and applying oil on the second side. Well rolled Paneer Paratha should puff up slightly. Once it is golden brown all over, remove from the tawa. Keep warm on a plate lined with a kitchen towel. Repeat for the remaining parathas. Serve hot with your favourite pickle, plain yoghurt and/or masala chai. Notes To freeze, allow the paratha to cool completely and then stack with pieces of baking parchment between each one. Wrap in more baking parchment and aluminium foil. Place inside a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat frozen paratha, take one paratha and remove all the foil and baking parchment. Place onto a pre-heated tawa and cook on both sides until hot and puffy. Nutrition Information: Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 587Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 1376mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 8gSugar: 5gProtein: 22g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Indian / Category: Indian Breakfast Recipes If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Aloo Paratha Crispy, flaky Aloo Paratha (Potato-Stuffed Flatbread) are an emblem of soulful South Asian home cooking. With love and Paneer Paratha, Sanjana The post Paneer Paratha Recipe | Easy Homemade Indian Cheese Flatbread appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

This Tandoori Paneer ‘Lahmacun’ (Turkish Pizza) brings the flavours of Indian tandoori paneer cheese together with the technique of making Turkish lahmacun, a flatbread spread with a thin layer of meat. My Turkish-Indian vegetarian version calls for grated white cheese and spices to be made into a kebab-like filling. This is then spread onto flatbread …

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This Tandoori Paneer ‘Lahmacun’ (Turkish Pizza) brings the flavours of Indian tandoori paneer cheese together with the technique of making Turkish lahmacun, a flatbread spread with a thin layer of meat. My Turkish-Indian vegetarian version calls for grated white cheese and spices to be made into a kebab-like filling. This is then spread onto flatbread before it’s toasted and topped with onion, tomato and coriander. FYI, I say ‘Lahmacun’ in inverted commas, since this is a fun and delicious Indian vegetarian take on the Turkish dish and absolutely *not* traditional. ‘Lahmacun’ in inverted commas, since this is a fun vegetarian take How to make vegetarian lahmacun Many plant-based versions of lahmacun call for vegan meat alternatives such as fresh veggie mince which can be spiced and then spread onto the flatbread before being placed face-down into a pan or on to a grill and cooked. For a vegetarian (but not vegan) option, I like to grate paneer and then mash it with the yoghurt and warming, smoky spices of my favourite Indian kebab appetiser, Tandoori Paneer Tikka. The flavours work so well and it’s a brilliant quick lunch or dinner. How long does it take to make Lahmacun? You can make this vegetarian lahmacun in 25 minutes or less! This Paneer Lahmacun can be made on any style of flatbread. Choose thin Turkish flatbread for a crispier finish, or a naan-like flatbread for something a little more filling. Since this is a playful take on ‘Lahmacun’ with Indian flavours, I make it on naan, which is both quick and convenient, since I can buy packets of them easily at my local supermarket. A quick lowdown on lahmacun The ancient tradition of making lahmacun goes back thousands of years in the Middle East. The dish name is an adaptation of ‘lahm bi’ajeen’, which means meat with dough in Arabic. The popularity of the dish spread across the Middle East, Levant and parts of western Asia including Turkey where it became a staple in homes, cafés and as a street food. Now the people of each region specialise in their own local versions of it. Today, it’s also a beloved dish in Armenia, Lebanon, and Syria, each country cooking its own delicious variations. While often compared to pizza due to its round, flat shape and toppings, traditional lahmacun typically features thin, unleavened dough and a spiced minced meat topping without cheese or tomato sauce. You can add other sauces if you like! Garlic sauce is always a good idea. How to eat lahmacun It’s commonly served with fresh parsley and often rolled up to eat. I love rolling these up and eating them, so I recommend you choose a naan or other flatbread that’s thin enough to do this with. In a pinch, you could even make this with tortilla wraps, but take care not to tear them as you spread the paneer kebab spices on top. What type of tandoori masala should I use? Any good quality tandoori masala works well for this recipe. Feel free to use shop bought, although I usually make my own since I use it quite often. You can find my signature tandoori masala recipe in my cookbook, Sanjana Feasts which is available on Amazon here (affiliate link). Tandoori Paneer ‘Lahmacun’ (Turkish Pizza) recipe | How to make vegetarian lahmacun Yield: 2 large pizzas Tandoori Paneer 'Lahmacun' (Turkish Pizza) Print This Tandoori Paneer 'Lahmacun' (Turkish Pizza) brings the flavours of Indian tandoori paneer cheese together with the technique of making Turkish lahmacun, a flatbread spread with a thin layer of meat. My vegetarian version calls for grated white cheese and spices before it is toasted and topped with onion, tomato and coriander. These are quick, simple and can be made on any style of flatbread. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes Ingredients 250g paneer 1 tbsp tandoori masala 2 tbsp plain yoghurt 1 tbsp tomato purée 1 small onion, grated 2 tbsp coriander 1/4 tsp salt 2 large (40cm) naans or any style of flatbread (choose thinner Turkish flatbread for a crispy finish) 1 tbsp olive oil Toppings 1 medium red onion, sliced into fine rings 1 medium tomato, chopped Pickled chillies, to serve (optional) Instructions Mix together the paneer, yoghurt, tomato purée, tandoori masala, onion, coriander and salt. Sqeeze the mixture toghether using clean hands until it comes together like a kebab or meatball mixture. You should be able to roll it into a ball. Place the naans on a large, clean work surface. Spread half of the paneer mixture onto each of the naans. Use a large spatula, the back of a large spoon or clean hands to spread it evenly. If you have a very large frying pan you can pan fry these (paneer face down) in 2-3 tsp olive oil until they're golden and toasty, about 2-3 minutes. Turn using a spatula and cook the other side for a few minutes. If your frying pan is small, cut the naans in half and cook each half at a time. Top with sliced onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander. Notes You can make the filling up to 3 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Category: 30-Minute Meals Pin this recipe for later If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Tandoori Paneer Tikka How to make Paneer Tikka Tandoori Indian dish 24 Indian Breakfast Recipes Worth Getting Out of Bed For From traditional dishes that have been passed down for generations to modern Indian breakfast options that cater to the changing tastes of the community, there are countless Indian breakfasts to choose from. So, let's dive in and explore the rich and varied world of Indian breakfasts. Cheesy Masala Beans on Toast A cheesy dose of British nostalgia, Desified. Almost every British South Asian home has its' own take on curried baked beans. I cook mine with ghee, cumin seeds and a liberal heap of garam masala. These spicy, buttery beans are then slathered onto toast, topped with Cheddar and grilled until gooey and bubbling. Get the Recipe Punjabi Mooli Paratha Light and crispy radish-stuffed flatbreads from the land of Punjab. These make for a delicious Indian vegetarian breakfast alongside yoghurt, achar and masala chai. Get the Recipe Classic Sabudana Khichdi This is a delicious recipe for the famous Indian snack, Sabudana Khichdi; a savoury snack made with chewy tapioca pearls, potatoes, peanuts and spices. One bite and you’ll be hooked. Sabudana Khichdi is a traditional dish famed throughout India from Gujarat and Rajasthan, to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. for its’ comforting carb-on-carb foundations. And for good reason. Get the Recipe Indian Cheese Twists Flaky Indian Cheese Twists baked with a blend of two cheeses and Indian spices inside. Use ready-rolled puff pastry sheets for a quick-fix recipe. These Indian Cheese Twists are so simple to prepare and can be made with mostly store-cupboard ingredients. Serve with chai for a delicious Indian breakfast. Get the Recipe Perfect Handvo (Gujarati Lentil Cake) The most Perfect Handvo (Gujarati Lentil Cake) recipe. Gujarati Handvo is a golden, fermented rice and lentil cake with vegetables. Some Gujaratis call this delicious tea-time snack Ondhwo. This recipe for Handvo is one I make from scratch, using whole, soaked lentils and rice. No packet mix or handvo flour necessary. Get the Recipe Gobi Bhurji (Indian Scrambled Cauliflower) Gobi Bhurji (Indian Scrambled Cauliflower) is one of my favourite ways to enjoy a humble head of cauliflower. This north Indian-style Gobi Bhurji is perfect with buttered toast in the morning. This recipe for Gobi Bhurji is naturally free from gluten (provided you serve it with gluten-free bread). It can easily be made vegan if you switch the ghee for a healthy, vegan alternative like dairy-free spread or oil. Get the Recipe Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya The prospect of an Indian breakfast is sometimes just the kick I need to pull myself from my cosy bed. These Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya are the best way to coax me out from under the covers. Along with a spicy breakfast, there’s nothing more satisfying than using up leftovers. This recipe for Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya hits both of those spots. They’re made using grated bottlegourd (doodhi/lauki), cold leftover rice, chickpea flour and a medley of subtle spices. Get the Recipe Aloo Paratha (Potato-Stuffed Flatbread) Crispy, flaky Aloo Paratha (Potato-Stuffed Flatbread) are an emblem of soulful South Asian home cooking. Almost every home has their own unique recipe and this is my technique for making delicious Punjabi Aloo Paratha at home. Aloo Paratha are crispy on the outside, with a tender potato filling. The word ‘aloo’ refers to the potato stuffing and ‘paratha’ to the light and flaky bread. Of all the stuffed breads India is famous for, Aloo Paratha is the one loved in every family kitchen and such a popular breakfast option. Here’s how I make Aloo Paratha for my family. Get the Recipe Soft Gujarati Thepla Soft Gujarati Thepla are a staple any-time-of-the-day flatbread in Indian homes. Fresh fenugreek leaves give them their signature bitter caramel flavour. Paired with a handful of ground spices like turmeric and chilli powder takes them from everyday roti to a masala-rich paradise. Bonus: they can be made well in advance and stored for days. Get the Recipe Sprouted Mung Bean Breakfast Noodles My lightly stir-fried vermicelli noodles are tossed with crackled mustard seeds, curry leaves, chillies and turmeric for a big, punchy breakfast number you’ll cook again and again. Transform it into a filling, protein-rich Indian vegetarian lunch or dinner with the addition of tofu. Get the Recipe Vegan Saffron French Toast I love these topped with strawberries and maple syrup but you can add any toppings you like. Fruit is always a delicious choice but I won’t tell if you scatter a few chocolate chips on top. Get the Recipe Jalebi Paratha These Jalebi Paratha get their name from the bright orange Indian sweets, Jalebi because of their beautiful coiled shape. I hold this recipe and its stunning method for creating those layers of flaky goodness close to my heart because it’s the way Nanabapu taught my mum, and then exactly the way my mum taught me. A technique passed down the generations and a skill Nanabapu would have wanted us to share with other paratha lovers. Get the Recipe Golden Air Fryer Samosas Here’s a delicious recipe for the crispiest, Golden Air Fryer Samosas. You won’t believe these lightly-spiced, vegetable parcels aren’t deep fried! They’re vegan-friendly too. Each samosa is contains a mixture of vegetables, including potatoes, peas, carrots, corn and onions. There’s no need to deep fry then, just air fry to golden perfection. Follow my tips to learn how to cook samosas in the air fryer quickly and easily. Get the Recipe Crispy Potato Bhajias Crispy, spiced potato fritters are the most iconic of bhajias. Here’s a tried and true recipe that will leave you wanting more. Forged from the coming together of two distinct cuisines, Crispy Potato Bhajias have earned their place as a treasured dish on the Indian-East African dinner table. Vegan & gluten free option included. Get the Recipe Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak A tried and true recipe for Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak (dry-style potato curry). This is my mother’s exact recipe and the only way we make it at home. She has a few fabulous tips for achieving intense flavours and the perfect dry bhaji-style texture every time. This shaak pairs perfectly with Masala Poori and dahi (plain yoghurt) for breakfast. Get the Recipe Puffy Masala Poori Puffy Masala Poori will forever be a breakfast or wedding food in my eyes. Fried whole wheat flour bread with mild spices, a double layer and hollow middle. The little circles of dough rise before your very eyes for a magical cooking experience — and an even more spectacular eating experience. Definitely worth getting out of bed for! Get the Recipe Perfect Patra (Timpa/Alu Vadi) The ultimate guide to homemade Patra. These steamed colocasia leaves are rolled with sweet and sour tamarind paste inside. Pan-fry for a crispy vegan and gluten-free Indian snack. They're perfect for breakfast and a light way to start the day. Get the Recipe Garlic Butter Khichu (Papdi no Lot) Follow my video tutorial and make this easy Garlic Butter Khichu (Papdi no Lot) recipe. These steamed Indian rice dumplings are soft and chewy in texture. I dip them in the most delicious garlic butter to finish. The combination of garlic butter and cumin against the blank canvas of the rice flour dumpling is so comforting and delicious. Don't eat before a meeting! 😀 Get the Recipe Khaman (Instant Chickpea Flour Dhokla) Khaman (instant chickpea flour dhokla) is a soft and fluffy steamed chickpea flour cake from Gujarat, western India. This airy, sweet and sour cake is prepared with spices, freshly-grated coconut and coriander leaves. The world of Gujarati farsan, or savoury snacks is as complex as it is vast. 100 varieties of gathia made from fried chickpea flour (besan) are identified by shape, texture and seasoning. Delicious! Continue Reading Very Good Homemade Masala Chai Here’s my favourite homemade Chai Masala blend. As the title suggests, I think it’s very good. Get the Recipe Mumbai Sandwich Meet The Ultimate Mumbai Sandwich. Stuff this ultra-crispy vegetarian toastie with masala potatoes, melting cheese, beetroot, onions and, wait for it… an extra slice of toast soaked in green chutney — a.k.a. the ‘Moist Maker’. Top with crunchy sev (fried chickpea flour noodles) for a true taste of Mumbai street food. Get the Recipe Paneer Bhurji Kati Rolls This is not just any old wrap. This is a flavoursome, satisfying chapatti wrap filled with rich paneer, tangy lemon and mouth-watering spices. Seriously, M&S would be proud. These kati rolls are simple, filling and perfect for breakfast. You can stuff them with anything you like, from scrambled paneer to Bombay potatoes. Get the Recipe Bullet Banana Daal Vada Traditional Gujarati Daal Vada are crunchy, spicy and perfect for dipping into yoghurt. My East-African version incorporates bananas to add a hint of sweetness against the intense chilli and lemon heat. The magical thing about adding ripe banana to the batter is that it reacts with the lemon and baking powder, creating a puffy, fluffy-in-the-middle fritters that still have an incredible golden crunch on the outside because of the ground mung daal, urad daal and rice. Get the Recipe Masala Cheese Scones Never underestimate the power of Masala Cheese Scones and a mug of hot tea. This casual comfort combo is my go-to for when I need a dose of nostalgia. One bite of spicy cheese scone followed by a swift sip of sweet chai and I’m transported back to my childhood kitchen. Get the Recipe The post Tandoori Paneer ‘Lahmacun’ (Turkish Pizza) appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Learn how to make the delicious and traditional Pakistani morning special, the Halwa Puri Chana Breakfast! What is Pakistani Halwa Puri? This wholesome and filling vegetarian breakfast consists of spicy chickpea curry (chana), fried wheat flour bread (puri) and sweet semolina pudding (halwa, or sooji halwa). The Puri serves as a vessel for the halwa …

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Learn how to make the delicious and traditional Pakistani morning special, the Halwa Puri Chana Breakfast! What is Pakistani Halwa Puri? This wholesome and filling vegetarian breakfast consists of spicy chickpea curry (chana), fried wheat flour bread (puri) and sweet semolina pudding (halwa, or sooji halwa). The Puri serves as a vessel for the halwa and chana (chickpea curry), allowing you to scoop up and enjoy the spicy, crispy and sweet flavours and textures of the dish. It’s a popular choice with locals in Pakistan and can be a tasty weekend breakfast for a crowd. For example, when you have some time to prepare something a little more special for your family. How to make the Pakistani Halwa Puri Chana Breakfast In this post, I’ll break down all the steps for making a Halwa Puri Chana Breakfast at home, just like the style served in cafe’s across Pakistan and in some parts of India. However, you’ll find my approach is suited to your home kitchen, making your cooking much easier. Is Halwa Puri Vegetarian? Yes, this recipe for Halwa Puri Chana Breakfast is vegetarian and can easily be made vegan with some simple substitutes. For example, replace ghee or butter in the recipes with oil or vegan butter. You may use oil in the chana recipe and I recommend using vegan block butter for the halwa. Don’t make the sooji halwa with oil. Is Halwa Puri Healthy? Halwa Puri Chana, while delicious, is generally considered to be high in calories and fat. Like with most ‘full’ breakfasts, moderation is key since much of it is fried and contains butter and oil. I reserve Halwa Puri Chana for special occasions. It’s perfect during Ramadan or other religious festivals, pre-or post fast when you need some fuel food! What goes well with Halwa Puri? Chana (chole or chickpeas), cooked with plenty of spices goes perfectly with halwa puri, since it provides a balanced flavour profile alongside the sweet halwa and crispy, chewy puris. How to make Puris for Halwa? We make traditional Puris for Halwa Puri with wheat flour (all purpose flour/maida). This differs to wholewheat puris. Personally, I find that the wheat flour puris have a chewier texture than my regular Gujarati Puris which in this case, is ideal for scooping up the tasty chana and sauce, as well as folding around the sweet halwa. To make a comparison, I would say that Pakistani Puri when eaten fresh is crispy and has a texture similar to a fried laccha paratha. More recipes you might like Jalebi recipe Gulab Jamun recipe Samosa recipe Pakora recipe Kheer recipe Here’s my complete guide to making a Halwa Puri Chana Breakfast with all the detailed instructions and recipes card you need to master this Pakistani favourite at home. Ready? Chana recipe for Halwa Puri Chana A delicious, spicy chickpea curry recipe to go with your puri and halwa. What type of chickpeas should I use? I recommend cooking dried chickpeas from scratch over tinned (canned) chickpeas for this recipe since the chana are such an important part of this breakfast dish. The texture of soaked and pressure cooked chickpeas is unmatched. You’ll also find the grade of some dried chickpeas is much higher, thus boiling up into a much larger chickpea with a phenomenal texture. I use Turkish dried chickpeas like these AKSOY dried chickpeas and look at the size difference compared to standard canned chickpeas – this makes a huge difference to the final texture of the chickpea curry! Before we get into the recipe, I will also mention a tip I love for creating a perfectly silky and rich sauce for your chickpea curry. Are you ready for this? My secret for making the most delicious chana (chickpea curry) The secret to making an incredible chickpea curry sauce or sauce for your chana is to take a small portion of the cooked curry (about 1/8th of it) and to blend it into a very smooth paste. Add this thin, hummus-like paste back in to the simmering chickpea curry and watch the sauce transform from something rather watery, to a sensational, rich chana dish with no cream whatsoever! Yield: Serves 6 Chana recipe for Halwa Puri Chana Print The most delicious, flavoursome Chana curry recipe for serving with Halwa Puri, the South Asian breakfast popular in Pakistan and Northern India. Learn how to make incredible tasting chickpeas in a rich and creamy gravy - your family and friends will go wild for this Asian breakfast of champions! Ingredients 400g dried chickpeas 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 1L hot kettle water, for soaking the chickpeas 1.6L hot kettle water, for boiling the chickpeas 6 tbsp ghee 1 star anise 2 black cardamom 5 cloves 2 tsp black peppercorns 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/2 tsp carom seeds (ajwain) 1 large onion, finely chopped 6 large cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp minced ginger 3-4 green chillies 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp turmeric 1 1/4 tsp salt 200g plain yoghurt 2 tsp garam masala Chopped coriander, ginger juliennes and green chilli slices, to garnish Instructions Wash the chickpeas in plenty of cold, running water. Place them in a large bowl (at least double the size of the amount of chickpeas) and soak in 1L hot kettle water and the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). Cover and leave overnight, 8-12 hours. The next day, drain and discard the soaking liquid from the chickpeas. Rinse them well in plenty of running water. Place the chickpeas in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, along with 1.6L hot kettle water. Do not add salt. Pressure cook for 40 minutes. My chickpeas were very large so they took longer than a small variety would. Adjust the timings based on the chickpeas you are using. Once the chickpeas are cooked, carefully release the steam and open the lid. Set aside, keeping the chickpeas in their cooking liquid. Place a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the ghee, star anise, black cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns, cumin and ajwain, along with the onions. Sauté for 15 minutes, until the onions begin to brown. Next, add the garlic, ginger and chilli. Cook for a few moments before adding the yoghurt, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Cook, stirring all the time for 5-6 minutes, until the masalas thicken and turn into an aromatic curry paste. Add 1L of the chickpea cooking liquid and stir well to combine. Next, add the chickpeas and bring the curry to the boil. Cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Stir often to prevent anything catching on the base of the pan. Remove 1/8 of the curry (about a ladle full). and set aside to cool. Blend this into a very smooth, hummus-like paste. You may need to thin it out with a touch more of the chickpea cooking liquid to help the blade turn in the blender. Add this back into the simmering curry and stir well. You'll notice the curry gravy takes on a thicker, creamy texture. Cover the pot and continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. The gravy will continue to thicken as it simmers. Simmer longer for a thicker gravy or thin out with chickpea cooking liquid if you prefer a runnier gravy. Garnish with chopped coriander, ginger juliennes and green chilli slices. Serve the chana with puri and halwa. Notes Freeze any leftovers in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature and ensure reheated food is piping hot before serving. Use canned or jarred chickpeas for a shortcut version of this chana recipe. Remember to use the canning liquid for the best gravy. Adjust salt accordingly if canned chickpeas are salted. The gravy will continue to thicken as it simmers. Simmer longer for a thicker gravy or thin out with chickpea cooking liquid if you prefer a runnier gravy. Tastes even better the next day! Recommended Products As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. Sanjana Feasts cookbook Nutrition Information: Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 365Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 608mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 11gSugar: 9gProtein: 14g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Pakistani / Category: Breakfast Recipes Puri recipe for Halwa Puri Chana When properly made, a Puri should be light, airy, and slightly crispy. It should puff up during frying, creating a hollow interior. It’s normal for this to flatten out as the Puri cools a little. Which flour to use for Puri As I note above, it’s most traditional to use plain wheat flour (all-purpose flour/maida) for this type of puri because it requires a firm texture for scooping. You can use wholewheat flour but be aware that the texture may not be quite the same. Key factors for Good Puri Proper kneading: The dough must be kneaded well to develop gluten, which is essential for the Puri to puff up. Correct rolling: The Puri should be rolled to an even thickness to ensure uniform cooking. Adequate oil temperature: The oil must be at the right temperature for the Puri to puff and cook properly. A note on oil temperature Maintaining the correct oil temperature is crucial for achieving perfectly puffed-up Puris. The oil must be hot enough to cause the Puri to puff quickly, but not so hot that it burns. I maintain a temperature of 190ºC and use a slotted spoon to gently press the Puri in the hot oil, encouraging it to puff evenly. Yield: Serves 6 Puri Recipe for Halwa Puri Chana Print Learn how to make the crispiest, puffy Puri to enjoy with your Halwa Puri Chana breakfast. This recipe is perfect for scooping up hearty chana and sweet semolina halwa. It's also a tasty bread for tea time, alongside a cup of masala chai. Prep Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 20 minutes Additional Time: 1 hour Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes Ingredients 500g plain white flour (all purpose flour/maida) 3/4 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 360ml warm water 6 tbsp any flavourless oil, plus more for deep frying Instructions Place the flour in a large, wide bowl suitable for kneading. Add the salt and sugar. Slowly add the water until the dough comes together and forms a medium-soft ball. Knead for 8-10 minutes, until very smooth and elastic. If you don't have a kneading plate you can do this on a clean work surface. but do not add any additional flour. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and brush very generously with oil. Cover with cling film and allow the dough to rest for 1 hour. Place a ball of dough onto a wooden rolling board or a clean work surface. You can grease the surface with a little oil but don't use flour as this will burn in the oil as it cooks, leaving your oil speckled with burnt flour. Use your fingertips to press the dough out to around 5cm in diameter. Heat the oil to 190°C/375°F. Pat or roll out the dough into a circle about 3-4mm thick. I use my fingers and palms to do this but you can use a rolling pin if you prefer. The most important thing to remember is that the surface and thickness of the puri should be as even as possible. Carefully pick the puri up and place it into the hot oil. Only fry one puri at a time. The oil should be smoking hot. Carefully press the surface of the puri with a perforated spoon and use it to pour oil over the top too. This should encourage the puri to rise. Once risen, turn the puri quickly so it doesn't brown too much. Cook on the other side for a few seconds and then lift out of the oil, draining away excess oil. Place the puri on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Repeat the rolling and frying process for all the puris. Notes Puri are best eaten straight away. Do not make ahead of time as they will become chewy. Not suitable for freezing. Nutrition Information: Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 430Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 295mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 9g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Cuisine: Pakistani / Category: Bread Halwa recipe for Halwa Puri Chana Ghee or butter? I always cook my Sooji Halwa in salted butter. It’s the way my family have always done it and I adore the rich flavours and dimension you get from using this instead of ghee. Roasting the semolina (sooji) Another vital step for making Halwa for Halwa Puri Chana is to ensure your semolina is throughly roasted until it turns a deep, pinkish shade of golden brown. Do this over a low heat and stir constantly to prevent uneven roasting. If you undercook the semolina, it will taste be tasteless and if you overcook it, it will taste burnt. Watch my video to see the exact colour it should be. With experience, you’ll be able to tell when it’s ready just from the aroma! Milk or water? There are various options when it comes to using milk or water for preparing halwa. For me, it should always be balanced, which is why I opt for a combination of evaporated milk and water. I like the dairy flavour of evaporated milk and the water will lighten things up a touch so the pudding is not too heavy. Note that I’m using evaporated milk, not condensed milk. Yield: 12 servings Halwa recipe for Halwa Puri Chana Print Halwa or Sooji Halwa is a delicious and integral part of an Halwa Puri Chana breakfast. My recipe can be ready to eat in as little as 30 minutes and has the perfect balance of sweet and buttery. I've pulled together all my best tips for making this iconic, South Asian halwa at home so that you can too. Serve hot or warm. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients 125g salted butter 165g coarse semolina 400ml tin evaporated milk, (or whole milk) 400ml water 160g granulated sugar 8 green cardamom pods, seeds ground Pinch of saffron Yellow food colour, optional 1 tbsp edible rose petals, to garnish Instructions Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan and add the semolina. Sauté on a low heat for around 12-15 minutes, or until golden and toasted. It should be a pinkish, almond shade and will smell nutty. Add the milk, water, saffron, cardamom, food colour and sugar. Stir well and cook over a medium-low heat for a further 10-15 minutes. The mixture will begin to thicken and turn pasty, like fudge mixture. Continue to cook until the butter begins to release from the sides. Garnish with edible rose petals. Serve the halwa hot. Notes Store the halwa in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do not freeze. To reheat, microwave the halwa in short bursts hot and then allow to cool slightly before eating. Recommended Products As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. Sanjana Feasts cookbook Nutrition Information: Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 grams Amount Per Serving: Calories: 225Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 106mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 4g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Feasts Cuisine: Pakistani / Category: Dessert Recipes If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Aloo Paratha Aloo Paratha recipe With love and Halwa Puri Chana, Sanjana Try This Next 24 Indian Breakfast Recipes Worth Getting Out of Bed For From traditional dishes that have been passed down for generations to modern Indian breakfast options that cater to the changing tastes of the community, there are countless Indian breakfasts to choose from. So, let's dive in and explore the rich and varied world of Indian breakfasts. Cheesy Masala Beans on Toast A cheesy dose of British nostalgia, Desified. Almost every British South Asian home has its' own take on curried baked beans. I cook mine with ghee, cumin seeds and a liberal heap of garam masala. These spicy, buttery beans are then slathered onto toast, topped with Cheddar and grilled until gooey and bubbling. Get the Recipe Punjabi Mooli Paratha Light and crispy radish-stuffed flatbreads from the land of Punjab. These make for a delicious Indian vegetarian breakfast alongside yoghurt, achar and masala chai. Get the Recipe Classic Sabudana Khichdi This is a delicious recipe for the famous Indian snack, Sabudana Khichdi; a savoury snack made with chewy tapioca pearls, potatoes, peanuts and spices. One bite and you’ll be hooked. Sabudana Khichdi is a traditional dish famed throughout India from Gujarat and Rajasthan, to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. for its’ comforting carb-on-carb foundations. And for good reason. Get the Recipe Indian Cheese Twists Flaky Indian Cheese Twists baked with a blend of two cheeses and Indian spices inside. Use ready-rolled puff pastry sheets for a quick-fix recipe. These Indian Cheese Twists are so simple to prepare and can be made with mostly store-cupboard ingredients. Serve with chai for a delicious Indian breakfast. Get the Recipe Perfect Handvo (Gujarati Lentil Cake) The most Perfect Handvo (Gujarati Lentil Cake) recipe. Gujarati Handvo is a golden, fermented rice and lentil cake with vegetables. Some Gujaratis call this delicious tea-time snack Ondhwo. This recipe for Handvo is one I make from scratch, using whole, soaked lentils and rice. No packet mix or handvo flour necessary. Get the Recipe Gobi Bhurji (Indian Scrambled Cauliflower) Gobi Bhurji (Indian Scrambled Cauliflower) is one of my favourite ways to enjoy a humble head of cauliflower. This north Indian-style Gobi Bhurji is perfect with buttered toast in the morning. This recipe for Gobi Bhurji is naturally free from gluten (provided you serve it with gluten-free bread). It can easily be made vegan if you switch the ghee for a healthy, vegan alternative like dairy-free spread or oil. Get the Recipe Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya The prospect of an Indian breakfast is sometimes just the kick I need to pull myself from my cosy bed. These Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya are the best way to coax me out from under the covers. Along with a spicy breakfast, there’s nothing more satisfying than using up leftovers. This recipe for Gujarati Dudhi Muthiya hits both of those spots. They’re made using grated bottlegourd (doodhi/lauki), cold leftover rice, chickpea flour and a medley of subtle spices. Get the Recipe Aloo Paratha (Potato-Stuffed Flatbread) Crispy, flaky Aloo Paratha (Potato-Stuffed Flatbread) are an emblem of soulful South Asian home cooking. Almost every home has their own unique recipe and this is my technique for making delicious Punjabi Aloo Paratha at home. Aloo Paratha are crispy on the outside, with a tender potato filling. The word ‘aloo’ refers to the potato stuffing and ‘paratha’ to the light and flaky bread. Of all the stuffed breads India is famous for, Aloo Paratha is the one loved in every family kitchen and such a popular breakfast option. Here’s how I make Aloo Paratha for my family. Get the Recipe Soft Gujarati Thepla Soft Gujarati Thepla are a staple any-time-of-the-day flatbread in Indian homes. Fresh fenugreek leaves give them their signature bitter caramel flavour. Paired with a handful of ground spices like turmeric and chilli powder takes them from everyday roti to a masala-rich paradise. Bonus: they can be made well in advance and stored for days. Get the Recipe Sprouted Mung Bean Breakfast Noodles My lightly stir-fried vermicelli noodles are tossed with crackled mustard seeds, curry leaves, chillies and turmeric for a big, punchy breakfast number you’ll cook again and again. Transform it into a filling, protein-rich Indian vegetarian lunch or dinner with the addition of tofu. Get the Recipe Vegan Saffron French Toast I love these topped with strawberries and maple syrup but you can add any toppings you like. Fruit is always a delicious choice but I won’t tell if you scatter a few chocolate chips on top. Get the Recipe Jalebi Paratha These Jalebi Paratha get their name from the bright orange Indian sweets, Jalebi because of their beautiful coiled shape. I hold this recipe and its stunning method for creating those layers of flaky goodness close to my heart because it’s the way Nanabapu taught my mum, and then exactly the way my mum taught me. A technique passed down the generations and a skill Nanabapu would have wanted us to share with other paratha lovers. Get the Recipe Golden Air Fryer Samosas Here’s a delicious recipe for the crispiest, Golden Air Fryer Samosas. You won’t believe these lightly-spiced, vegetable parcels aren’t deep fried! They’re vegan-friendly too. Each samosa is contains a mixture of vegetables, including potatoes, peas, carrots, corn and onions. There’s no need to deep fry then, just air fry to golden perfection. Follow my tips to learn how to cook samosas in the air fryer quickly and easily. Get the Recipe Crispy Potato Bhajias Crispy, spiced potato fritters are the most iconic of bhajias. Here’s a tried and true recipe that will leave you wanting more. Forged from the coming together of two distinct cuisines, Crispy Potato Bhajias have earned their place as a treasured dish on the Indian-East African dinner table. Vegan & gluten free option included. Get the Recipe Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak A tried and true recipe for Gujarati Koru Bateta nu Shaak (dry-style potato curry). This is my mother’s exact recipe and the only way we make it at home. She has a few fabulous tips for achieving intense flavours and the perfect dry bhaji-style texture every time. This shaak pairs perfectly with Masala Poori and dahi (plain yoghurt) for breakfast. Get the Recipe Puffy Masala Poori Puffy Masala Poori will forever be a breakfast or wedding food in my eyes. Fried whole wheat flour bread with mild spices, a double layer and hollow middle. The little circles of dough rise before your very eyes for a magical cooking experience — and an even more spectacular eating experience. Definitely worth getting out of bed for! Get the Recipe Perfect Patra (Timpa/Alu Vadi) The ultimate guide to homemade Patra. These steamed colocasia leaves are rolled with sweet and sour tamarind paste inside. Pan-fry for a crispy vegan and gluten-free Indian snack. They're perfect for breakfast and a light way to start the day. Get the Recipe Garlic Butter Khichu (Papdi no Lot) Follow my video tutorial and make this easy Garlic Butter Khichu (Papdi no Lot) recipe. These steamed Indian rice dumplings are soft and chewy in texture. I dip them in the most delicious garlic butter to finish. The combination of garlic butter and cumin against the blank canvas of the rice flour dumpling is so comforting and delicious. Don't eat before a meeting! 😀 Get the Recipe Khaman (Instant Chickpea Flour Dhokla) Khaman (instant chickpea flour dhokla) is a soft and fluffy steamed chickpea flour cake from Gujarat, western India. This airy, sweet and sour cake is prepared with spices, freshly-grated coconut and coriander leaves. The world of Gujarati farsan, or savoury snacks is as complex as it is vast. 100 varieties of gathia made from fried chickpea flour (besan) are identified by shape, texture and seasoning. Delicious! Continue Reading Very Good Homemade Masala Chai Here’s my favourite homemade Chai Masala blend. As the title suggests, I think it’s very good. Get the Recipe Mumbai Sandwich Meet The Ultimate Mumbai Sandwich. Stuff this ultra-crispy vegetarian toastie with masala potatoes, melting cheese, beetroot, onions and, wait for it… an extra slice of toast soaked in green chutney — a.k.a. the ‘Moist Maker’. Top with crunchy sev (fried chickpea flour noodles) for a true taste of Mumbai street food. Get the Recipe Paneer Bhurji Kati Rolls This is not just any old wrap. This is a flavoursome, satisfying chapatti wrap filled with rich paneer, tangy lemon and mouth-watering spices. Seriously, M&S would be proud. These kati rolls are simple, filling and perfect for breakfast. You can stuff them with anything you like, from scrambled paneer to Bombay potatoes. Get the Recipe Bullet Banana Daal Vada Traditional Gujarati Daal Vada are crunchy, spicy and perfect for dipping into yoghurt. My East-African version incorporates bananas to add a hint of sweetness against the intense chilli and lemon heat. The magical thing about adding ripe banana to the batter is that it reacts with the lemon and baking powder, creating a puffy, fluffy-in-the-middle fritters that still have an incredible golden crunch on the outside because of the ground mung daal, urad daal and rice. Get the Recipe Masala Cheese Scones Never underestimate the power of Masala Cheese Scones and a mug of hot tea. This casual comfort combo is my go-to for when I need a dose of nostalgia. One bite of spicy cheese scone followed by a swift sip of sweet chai and I’m transported back to my childhood kitchen. Get the Recipe The post Halwa Puri Chana Breakfast appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Get the recipe for Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired). A vegetarian lentil curry made with budget-friendly red lentils, coconut milk and aromatic Thai red curry paste. This delicious and nutritious recipe for creamy red lentils is easy enough for weeknight cooking and ideal for batch cooking. The whole family will love this plant-based coconut …

The post Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired) appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

Get the recipe for Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired). A vegetarian lentil curry made with budget-friendly red lentils, coconut milk and aromatic Thai red curry paste. This delicious and nutritious recipe for creamy red lentils is easy enough for weeknight cooking and ideal for batch cooking. The whole family will love this plant-based coconut and lentil curry. This Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired) is… Vegetarian and vegan Gluten free Nutritious – with plant-based protein and fiber Simple to make Perfect for batch cooking What are red lentils? Split red lentils (masoor daal) One of the most accessible lentils. Masoor daal, also known simply as split red lentils, are usually found in their split form. Whole is fine to use too, but might take a little longer to cook. Moon-shaped red masoor are particularly handy to stow away as they’re quick to cook and make a mean daal or curry dish. Can I use other lentils for this dish? Absolutely. Feel free to use other lentils to make this dish. Some options that work well are: Split yellow gram (channa daal) Whole green lentils (sabut masoor) Split mung beans without skin (moong daal yellow) Note that using other lentils could mean cooking time is longer, or more water is required when making this creamy Thai-inspired red curry with lentils. What kind of red curry paste is best for curry? There are many brands of Thai red curry paste available in supermarkets and specialist Asian shops. I choose a vegetarian option which is free from the usual shrimp paste and fish sauce. This Mae Ploy Thai Red Curry Paste is suitable for vegetarians and vegans and is the one I use for this recipe. What’s in Thai red curry paste? Traditional Thai red curry paste recipes can vary from home to home and brand to brand. Many people use commercial Thai red curry pastes and customise them to their taste at home. Most red curry paste is made with a combination of: red chillies, galangal, lemongrass, lime leaves, coriander and various other spices. The veggie version simply omits the fish products. How to freeze lentil curry This Creamy Red Lentil Curry recipe is ideal for freezing. Make a double batch and allow the curry to cool completely before packing into freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature or in the microwave. Heat through thoroughly before serving. Always ensure food is piping hot. You may need to adjust the consistency of the curry with more water if required. Step-by-step instructions for making Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired) Full recipe card with ingredients below. 1. Wash and soak the red lentils This will remove any surface dirt from the lentils. Soak them in hot water with baking soda to help them soften quickly. This helps to reduce cooking time and also makes the lentils easier to digest. 2. Cook out the curry paste Sauté the curry paste in coconut milk until the oil separates from the paste. Ensure the paste is very well cooked before moving on to the next step, this should take 8-10 minutes. 3. Add onions, tomatoes and spices I like to keep the onions chunky but you can chop them finely if you prefer. Tomato paste adds delicious sharpness and colour. Whole and ground spices like star anise, cumin and turmeric bring the curry to life. Brown sugar or palm sugar is essential for balancing out the heat. 4. Pour in the coconut milk Thick coconut milk gives the curry a delicious, creamy finish. I use full-fat canned coconut milk but you could also use low fat coconut milk if you prefer. 5. Tip the lentils into the dish and cook Add the drained lentils along with hot water. Cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes, until the lentils are very tender. Beat with a whisk for a minutes. 6. Add basil and serve with rice Tip in the Thai basil (or Italian basil) and stir well. Serve hot with rice and lime wedges. Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired) recipe | How to make coconut milk and lentil curry Yield: 6 servings Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired) Print Delicious Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired). Simple ingredients like coconut milk & red curry paste. With plant-based protein & fiber. Serve with rice, roti or any grain of your choice. Cook Time: 45 minutes Additional Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 55 minutes Ingredients Ingredients 275g red lentils 1/8 tsp baking soda 800ml hot kettle water, divided 400ml coconut milk, divided 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste 1 large onion, roughly sliced 1 star anise 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 2 tbsp tomato purée 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tbsp light brown sugar 1/4 tsp salt (adjust to taste depending how salty the curry paste is) To garnish Large handful Thai basil leaves (or use regular basil) 1 red chilli, chopped (optional) 1 lime, cut into wedges Instructions Place the red lentils in a bowl and cover with warm water. Wash the lentils well, rubbing them to remove any surface dirt. Change the water 2-3 times to repeat the washing process. Drain and add the baking soda. Fill the bowl with around 400ml boiling hot water, enough to submerge the lentils by 2-3 centimetres. Allow to soak for 30 minutes. Heat 5-6 tablespoons of coconut milk in a heavy-based pan. Once it's boiling, add the red curry paste. Stir and cook the curry paste out until fragrant, about 8 minutes. The oil will begin to separate from the paste. Add the onions, star anise and cumin. Sauté for 10 minutes, until the onions have softened. Next, add the tomato paste, coconut milk, ground cinnamon, turmeric, sugar and salt.. Stir well and cook the curry out over a medium heat for 5 minutes, making sure it doesn't burn. If it seems dry, add a small splash of water. Drain the lentils and add them to the pan along with 400ml hot kettle water. Bring to the boil. Cover the pan with a lid and allow to simmer over a medium heat for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are very tender. Stir often to prevent burning. As the lentils cook, the curry will thicken and settle at the bottom so ensure you stir more frequently as it gets to this stage. You can turn the heat down if you find it's sticking to the base of the pan too much. If the curry becomes too thick, top it up with more hot kettle water. Remember that the curry will thicken the longer it stands. Stir in the Thai basil and serve with rice and lime wedges. Notes HOW TO FREEZE RED LENTIL CURRY This Creamy Red Lentil Curry recipe is ideal for freezing. Make a double batch and allow the curry to cool completely before packing into freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature or in the microwave. Heat through thoroughly before serving. Always ensure food is piping hot. You may need to adjust the consistency of the curry with more water if required. Recommended Products As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. Vegetarian Thai Red Curry Paste Nutrition Information: Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 307Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 752mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 5gSugar: 5gProtein: 12g Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram © Sanjana Modha Pin this Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired) recipe If you like this, you’ll love my Shahi Daal The post Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Thai Inspired) appeared first on Sanjana Feasts.

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Roast serves 8 The little black dress of the serving platter. Always a classic. Always in style. For Vegansgiving, but really also for any holiday, this studded bundle of fun is the centerpiece of your dreams. It’s a meaty blend of chickpeas and seitan, with a basic-but-in-a-good-way stuffing inside. The flavors are delicious but subtle;...

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Roast serves 8 Faux Turki Roast, photo by Kate Lewis The little black dress of the serving platter. Always a classic. Always in style. For Vegansgiving, but really also for any holiday, this studded bundle of fun is the centerpiece of your dreams. It’s a meaty blend of chickpeas and seitan, with a basic-but-in-a-good-way stuffing inside. The flavors are delicious but subtle; think thyme and rosemary and garlic and just a hint of smoke for that turki flavor. Easy to pair with any rich gravy and other more in-your-face flavors making it the perfect centerpiece. And if you want to have some fun with the filling, you can totally add in some chopped sausage, bacon or nuts. The method is pretty simple so don’t be deterred: you blend up a seitany-beany concoction for the turki meat, roll it out, place the stuffing down the middle and wrap it all up in tin foil. Then it bakes! Once it’s baked, you baste it with a little olive oil and veggie broth to infuse the skin with some flavor while also making it more tender – but still with some chew – and ready for that carving knife. Or just a regular knife, don’t be so dramatic. Here it’s served with some roasted veggies and garnished with rosemary and parsley, but you do you, boo. This recipe is from my cookbook Fake Meat! You should probably buy it Print Stuffed Faux Turki Roast Course Main Course Cuisine American Keyword christmas, comfort food, Fake Meat, Recipe, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian Servings 8 people Equipment 1 Blender Ingredients For stuffing: 1/4 cup olive oil divided 4 cloves minced garlic 6 cups stale white bread in 1/2 inch cubes see note 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1 cup broth 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt For the roast: Blender: 3/4 cup canned chickpeas 1 cup vegetable broth 1/2 cup aquafaba juice from the cooked chickpea water 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons liquid smoke 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon agave Everything else: 2 cups vital wheat gluten 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1 teaspoon ground sage 2 teaspoons onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper For basting: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup vegetable broth Instructions Prepare the stuffing. Preheat a large skillet over low heat. Saute garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil, just to warm through. Add rosemary and thyme. Scatter in bread cubes and drizzle with remaining olive oil, flipping to coat. Add broth, pepper and salt and toss again. It will be moist but still crunchy. Taste for salt. Let cook for about 10 minutes, then set aside to cool. Prepare the roast. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a blender, puree chickpeas, broth, aquafaba, salt, olive oil, liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar and agave. Get it as smooth as possible, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, sage, onion powder, garlic powder and ground white pepper. Make a well in the center and add the blended mixture. Use gloved hands to knead for about 3 minutes. Form roast. Prepare a piece of tin foil that is about 22 inches long (or big enough to wrap the turkey). Spray with cooking oil. On a clean surface, use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten the seitan into a roughly 12 x 10 rectangle. Place the filling in the lower 1/3 of the seitan rectangle, leaving about 2 inches of space on the left and right side. Make sure the filling is compact, use your hands to form it into a nice, tight bundle. Now roll! Roll the bottom part of the seitan up and over the filling. Keep rolling until in it’s in a log shape. Pinch together the seam and the sides to seal. It doesn’t have to be perfect, things will snap into shape when baking. Place the roll in the center of the tinfoil and wrap up securely, twisting the ends of the tin foil. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for an hour and 20 minutes. Rotate the roll every 20 to 30 minutes for even cooking. Let cool a bit then unwrap. Lightly grease with a little olive oil. Place back on the baking sheet and spoon on vegetable broth. Place back in oven 15 minutes or so, to brown a little bit, basting with vegetable broth and turning about halfway through, to prevent drying out. If heating from refrigerated, it will be closer to 20 minutes, rotating often. Let cool a bit, slice and serve! Notes Recipe notes: ~if you are using fresh bread cubes, bake the cubes for about 5 minutes in a 350 F oven so that they are dry and slightly toasted.

Print Butternut & Adzuki Autumn Tacos Here I go again with my fave bean & squash duo, adzuki beans and butternut squash. I just love this combo – the sweet nuttiness of adzuki pairs perfectly with the earthy, warm ambrosia of butternut. They're pals! And so it follows that I'd bring that combo to Taco Tuesday. Here, the adzuki are refried with the usual suspects, a little cumin and cilantro, while the butternut roasts away in the oven with just a touch of maple. Everything comes together in a corn tortilla, simply topped with a little red cabbage because it's gorgeous and crunchy. Wonderful for a crisp autumn evening, watching the leaves turn. These are going to be in my upcoming 30 minute meals cookbook which has an entire taco (and friends) section! It will be out in Fall 2025. Servings 8 tacos Ingredients For The Roasted Butternut Squash 12 ounces 340g peeled, diced butternut squash 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon salt For The Refried Adzuki Beans 1 medium yellow onion 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon cumin 1 tablespoon hot sauce 1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and soft stems 15 ounce 425g can adzuki beans, drained and rinsed 1/2 teaspoon salt For the Assembly 8 medium corn tortillas Thinly sliced red cabbage Fresh lime Addition Aleppo pepper Instructions Let’s make it! Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). On a baking sheet, toss butternut squash with olive oil, maple syrup, aleppo pepper flakes, and salt to coat. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes, tossing once, until tender. Now prepare the beans. Preheat a sauce pot over medium heat. Finely chop the onion. Sauté chopped onion in olive oil with a big pinch of salt to soften, about 5 minutes. Add cumin and cilantro and toss to coat. Add beans, and salt and heat though for about a minute. Mash with a potato masher or fork so that it’s a nice mixture of creamy and chunky. Add hot sauce. Continue cooking for about 3 minutes. Time to assemble! Warm the corn tortillas by folding them up in tin foil and placing in oven for about 5 minutes while the butternut is cooking. You can also fold them in a paper towel and place in microwave for 30 to 45 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the Refried Adzuki Beans onto a warmed tortilla, followed by 1/4 cup roasted butternut squash. Squeeze lime over the butternut. Top with some sliced cabbage and extra lime juice and pepper flakes. Notes ~Of course you can dress this up a little extra! Sour cream, avocado, or a more adventurous slaw would all be welcome. ~I used conveniently packaged butternut so that I could have it ready in thirty minutes, but if you’re peeling and cubing you’ll need one large butternut. ~If you can’t find adzuki beans then pinto would be great! But honestly, any beans are just fine. Black beans, lentils, whatever.

Too lazy/busy/efficient to make lasagna? Want bolognese but don’t want to bust out the meat? I got you! This is definitely a weeknight meal, ideal for those times when you want lasagna, but not enough to actually make lasagna. A one pot wonder that is packed with the meaty goodness of lentils. They release their...

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photo by Kate Lewis Too lazy/busy/efficient to make lasagna? Want bolognese but don’t want to bust out the meat? I got you! This is definitely a weeknight meal, ideal for those times when you want lasagna, but not enough to actually make lasagna. A one pot wonder that is packed with the meaty goodness of lentils. They release their natural juices into the broth, lending it plenty of body. Everything comes together like a deconstructed lasagna with all the ingredients we love: noodles, olives, ricotta, tomato of course, and kale. Don’t forget the fresh basil. This recipe is from the beef stew chapter of Fake Meat. Print Lasagna Bolognese Stew With Olives & Kale Servings 6 Ingredients Main 1 medium yellow onion, cut into small dice 2 ribs celery, thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon salt plus a big pinch 8 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes Several grinds freshly cracked black pepper 4 cups vegetable broth 3/4 cup dried brown or green lentils 1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomato 1/2 cup tomato paste 1/2 cup pitted black olives, sliced in half 8 ounces kale, chopped 8 ounces lasagna noodles 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves (you’ll be using more for garnish) For the toppings Vegan riccota (there’s a recipe here if you’d like to make your own) 1 cup sliced black olives Red pepper flakes 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves Instructions Preheat a 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, celery, and bell pepper in the oil with a big pinch of salt for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onion is lightly browned. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the nutritional yeast, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt and toss to coat the veggies, letting the nutritional yeast toast a bit, for 2 minutes or so. Grind in fresh black pepper. Add the broth and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to deglaze. Stir in the lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower to a simmer, keep covered and cook until lentils are somewhat tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the diced tomato, tomato paste, olives, and kale. Bring to a boil, letting the kale wilt. Break the lasagna noodles up into about 3-inch pieces and stir them in. Cook until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and add a little water if things start to look too thick. When the pasta noodles are cooked, dinner is ready! Stir in the fresh basil to wilt. Taste for salt and seasoning. Let sit for about 10 minutes so that the flavors can marry. Scoop into bowls, garnish with dollops of ricotta, the sliced olives, red pepper flakes, and more fresh basil. Notes ~Use rugged kale here – like curly or russian. It will hold up better. But if you use a tender kale like lacinato then just add it at the end, with the basil. ~This is easily made gluten-free with gf noodles, like wow. ~This recipe uses one of my favorite flavor-building methods – toasting the nooch with the spices! It lends a delish cheezy flavor that elevates your dinner game with minimal effort.

photo styling by me, photo by Justin Limoges This recipe is from the Wings chapter of Fake Meat, and it’s the OG of vegan wingz. Let’s take a trip to the golden era of veganism, the 1990s. We were lousy with veggie burgers and scrambled tofu. Packages of vegan cheese didn’t even bother to advertise “IT MELTS” because we all knew it didn’t. And no one, but no one, even considered that a wing could be vegan. Except Kate’s Joint in Alphabet City. I could write a whole think-piece on the place, but let’s just focus on the buffalo wings. Fat rectangles of chewy tofu, coated in an herbed breadcrumb filling, and dripping with buffalo sauce. On the side, a pinch dish of creamy tofu ranch. No table was without a few orders. On your first bite, everything just burst into your mouth in the most obscene way. And now you can create that feeling at home! So scruff up your tables, hire some crust punks to sit outside your window, and enjoy. Oh, and scroll to the bottom for a bonus recipe if you’d like to make your own ranch <3 Print Kate’s Buffalo Tofu Wings Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack Cuisine American Keyword comfort food, Fake Meat, Gluten Free, Recipe, sauces, sides, Super Bowl, Tofu, Vegetarian Prep Time 30 minutes minutes Cook Time 10 minutes minutes Servings 16 Wings Ingredients FOR THE TOFU 1 14- ounce block extra-firm tofu sliced into 16 rectangles (see note above) 1 teaspoon salt divided 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1 cup cold unsweetened soy milk 1 tablespoon tamari 2 cups panko breadcrumbs use gluten-free if you’d like to make this gluten-free! 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary 1/2 teaspoon salt Safflower oil for frying FOR THE SAUCE 3/4 cup buffalo hot sauce Frank’s Red Hot 1/4 cup vegan butter melted (I like Miyoko’s) FOR SERVING 2 cups carrot sticks 2 cups celery sticks FOR VEGAN RANCH 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more if needed 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 3/4 cup vegan mayo prepared or homemade Instructions Press each tofu rectangle with a kitchen towel to quickly dry it. Place in a single layer on a small baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice. Toss to coat. Let rest while preparing everything else. You will be using this same tray for the breaded tofu. Now make the slurry and breading: Scoop the cornstarch into a wide-rimmed bowl, add half the soy milk along with the tamari, and stir well until it’s a thick smooth paste. Mix in the remaining milk. On a large rimmed plate, mix together the panko, rosemary, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Dip a piece of tofu into the the slurry with one hand, letting the excess drip off. Transfer to the panko bowl and use the other hand to sprinkle a handful of breadcrumbs over the tofu to coat it completely. Return it to the tray and bread all the other pieces in the same way. Make sure you use one hand for the wet batter and the other for the dry batter, or you’ll end up with a clumpy hand. Preheat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Pour in a layer of oil, about ¼ inch thick. Fry the tofu in the hot oil until golden on the top and bottom, working in batches if necessary; it will take about 8 minutes total. The sides will get fried in the process, but add a little more oil if needed. Use a thin metal spatula to flip. While the tofu is frying, make the sauce: Simply mix the melted butter with the buffalo sauce. You can melt the butter in a large ceramic bowl in the microwave then mix in the hot sauce to save on doing dishes. Lift each wing from the oil and dunk it into the buffalo sauce to coat.Transfer to serving plates and serve immediately with the carrots, celery, and ranch. BONUS RECIPE – To make your own vegan ranch! In a small mixing bowl, add the parsley, dill, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt. Drizzle in the lemon juice and give it a stir. Let sit for about 5 minutes, soaking up the flavors and wilting the herbs. Add the mayo and stir well. Depending on the kind of mayo you used, you may need to add a little water to thin it out. Do this by the tablespoon until the consistency seems correct, thick but pourable. Taste again for salt and seasoning.The flavors enhance as it sits, so it’s even better the next day! Seal in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Notes ~This recipe makes sixteen wings, which isn’t enough for a party. Well, maybe a party of two! So double or triple or quadruple the recipe if you are in serious Puppy Bowl mode. ~I don’t press the tofu for these. I don’t know, Kate’s might have, but I like the moisture when you bite into one, as well as the fact that it cuts down on a lot of prep time. ~Kate’s tofu wings were rectangles, so I recreated the shape here. You can use any shape you like, but don’t expect any points for authenticity. Here are directions for butchering tofu to end up with the correct shape: 16 sixteen stubby little rectangles. Don’t press the tofu, just a drain and quick little squeeze with some kitchen towels to keep it dry is all you need. Now, let’s process.Use a 14-ounce (400 g)z rectangular block of rectangular tofu,; this will work best. Place the tofu on one of it’s long sides and slice the tofu in half down the middle into two planks, like you’re making an open book. You should now have two large rectangles. Now slice both of them in half the short way. You’ll have 4 four rectangles. Take each rectangle and cut it vertically into 4 four pieces. Ta-da!

serves 6 to 8 If you think Bouef Bourguignon you might automatically think Julia Child. But is Julia Child smiling down on us for this one? Probably not. But damn it’s still delicious. All the wine-kissed smoky satisfaction that you want in Bouef Bouruignon. It’s from the Beef Stew chapter of Fake Meat and it’s...

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serves 6 to 8 photo styling by me, photo by Justin Limoges If you think Bouef Bourguignon you might automatically think Julia Child. But is Julia Child smiling down on us for this one? Probably not. But damn it’s still delicious. All the wine-kissed smoky satisfaction that you want in Bouef Bouruignon. It’s from the Beef Stew chapter of Fake Meat and it’s the recipe that finally got me to embrace jackfruit! All it took was a cast iron grill to change everything. Jackfruit is grilled and charred to rep the beef, along with its trusty sidekick, porcini mushrooms. Lentils add meaty body and smoked paprika brings the bacon kick that vegans love so much. I love toasting slices of garlic for this stew, so don’t you dare get lazy and mince it. Serve over ridiculous amounts of mashed potatoes. Print Jacque’s Bouef Bourguignon Ingredients Ingredients 5 tablespoons olive oil divided 2 20 oz cans green jackfruit in water 2 cups pearl onions 2 cups sliced shallots 1/4 cup sliced garlic 2 cups peeled carrots sliced into 1/4 inch coins 3 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped 4 bay leaves 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups dry red wine Fresh black pepper 1/2 cup green or brown lentils 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms 5 cups vegetable broth or Beefy Broth page XX 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup water To serve: Mashed Potatoes 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley Instructions Drain and rinse jackfruit. Pat dry. Remove and discard the core from the jackfruit pieces, it looks kind of like a seed. Toss the rest in a mixing bowl with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a big pinch of salt. Preheat a cast iron grill over medium heat. When pan is hot, place jackfruit in as much of a single layer as possible. You will need to do this in two batches. Grill for about 5 minutes, until charred and smoky, then use a thin metal spatula to toss and grill again for 3 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to add back later. In the same mixing bowl, toss pearl onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt to coat. Place on the hot grill. Let cook until softened and charred in some spots, flipping occasionally, about 15 minutes. In the meantime, reheat a 4 quart pot over medium high heat. Saute shallots and a pinch of salt in remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and carrots, saute for about 5 more minutes. Add thyme, bay leaves, smoked paprika, and salt and toss around for a minute. Add wine to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a wooden spatula, and bring to a boil. The liquid should reduce in about 3 minutes. While it’s reducing grind in ample amounts fresh black pepper. Add lentils, porcinis, vegetable broth and tomato paste, cover and bring to a full boil for 5 minutes or so. Lower heat, leave lid ajar for steam to escape, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. In a measuring cup, mix the flour into the water with a fork until no lumps are left. Slowly add the water/flour slurry to the pot, mixing well. Let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often. If it appears too thick, thin with a little water. Mix in the jackfruit and pearl onions and heat through. Shut off heat and let the stew hang out for about 15 minutes, for flavors to marry. Serve with mashed potatoes and garnish with parsley. Notes ~Double check that the jackfruit is canned in water, not in syrup. You don’t want any sweetness here, even if you wash it off, it would still be super weird. ~Pearl onions are an iconic component to Julia’s recipe, so I use them here. They’re cooked on the grill right after the jackfruit so that you aren’t using too many dishes. But if you leave them out, no big deal. Julia is already disappointed in us so it can’t get any worse.

My new cookbook is available for preorder! It’s out January 10th. Read all about it here. Fake Meat uses every vegan ingredient available to recreate classic meaty dishes at home. This was truly a labor of love. I created the recipes during lockdown, while everyone else was making sourdough. It was an interesting challenge, since...

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My new cookbook is available for preorder! It’s out January 10th. Read all about it here. Fake Meat uses every vegan ingredient available to recreate classic meaty dishes at home. This was truly a labor of love. I created the recipes during lockdown, while everyone else was making sourdough. It was an interesting challenge, since ingredients weren’t always easy to come by, so I had the opportunity to get really creative. There’s plenty of tofu and seitan, but also fun ways to use cauliflower, mushrooms and artichokes to create flaky, juicy, meatiness. And fishiness. And chicky-ness. I even found a way to love jackfruit! (Spoiler: it’s to season and grill it for charred flavor and texture). I’ll be posting that recipe as a sample this week – a beautiful Boeuf Bourguignon from the Beef Stew chapter. Yes, there’s a whole chapter on beef stews! Jacques Beef Bourgignon, styling by me, photo by Justin Limoges There will be preorder incentives coming, so save that proof of purchase. OK, I’ll be posting some samples in the weeks to come and I can’t wait for you to flip through this baby. In the meantime, go check out the preorder page and read more about it.

Baking season is upon us! And before we dive into pumpkin spice, let’s make a sweet stop at chili season.  Cayenne and chocolate is a tale as old as time. Or at least as old as Mayan civilization. These cupcakes will make you the talk of the chili festival. A little cayenne in the batter...

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Baking season is upon us! And before we dive into pumpkin spice, let’s make a sweet stop at chili season. Cayenne and chocolate is a tale as old as time. Or at least as old as Mayan civilization. These cupcakes will make you the talk of the chili festival. A little cayenne in the batter and a simple chocolate glaze are refined and elegant. Top with some spicy pecans, though, to really get everyone in the mood. These are just a little spicy so as not to scare off anyone who absolutely can’t handle heat, but if you’re looking to really do some damage, just double the cayenne in both the cake and the pecans. Originally published in The Superfun Times Holiday Cookbook, which you should totally buy. Photo by VK Rees. Ingredients For the cupcakes: 1 cup unsweetened soy milk (or your favorite nondairy milk) 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup canola oil 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne For the pecans: 1/2 cup pecan pieces 1 teaspoon refined coconut oil 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or agave 1 tablespoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper For the chocolate glaze: 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite nondairy milk) 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup Directions Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper or foil cupcake liners. Spray lightly with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract to the milk mixture and mix vigorously until foamy. Mix in the orange zest. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cayenne. Mix until no large clumps of flour are left. Fill the lined muffin cups three-quarters of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Remove from pan when they are cool enough to handle. Make the pecans: Have ready a plate lined with parchment. Preheat a small pan over medium heat. Toast the pecans for 2 minutes. Add the coconut oil and toss to coat. Stir in the maple syrup, sugar, salt, and cayenne and cook until bubbly, about 2 minutes. Spread the coated pecans onto the parchment and let cool. Make the chocolate glaze: In a small pan, bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat and use a rubber spatula to stir in the chocolate and maple syrup, until smooth. Let cool for about 15 minutes. Assemble: Break the pecans apart into smaller pieces. Spoon the glaze onto the cooled cupcakes. Top with the pecans. Set aside in a cool place to let the chocolate set before serving.

Print Tomato Caprese With Almond Ricotta First let’s get this pronounced correctly because you’re saying it wrong: “CA-PRAY-ZAY.” Great. Moving on, I must tell you that the tomatoes are the most important element. So if it’s just not the season and you can’t find big, juicy, just-off-the vine ‘matos, then don’t bother. Now that those things are cleared up, let’s get CA-RAY-ZAY. Fresh basil, sweet balsamic reduction, olive oil and flaky sea salt make for the simplest but most sublime summer salad. Traditionally, mozzarella is the cheese of choice, but ricotta is not unheard of and almond ricotta is a nice introduction to vegan cheesemaking. Use the fruitiest, fanciest “good stuff” olive oil for this recipe. Servings 4 servings Author Isa Chandra Ingredients For the ricotta: 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds 1/2 cup warm water 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt For the salad: Balsamic reduction see note 4 large vine ripened tomatoes Maldon or coarse sea salt Olive oil for drizzling Fresh black pepper 2 cups fresh basil leaves Instructions Make the ricotta. Place the almonds in a high speed blender and pulse into crumbs. Add the remaining ricotta ingredients and blend until thick and pasty, with a ricotta-like texture. Use a rubber spatula to transfer to a well-sealed container, and chill until ready to use. Assemble the salad by using a spoon to drizzle balsamic reduction on a plate in a circular motion. Place tomatoes on the balsamic. Dollop on almond ricotta. Drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle with Maldon. Grind some fresh black pepper over everything. Top with fresh basil leaves and serve immediately. Notes ~Balsamic reduction is a tangy, sweet and sticky project that tastes great and is such fun to swirl on a plate. However, caprese doesn’t require it (and, actually, a caprese snob might look down their nose at it) so if you feel like skipping this step, go ahead. Like I said, it’s all about the tomatoes. ~BUT! If you want to make the reduction, here’s how: Pour two cups of balsamic into a small pot, turn the heat on medium-high and bring to a boil. Lower heat and stir every few minutes with a fork, keeping it simmery but not at a full boil. It takes about 20 minutes, but a sticky, syrupy consistency should happen. The liquid will reduce by about half. Err on the side of caution and don’t set the heat too high, or you might end up with a too-stiff concoction. Once it’s thick and syrupy, transfer to a small, sealable container. ~You can use all types of tomatoes here. Don’t worry about shape and size, throw some cherry tomatoes on there! Cut wedges and slices. I kept it simple with slices for this pic, but you don’t have to.

Serves 4 Fried rice is a meal you can have every night of the week and never tire of. I’ve proven this point time and time again; it was my go to when ordering takeout for most of my life in Brooklyn. But the home cook has to get it right: keep the heat high...

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Serves 4 Fried rice is a meal you can have every night of the week and never tire of. I’ve proven this point time and time again; it was my go to when ordering takeout for most of my life in Brooklyn. But the home cook has to get it right: keep the heat high enough to sear each ingredient. A wok is the ideal vessel, but a large cast iron is fine, too. There’s something so seductive about smoky meatiness with tropical juiciness and this fried rice satisfies with the combo of porq and mango. The flavor is zhuzhed up with ginger, lime and star anise for the most winningest formula. Getting the fruit a little caramelized is clutch for the most intense experience. Suprerfirm tofu marinaded in some stuff makes a really nice, meaty porq! But, truth be told, you can use any protein here (seitan? tempeh? vegan sausages from the store?) and skip the whole marinade thing, you’d still have a really nice, quick meal. Recipe notes: ~I was a fried rice dummy until I learned that cold rice is key. Maybe you have some leftover rice hanging out? Awesome! If not, for best results, cook the rice and then spread it out on a sheet pan to cool completely. This way, it won’t clump together. Once cool, you can store in tupperware to use later on. If you’re really rich and lazy, some supermarkets sell frozen jasmine rice that you can use in this recipe straight from the freezer. Just allow some extra cooking time. ~I love the rich butteriness that coconut oil brings to fried rice, but olive oil would work just fine, too. ~If you don’t have beet powder hanging around, are you even vegan? It’s ok. Just dice up a small beet and add it to the marinade. It will release its juices and dye your tofu just the same. Simply remove the pieces before cooking the tofu or you’ll end up with beet in your fried rice. Which, actually, is not a big deal. Ingredients 14 oz package superfirm tofu cut into 1/2 inch cubes Marinade for Tofu Porq: 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon beet powder 1 cup vegetable broth 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup 1/4 cup tamari 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoon garlic powder For the Fried Rice: 3 tablespoons refined coconut oil, divided 2 cups cubed mango 1 small red onion, diced medium 1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts thinly sliced, dark green parts in 1 inch slices 3 star anise 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons minced ginger 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro 4 cups cooked and cooled jasmine rice (or frozen prepared) 1 tablespoon sriracha 1 tablespoon tomato paste 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1 teaspoon agave Directions Make the tofu porq: 1 – Mix together all marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl. Add the tofu cubes and toss to coat. Marinade for an hour, stirring occasionally. 2 – Preheat a large cast iron pan over medium high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Sear the tofu, flipping often, for about 7 minutes, until nicely browned on most sides, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Turn off heat while you begin the fried rice. Make the rice: 1 – Preheat a large wok over medium-high heat. Sear mango in one tablespoon of oil. Sear for about 4 to 5 minutes to caramelize a on a few sides. Transfer to the pan with the tofu. 2 – In another tablespoon of oil, saute the onion, scallion and star anise with a pinch of salt, for 3 minutes, just to sear slightly. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for about a minute. 4 – Add the last tablespoon of oil and the rice and fry for about 5 minutes, using a thin metal spatula to flip and toss, making sure it doesn’t stick to the pan. Use spray oil to help keep things from sticking. 5 – In a mug, use a fork to mix together sriracha, tomato paste, tamari, lime juice and agave until the tomato paste is relatively smooth. 6 – Drizzle the liquid mix into the rice, tossing to coat. Cook for 3 more minutes. 7 – Add the pork and mango and toss. Taste for salt and seasoning. Remove star anise pods. Serve!

makes 1 dozen balls “You eat with your eyes first.” Well, your eyes are about to feast. Yes, these mozzarella balls are creamy, tangy, and rich. But they are also absolutely beautiful, floating in brine, looking straight out of an Italian deli. “But how can I, who has never achieved anything in my life, make...

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makes 1 dozen balls “You eat with your eyes first.” Well, your eyes are about to feast. Yes, these mozzarella balls are creamy, tangy, and rich. But they are also absolutely beautiful, floating in brine, looking straight out of an Italian deli. “But how can I, who has never achieved anything in my life, make these?” you might wonder. And the answer isn’t years of study in a cheese cave. It’s an ice cream scoop, a high-speed blender, and some ice water. This method was perfected by Miyoko Schinner, of Miyoko’s cheese fame. Recipe notes: ~Make sure to use agar powder, not flakes. And if you want to substitute, it’s on you, but I highly recommend just using the exact ingredients and you will get excellent results! ~These balls do melt. They don’t get, like, AS melty as some store-bought vegan mozzarellas, but they do work great on pizzas and even in grilled cheese. Definitely flatten the balls or break them apart for best results. ~BUT! I really like them raw. They are super yum in a capers with heirloom tomatoes, olive oil salt and plenty of basil. Ingredients 2 teaspoons agar powder 1 1/2 cups whole unroasted cashews 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil, melted 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more for brine 3 tablespoons tapioca starch Directions In a large coffee mug or glass measuring cup, mix the agar powder into 2 cups water and let sit for about 30 minutes. In a high-speed blender, blend the cashews, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, and tapioca with agar and water mixture until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula to make sure you get everything. Transfer to a saucepot. Heat over medium and cook, stirring often with a rubber spatula, until the cheese mixture is thick and glossy and pulling away from the sides of the pot, about 10 minutes. Fill a 6-quart pot or bowl halfway with water and add about 15 ice cubes. Salt it well so it tastes like seawater.This is the brine for the mozzarella. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop a cheese ball into the ice water. Dip the ice cream scooper all the way into the ice water to release the ball. It will firm up and start setting right away. Continue until all the mixture is used. Cover the container, refrigerate, and let the cheese set for at least an hour. It’s ready to use!

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Head to http://bit.ly/squarespacebabish to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code BABISH. From ribeye to filet mignon, we're showing you the best way to cook EVERY steak! Intro Song Info Artist: Bear Garden Song: Electric Butterfly Label: Bolero Recordings Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5QxY7F5XUMg7RKHPpVSymc?si=vBvKt6YXSR-MRwOIbwSJdA Recipes are available now on the Babish website! http://www.babi.sh Babish Cookware on Amazon: http://bit.ly/babishstore My playlist of preferred cooking tunes, Bangers with Babish! https://spoti.fi/2TYXmiY BCU TikTok: https://bit.ly/2PLtohe Binging With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BingingBabishWebsite Basics With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BasicsWithBabishWebsite BCU Discord: https://bit.ly/3ALFRnY Patreon: http://bit.ly/BingingPatreon Instagram: http://bit.ly/BabishInstagram Subreddit: https://bit.ly/3mkNpp6 Facebook: http://bit.ly/BabishFacebook Twitter: http://bit.ly/BabishTwitter

Get 50% off your first order of CookUnity meals — go to https://www.cookunity.com/babish50 and use my code BABISH50 at checkout to try them out for yourself! Thanks to CookUnity for sponsoring this video! It's time...that we revisit The Every Meat Burrito. Intro Song Info Artist: Bear Garden Song: Electric Butterfly Label: Bolero Recordings Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5QxY7F5XUMg7RKHPpVSymc?si=vBvKt6YXSR-MRwOIbwSJdA Recipes are available now on the Babish website! http://www.babi.sh Babish Cookware on Amazon: http://bit.ly/babishstore My playlist of preferred cooking tunes, Bangers with Babish! https://spoti.fi/2TYXmiY BCU TikTok: https://bit.ly/2PLtohe Binging With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BingingBabishWebsite Basics With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BasicsWithBabishWebsite BCU Discord: https://bit.ly/3ALFRnY Patreon: http://bit.ly/BingingPatreon Instagram: http://bit.ly/BabishInstagram Subreddit: https://bit.ly/3mkNpp6 Facebook: http://bit.ly/BabishFacebook Twitter: http://bit.ly/BabishTwitter

Buckle up your tastebuds (what?) for a cheesy, noodle-y journey of epic portions/proportions. From microwave to microplane, I'm pulling out all the stops to explore the highest highs and the lowest lows of America's favorite pastime, mac & cheese. Pour a glass of the good stuff, learn some new tricks, and follow along as I push this ooey-gooey medium to the very brink of possibility. Welcome Back to Babish. Recipe: https://www.babi.sh/recipes/10-levels-of-mac-and-cheese Intro Song Info Artist: Bear Garden Song: Electric Butterfly Label: Bolero Recordings Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5QxY7F5XUMg7RKHPpVSymc?si=vBvKt6YXSR-MRwOIbwSJdA Recipes are available now on the Babish website! http://www.babi.sh Babish Cookware on Amazon: http://bit.ly/babishstore My playlist of preferred cooking tunes, Bangers with Babish! https://spoti.fi/2TYXmiY BCU TikTok: https://bit.ly/2PLtohe Binging With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BingingBabishWebsite Basics With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BasicsWithBabishWebsite BCU Discord: https://bit.ly/3ALFRnY Patreon: http://bit.ly/BingingPatreon Instagram: http://bit.ly/BabishInstagram Subreddit: https://bit.ly/3mkNpp6 Facebook: http://bit.ly/BabishFacebook Twitter: http://bit.ly/BabishTwitter 01:05 Level 1: Easy Mac 02:24 Level 2: Boxed Mac 03:20 Level 3: Boxed Mac+ 04:44 Level 4: Two-Ingredient Cheese Sauce 08:20 Level 5: ATK One-Pot Method 11:32 Level 6: Deep Fried Mac 12:53 Level 7: Classic Mornay Sauce 17:01 Level 8: Sodium Citrate Sauce 20:21 Level 9: Expensive 24:33 Level 10: Michelin-level

This week, we're recreating the never-seen, entirely-conceptual tossed salad and scrambled eggs from the theme song to the greatest sitcom of all time, Frasier. What will this Babish fellow dream up next? Stay tuned after the episode to find out! Babish Cookware on Amazon: http://bit.ly/babishstore My playlist of preferred cooking tunes, Bangers with Babish! https://spoti.fi/2TYXmiY BCU TikTok: https://bit.ly/2PLtohe Binging With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BingingBabishWebsite Basics With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BasicsWithBabishWebsite BCU Discord: https://bit.ly/3ALFRnY Patreon: http://bit.ly/BingingPatreon Instagram: http://bit.ly/BabishInstagram Subreddit: https://bit.ly/3mkNpp6 Facebook: http://bit.ly/BabishFacebook Twitter: http://bit.ly/BabishTwitter

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Head to http://bit.ly/squarespacebabish to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code BABISH. On this episode of Best with Babish, we're trying over 20 pop tart flavors! Babish Cookware on Amazon: http://bit.ly/babishstore My playlist of preferred cooking tunes, Bangers with Babish! https://spoti.fi/2TYXmiY BCU TikTok: https://bit.ly/2PLtohe Binging With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BingingBabishWebsite Basics With Babish Website: http://bit.ly/BasicsWithBabishWebsite BCU Discord: https://bit.ly/3ALFRnY Patreon: http://bit.ly/BingingPatreon Instagram: http://bit.ly/BabishInstagram Subreddit: https://bit.ly/3mkNpp6 Facebook: http://bit.ly/BabishFacebook Twitter: http://bit.ly/BabishTwitter 0:00 - Intro 2:26 - Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon 5:47 - Frosted Blueberry 7:09 - Frosted Strawberry 9:11 - Unfrosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon 11:00 - Unfrosted Strawberry 11:27 - Frosted Cherry 13:52 - Frosted Raspberry 15:20 - Frosted S'mores 16:56 - Frosted Cookies n' Cream 17:43 - Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae 18:46 - Frosted Chocolatey Chip Pancake 19:39 - Frosted Cinnamon Roll 21:26 - Girl Scouts Frosted Thin Mints 22:08 - Girl Scouts Frosted Coconut Caramel 23:02 - Fantastic 4 First Steps Blue Raspberry 24:24 - Frosted Banana Bread 25:30 - No Chill Sugar Cookie 27:31 - Frosted Strawberry Milkshake 28:37 - Frosted Lemon Blueberry Crumble 29:50 - Frosted Confetti Cupcake 30:39 - Strawberry Pastry Bites 32:41 - Strawberry Crunchy Poppers 34:19 - Brownie Crunch Poppers 35:32 - Final Rankings

Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Executive Chef Aiguo Yang at Panda Inn, the legendary California restaurant chain that inspired Panda Express. Founded 50 years ago in Pasadena by Andrew and Peggy Cherng and Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng, Panda Inn helped define Chinese-American cuisine with iconic dishes like Orange Chicken and Panda Beef. Today, Chef Yang continues that legacy across the restaurant’s four California locations, blending tradition, technique, and the flavors that sparked a nationwide dining phenomenon. Director: Maria Paz Mendes Hodes Director of Photography: AJ Young Editor: Maggie Mei Lin Talent: Aiguo Yang Senior Creative Producer: Mel Ibarra Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen Associate Producer: Oadhan Lynch Production Manager: Janine Dispensa Production Coordinator: Jeanne Tirro Camera Operator: Mike Maliwanag Assistant Camera: Seth Craven Sound Recordist: Justin Fox Production Assistant: Lauren Boucher; Hollie Oritz Translator: Casey Dong Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Santamaria Director, Post Production: Nicholas Ascanio Supervising Editor: Brandon Henninger Additional Editor: Rachel Kim Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds Director of Content; Production: Ali Inglese Senior Director; Creative Development: Dan Siegel Senior Director; Programming : Jon Wise VP; Head of Video: June Kim Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Today, ‘Peacemaker’ star John Cena sits down with Bon Appétit to share some of his favorite foods and drinks and the stories behind them. Join Cena as he explains the perfect flat white and reminisces on his honeymoon in Santorini, eating Spanakopita–all while sampling the delights. Director: Ian Stroud Director of Photography: Paola Esquivel-Oliveros Editor: Jared Hutchinson Talent: John Cena Senior Creative Producer: Mel Ibarra Culinary Producer: Mallary Santucci Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen Associate Producer: Oadhan Lynch: Justine Ramirez Production Manager: Janine Dispensa Production Coordinator: Jeanne Tirro Camera Operator: Lucas Young Gaffer: Christopher Mitchell Sound Recordist: Rachel Suffian Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Santamaria Supervising Editor: Brandon Henninger Additional Editor: JC Scruggs Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds Senior Director of Content; Production: Ali Inglese Senior Director; Creative Development: Dan Siegel Senior Director; Programming: Jon Wise VP; Head of Video : June Kim Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit meets Chef Lucas Sin in Hong Kong to try curry fish balls. This snack is one of Hong Kong’s defining street food snacks, and it’s becoming increasingly rare to find a shop handmaking them the traditional way. Fortunately, Lam Law Ping is keeping the craft alive at his shop, Tak Hing Fish Ball Company, and has even been dubbed the ‘Fish Ball King.’ Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit joins burger scholar Chef George Motz, owner of Hamburger America, to see how the best smash burgers in NYC are made. Smash burgers got their name from the technique of smashing patties on a hot griddle to lock in flavor and create a crispy crust. Motz demonstrates how he makes The Chester, Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger, and his classic smash burger, which have made Hamburger America one of the most talked about burger spots in New York City. 00:00 Intro 00:38 Classic smash burger 05:55 Oklahoma fried onion burger 08:38 The Chester Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Chef Neel Kajale, the Chef de Cuisine at Adda, NYC’s most exciting new Indian restaurant. As the latest addition to the renowned Unapologetic Foods restaurant group–including Michelin-starred Semma–Adda is using bold flavors and techniques to reinvent classic Indian dishes such as butter chicken and Malvani fish curry. 00:00 Intro 00:48 Picking up fish 01:53 Morning check-in 03:53 Checking on prep 06:41 Making marinade 09:57 Business development meeting 11:35 Prepping expo station 13:15 Service Director: Ian Stroud Director of Photography: Kevin Dynia Editor: Misa Qu Talent: Neel Kajale Senior Creative Producer: Mel Ibarra Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen Associate Producer: Oadhan Lynch Production Manager: Janine Dispensa Camera Operator: Justin Newman Assistant Camera: Quinton Johnson Sound Recordist: Tyson Dai Production Assistant: Lena Yepez Director, Post Production: Nicholas Ascanio Supervising Editor: Brandon Henninger Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds Director of Content Production: Ali Inglese Senior Director Creative Development: Dan Siegel Senior Director Programming: Jon Wise VP; Head of Video: June Kim Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit joins Chef Jassimran Singh, Executive Chef at Michelin Star restaurant Crown Shy, to make their signature grilled chicken. Perfected by the late Chef Jamal James Kent, Crown Shy’s grilled chicken is their number one dish–so popular that guests make reservations just to enjoy it. 00:00 Intro 00:43 Breaking down the chicken 02:38 Marinating the chicken 04:44 Making Citrus Gastrique 06:49 Making signature hot sauce 08:44 Grilling chicken 10:54 Carving and plating Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Chef Martel Stone, Chef de Cuisine at Dōgon, an acclaimed Afro-Caribbean fine dining restaurant in Washington, DC. Open for just 10 months, Dōgon is the second restaurant from James Beard Award-winning Chef Kwame Onwuachi and has quickly gained national recognition as one of America’s best new restaurants. Read more about Dōgon and the rest of 2025's best new restaurants here: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/best-new-restaurants-2025 00:00 Intro 01:08 Team Check-in 02:15 R&D Corn Egusi Stew 08:34 Making the Lamb Terrine 11:12 Taste Crab Hoe Cakes 13:09 Sous-Chef Meeting 14:28 Service Prep Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Chef Lucas Sin discovers how bamboo-pressed noodles get made in Hong Kong. These noodles are a dying art form, with only a couple of shops still making them the traditional way. Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Today, Bon Appétit meets Chef Lucas Sin in Hong Kong to try Bamboo-pressed Noodles. These noodles are rare and an iconic part of Hong Kong’s street food legacy, with only a handful of places still making them the traditional way by hand. Using nothing but eggs and flour, these springy noodles are pressed with a 40-year-old bamboo pole and then transformed into the perfect bowl of wonton noodle soup. Featuring: Lau Sum Kee Noodle (Original Location) 48 Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon Lau Sum Kee Noodle (Second Location) Hong Kong, Sham Shui Po, Fuk Wing St, 80號號地舖 Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit joins Chef Joel Chidensee Watthanawongwat of Soothr to make his perfect pad thai recipe. Soothr is one of New York City’s hottest Thai restaurants, focusing on Yaowarat cuisine. Learn how Watthanawongwat elevates this traditional Thai street food dish, from the importance of using fish sauce (not soy sauce!) to making his signature egg net. 00:00 Intro 00:39 Soaking the noodles 01:28 Making the sauce 03:31 The egg net 05:05 Cooking the Pad Thai Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Pat LaFrieda, head butcher at Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors. Supplying meat to the most notable restaurants and hotels for over a century, Pat LaFrieda processes hundreds of thousands of pounds of meat a day and is home to the world’s largest dry-aging room. Take a look inside their operation and see what it takes to become America’s most celebrated butcher facility. 00:00 Intro 01:10 Machine inspection 03:08 Processing order on laser machine 06:09 Burger prep check-in 09:48 Train team on new cuts 14:30 Selecting meat for dry-age room 18:26 Thermal drone surveillance Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit joins Chef Ed Szymanski of Lords, an English-style bistro in New York City, to make his version of a perfect scotch egg. From achieving the perfect fudgy yolk to mastering the golden, crispy exterior, every step focuses on balancing the ideal egg-to-sausage ratio. As a staple on their menu, where hundreds are crafted daily, it’s safe to say Lords have perfected their formula. 00:00 Intro 00:42 Preparing the eggs 01:29 Making the sausage 04:20 Wrapping the egg Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit joins world-renowned Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten at his NYC seafood restaurant, The Fulton, to share his take on the perfect lobster roll recipe. Using only the freshest lobsters and homemade mayonnaise, Chef Jean-Georges shares his secret to building a gourmet lobster roll that’s bursting with flavor. 00:00 Intro 00:32 Cooking the lobster 01:50 Making mayonnaise 03:18 Cracking the lobster 05:14 Mixing lobster salad 06:19 Cooking gaufrettes potatoes 07:49 Toasting the bun 08:26 Building the rolls Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit joins Chef Meherwan Irani to explore Mumbai’s street food scene at Muthu Dosa Corner in Dadar. Known for his fast-paced skills and signature Rajinikanth-style dosas, Muttu Anna has earned a reputation as one of the city's true dosa masters. Watch as he crafts five perfectly crisp dosas at once with unmatched speed, precision, and flair. Inspired by the legendary Indian actor Rajinikanth, Muttu Anna's dosa-making is part performance, part tradition, and all flavor. Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

Bon Appétit joins Chef Ed Szymanski of Dame, an English seafood restaurant in the heart of NYC, to make their traditional battered fish and chips. Simplicity is best when it comes to making this classic British dish–fresh fish coated in airy batter, fluffy chips crisped to perfection, and then doused in vinegar with a sprinkle of lemon juice. A bite of Dame’s fish and chips is enough to transport you from the busy NYC streets to the great British seaside. 00:00 Intro 00:42 Preparing the fish 02:37 Preparing the potatoes 04:35 Making the tartare sauce 06:17 Frying the chips 07:28 Making the Batter 10:34 Frything the fish with chips 13:33 Plating Want Bon Appétit shirts, hats and more? https://shop.bonappetit.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_brand=ba&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=video&utm_content=merch-shop-promo Still haven’t subscribed to Bon Appétit on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/1TLeyPn Want more Bon Appétit in your life? Subscribe to the magazine! https://bit.ly/313UWRu ABOUT BON APPÉTIT Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

This Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake is fall in every bite and I just know you’re going to love it!It’s a soft, tender and perfectly spiced cake topped with a golden, buttery crumb that melts in your mouth. Cozy, comforting, and perfetto for your afternoon coffee and as a midweek treat! 🍂☕🎃 For the Cake: 1.5 cups of All Purpose Flour 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda 1 tsp of Baking Powder 1 Tbsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice 1/4 tsp of Salt 2 Eggs 1 cup of Granulated Sugar 2/3 cup of Vegetable or Neutral Oil of Choice 2/3 cup of Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 2 Tsp of Vanilla Extract For the Topping: 1/4 cup of Brown Sugar 1/4 cup of Granulated Sugar 1 cup of All Purpose Flour 1 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice 1 tsp of Cinnamon Tiny Pinch of Salt 1/3 cup of Unsalted Butter, melted For the Glaze: 2 Tbsp of Cream cheese, 1 cup of Powdered Sugar 1 or 2 Tbsp of Milk Bake in an 8x8 pan at 350’for 35-40 minutes but do not overbake or it will be dry! Printable recipe: http://www.laurainthekitchen.com Instagram: @mrsvitale

Grilled cheese and tomato soup has to be one of the best combos on the planet and this version is just so dynamite and it’s my sisters all time favorite meal so you know I had to make it extra good. Homemade bread (use my Dutch over bread recipe on my site) and the tomato bisque is nothing short of incredible. I love to roast my tomatoes, shallots and garlic with a little olive oil, good quality balsamic (just a drizzle) salt and fresh herbs, the flavors deepen, they get beautifully sweet and slightly charred and there’s no skipping this step because I think it makes it as good as it is. For the texture of my dreams (has to be velvety not just runny) I add a peeled and slightly chopped potato to mine and you’d never know it’s there but trust me, makes a difference, then add the veggie stock (or water and a veggie cube) some parm rind, season with salt throughout and once puréed, finish with a splash of cream. Make some grilled cheese to your liking, top the soup with some parm and a little basil and enjoy one of life’s greatest pleasures ❤️ I didn't measure much for this but I'm linking my favorite tomato bisque recipe below so use that as your guide and use a bit less stock since you're not using the canned tomatoes, carrots and celery. RECIPE: https://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/the-ultimate-tomato-bisque/

Happy Fall Yall! It simply wouldn't be fall without starting it off with my all time favorite fall and winter treat, the classic cinnamon roll and they are just so delicious, fluffy and sensational they are truly next level and I know you will love them! Run to the website for the full recipe! RECIPE: For the Dough: 5 cups (loosely measured NOT packed) 2 1/4 tsp of Instant Yeast 1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar 1 Egg 1 1/4 cups of Whole Milk 1/3 cup of Unsalted Butter 1 tsp of Salt For the Filling: 1/2 cup of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature 1 cup of Brown Sugar, packed 1 1/2 Tbsp of Cinnamon Tiny Pinch of Salt 1/4 cup of Butter, melted (not for the filling but needed) For the Frosting: 1/2 cup of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature 8oz of Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature 1 1/2 cups of Powdered Sugar 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract 1/2 tsp of Lemon Juice Tiny Pinch of Salt Yeast I use and LOVE, I swear it's the reason my yeasted doughs come out so well every single time! Yeast: https://rstyle.me/+NhOUZ6mlGdOYY5KXXEY3sA Follow me here!!! FB: Laurainthekitchen IG: Mrsvitale Website: www.Laurainthekitchen.com

Join us as we say goodbye to Summer! Always a fun time!

Buongiorno! Time for some comfort food this week and I couldn't get my mother's stuffed peppers out of my head. Ive made them twice this week (that's how good they are) and had to share them with you. They are so good, so easy and ohhhhhh so delicious you will simply LOVE them! Recipe Below! RECIPE: 4 Large or 6 Smaller Bell Peppers 1/2 cup of Long Grain Rice, rinsed and cooked half way through(I measured the half cup dry then cooked it and cooled it) 1lb of Ground Beef 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1/4 cup of Parsley, finely chopped 1/2 cup of Parm 1/2 cup of Diced Provolone or Mozzarella 24oz (28 will work just fine) of Passata Basil Salt Olive Oil Printable recipe: http://www.laurainthekitchen.com Instagram: @mrsvitale

Hi friends, here'e the much awaited recipe for my homemade kaiser rolls. Super easy but ph so very delicious! Chewy, tender and soft, they are sensational! Recipe Below! RECIPE: 3.5 Cups of All Purpose Flour 1/2 cup of Semolina 2 tsp of Instant Yeast 2 tsp of Sugar 2.5 tsp of Salt 1-3/4 cups of Warm Water When you score your rolls and they need to rest for an hour, thats the time to preheat your oven to 425 degrees, you want the oven to be really hot when you go to bake them. about 15 minutes before you bake them, place a small baking pan on the bottom rack of the oven, once you add the rolls in (middle and top rack) add about half a cup of ice cubes to the pan on the bottom, then close the door quickly, bake them for 25 minutes until golden, then allow them to cool completely before serving.

Hi friends, don't let summer slip by without making a peach cobbler to soak up every last bit of those sweet summer peaches! Linking the recipe below for you! Add in a handful or two of blackberries of you have them, really kicks things up a notch! RECIPE: https://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/peach-cobbler/

Hi Friends! Soak in the last of this beautiful summer weather with me by firing up the grill and making this absolutely delicious salmon recipe I just know you will love! It's so easy and simple but flavor packed! RECIPE: 4 Salmon Filets, with skin on 2 Tbsp of Honey 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil Zest and Juice of 1 Lime 2 tsp of Chili Powder 1 tsp of Smoked Paprika 2 tsp of Garlic and Herb Seasoning 1 tsp of Onion Powder Salt and Plenty of Black Pepper For the Salsa: 2 or 1 Big Mango, diced 1/2 of a Red Bell Pepper, diced 1/4 of a Red Onion, diced Cilantro, chopped 1 Jalapeno, seeded and diced Lime Little Olive Oil Salt to taste Follow me here for more delicious recipes! FB: Laura in the kitchen IG: Mrsvitale Website: www.Laurainthekitchen.com

I absolutely LOVE this recipe and I know you will too! It's actually quite easy and one of Southern Italy's favorite Lemon desserts and for good reason! RECIPE: For the Crust: 1 1/2 cups of All Purpose Flour 2 Tbsp of Granulated Sugar 1/4 tsp of Salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) of Unsalted Butter, Cold, cut into pieces 1 Egg 3 Tbsp of Cold Water For the Custard: 2 1/2 cups of Whole Milk 4 Tbsp of Granulated Sugar 4 Egg Yolks Zest of 1 Whole Lemon Plus 1 Tbsp of Juice 3 Tbsp of Flour 1 Tbsp of Cornstarch Vanilla Extract For the Ricotta Cream: 1 cup of Fresh Ricotta 2 Tbsp of Granulated Sugar Follow me on IG: mrsvitale Facebook: Laurainthekitchen Recipe Website: www.lauraithekitchen.com

This spiced grilled spatchcocked (calm down I can hear you laughing) chicken is next level. Juicy, smoky, perfectly charred—and the flavor is literally insane!! Serve it with my sauce from my Peruvian chicken and It’s gonna knock your socks off! Recipe below for the spice rub and directions for grilling! Marinade 1 tbsp of brown sugar 1 tbsp of garlic and herb seasoning 1 tbsp of chili powder 1 tsp of cumin 1 tsp of oregano 2 tsp smoked paprika Plenty (don’t be shy) of salt Juice and zest of 1 lime (or 2 if they aren’t very juicy) 2 tbsp of olive oil Allow to marinade about 6 hours, longer if you can. The key to cooking this to absolute perfection is to do an indirect grill for most of it. Turn on half the burners on your grill as hot as they go, allow to preheat for 10-15 minutes (should be around 375-400 degrees) once there, place the chicken, skin side up, on the opposite side of the grill (where the burners are off) cook it low and slow until the temperature reaches 140 never flipping it. When there, carefully lift the chicken and flip it directly over the hot side and let it get to 165 degrees and that skin to really crisp up and char. I like to flip it back on the cut side for 5 minutes at the end and that’s it. Works perfectly every single time!

Potatoes, eggs & hot dogs , an Italian childhood classic that fed generations and still hits every time. Sure, it’s not fancy… but ask anyone who grew up on this and they’ll pick it over filet mignon any day. Bonus points if you eat it in a sandwich by the beach like a true Italian (I swear it tastes even better at the beach) it’s such a humble thing but I think many many cultures relate to how special dishes like these really are for the soul! Approx recipe and instructions below! 3 medium size russets, peeled and thinly sliced 4 to 6 hot dogs (all beef for me) slices up 6 eggs Plenty of grated parm Plenty of S&P Olive oil I like cooking the potatoes in some olive oil over medium heat until they are about half way cooked (season them with a pinch of salt and pepper) then once there, add the hot dogs and continue cooking until the potatoes are fully cooked, add in the whisked egg and cheese mixture and cook until golden and set on the bottom, I use a fish spatula to kind of “slice it” into 1/4 pieces so it’s easier to flip but honestly this DOES NOT have to be perfect, it’s rustic home food. Cook until fully set then sprinkle more parm and enjoy every single bite!

Hi Friends, blueberries are so good at the moment I wanted to remind you to make a batch of these DELICIOUS muffins because trust me when I say, they are sensational and simply the best blueberry muffins ever ever ever!! Recipe Below! RECIPE: https://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/the-best-blueberry-muffins/

The garden is overflowing with banana peppers and jalapeños and I’ve already made 8 jars of each of pickled peppers (I share with friends don’t you worry!) and they really are THEEEE BEST!!!!!! The brine is the same for both but obviously the jalapeños are spicier and have more of a ”crisp” to them than the banana peppers and we just love them so much!! The difference is, since the jalapeños are a big harder and tougher, they sit in the hot brine for 10 minutes and the banana peppers only 7. Recipe and method linked below! PER BATCH: 15-18 peppers (depending on the size) 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced 1 cup of distilled white vinegar 1 cup of water 3 tbsp of sugar 1 tbsp of salt (I use coarse kosher salt, if using fine salt use 2tsp) Add the water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a saucepan, bring to a boil, once sugar has dissolved, add the sliced peppers and garlic, allow to sit in the hot brine for 10 minutes (7 for banana peppers) then using a slotted spoon remove them to a jar, allow the brine to cool to room temp and once everything has cooled, fill the jar with the peppers with the cooled brine to cover the peppers then put the lid on and refrigerate. They are ready to eat in just a couple days and you can literally eat them with anything! In this video I did the jalapeños first then brought the liquid back up to a boil for the banana peppers and repeated the same step so I didn’t have to make 2 separate batches of brine. They turn out perfect every time! These are meant to be stored in the refrigerator they are NOT shelf stable so keep that in mind!

Hi besties! Just you wait until you take a bite of this incredible bread pudding, you will be obsessed!! IT really is so sensational and I just know you will love it! RECIPE: For the Peaches: 1 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter 6 Large Yellow Peaches, ripe but not mushy, peeled and cut into chunks (see notes below on an easy way to do this) 1/2 cup of Brown Sugar 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon (or 1 full tsp if you want a stronger flavor) Juice of 1/2 Lemon For the Bread Pudding: 1 Loaf (about 16 to 20 oz) of CHalla Bread, cut into cubes 2 cups of Whole Milk 1 cup of Heavy Cream 6 Eggs 1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar 2 tsp of Vanilla Extract Printable recipe: http://www.laurainthekitchen.com Instagram: @mrsvitale 00:00 - Intro 01:08 - Cook the Peaches 02:00 - Make the Custard 03:01 - Cut the Bread 03:17 - Assemble 05:21 - Bake 06:46 - Dig In! Fan Mail: Laura Vitale PO Box 300 Minotola NJ 08341

The #1 question I’m asked is why I stopped uploading to YouTube. The fact is, I didn’t. I upload more often than ever, but so many of you aren’t seeing my videos. If you want to keep me in your feed, perhaps leave a comment, or a like, or make sure you have the bell turned on. I love you all, and I hope to continue to see you all in my comments.

Whether you’re making it for a holiday celebration or for an after-dinner dessert, this indulgent and rich tart will satisfy your sweet tooth. We show you how to make a toasted white sesame tart with bittersweet chocolate ganache. Complete with a crumbly crust, each bite is full of chocolate flavor and the crunch of the baked sesame seeds.

Experience the rich flavors of Rome with Rigatoni Alla Zozzona! This pasta recipe combines the best of amatriciana and carbonara, with a savory twist of sausage, guanciale, and creamy egg yolks. Each bite brings the fusion of smoky, salty, and hearty flavors that make this an underrated Italian classic. Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com You Might Also Like... Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Málà (Numbing & Spicy) | Boiled Beef in Fiery Sauce: https://youtu.be/adBrsIP9n8g Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Fish Fragrant | Braised Eggplant: https://youtu.be/4uU6DwAi2S8 How to Season a Wok: https://youtu.be/ndv-uT94BGM Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why. Pasta Alla Zozzona is a Taste of Rome

Learn how to make this irresistible Crispy Kimchi Cheese Rice, a fusion dish that’s bursting with exotic flavors and unique textures! This recipe combines the tangy spice of kimchi with savory cheese and crispy rice, creating the perfect balance of flavors. It’s an easy, satisfying meal that transforms your leftovers into a new favorite comfort food. Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com You Might Also Like... Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Málà (Numbing & Spicy) | Boiled Beef in Fiery Sauce: https://youtu.be/adBrsIP9n8g Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Fish Fragrant | Braised Eggplant: https://youtu.be/4uU6DwAi2S8 How to Season a Wok: https://youtu.be/ndv-uT94BGM Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why. Crispy Kimchi Cheese Rice Recipe

Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, this classic southern appetizer tastes even better when made from home. We show you how to make fried green tomatoes with a delicious remoulade dipping sauce!

With chunks of dill pickle and crunchy panko crumbs sprinkled throughout, this creamy appetizer will quickly become a go-to party favorite recipe. We show you how to make a fried pickle dip with freshly chopped dill and potato chips!

These sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches are a summertime dream dessert. Learn how to make easy summer fruit ice cream sandwiches using naturally sweet fruit preserves and vanilla ice cream!

Learn how to make delicious honey butter toast! This simple yet irresistible treat combines the rich flavor of sweet honey and plenty of fresh fruit on perfectly toasted bread. We’ll guide you through the quick and easy steps to create this snack that’s perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a sweet treat any time of day. Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com You Might Also Like... Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Málà (Numbing & Spicy) | Boiled Beef in Fiery Sauce: https://youtu.be/adBrsIP9n8g Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Fish Fragrant | Braised Eggplant: https://youtu.be/4uU6DwAi2S8 How to Season a Wok: https://youtu.be/ndv-uT94BGM Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why. How to Make Honey Butter Toast

Earthy beets meet sweet cherries in this eye-catching and refreshing sweet-tart-savory soup recipe. Learn how to make a chilled beet and cherry soup to cool off the guests of your next summer party.

Learn how to make delicious Falafel Smash Tacos with an easy-to-follow recipe. Combining crispy homemade falafel with fresh vegetables and a tangy sauce, these tacos are a perfect fusion of Middle Eastern and Mexican flavors. Perfect for a quick and healthy meal, these plant-based tacos are sure to become a favorite in your household. Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com You Might Also Like... Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Málà (Numbing & Spicy) | Boiled Beef in Fiery Sauce: https://youtu.be/adBrsIP9n8g Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Fish Fragrant | Braised Eggplant: https://youtu.be/4uU6DwAi2S8 How to Season a Wok: https://youtu.be/ndv-uT94BGM Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why. How to Make Falafel Smash Tacos

Use this recipe to make an amazing Cabbage Tarte Tatin! Perfectly caramelized cabbage pairs with a flaky pastry crust for a unique twist on a classic French dish. We’ll guide you through each step, from prepping the cabbage to achieving that golden, crispy finish. Ideal for a savory side or a vegetarian main course, this recipe is sure to impress. Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com You Might Also Like... Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Málà (Numbing & Spicy) | Boiled Beef in Fiery Sauce: https://youtu.be/adBrsIP9n8g Fuchsia Dunlop & Sichuan Flavors: Fish Fragrant | Braised Eggplant: https://youtu.be/4uU6DwAi2S8 How to Season a Wok: https://youtu.be/ndv-uT94BGM Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why. How to Make Cabbage Tarte Tatin

Serve this Asparagus Upside Down Sheet-Pan Dinner as a main course or as a side for an unforgettable evening.

Contributor Jenny Dorsey has a conversation with famed Catalonian chef Sergi de Meià about mussels escabeche, then walks us through the steps to make this classic Spanish dish at home. Mussels escabeche features plump mussels in an aromatic marinade of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, herbs, and spices—perfect as a drinking snack, appetizer, and more. Mussels Escabeche Recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2020/10/mussels-escabeche.html Subscribe to Serious Eats on YouTube: https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 *CONNECT* Facebook: https://facebook.com/seriouseats Instagram: https://instagram.com/seriouseats Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why.

Sunny Lee pays tribute to one of her all-time favorite Korean banchan, pa-muchim: a marinated scallion salad of raw shaved onions and scallions dressed with mustard, vinegar, gochugaru, and sesame oil. With her take on this recipe, she turns an accident into inspiration and creates a recipe that you'll want to make again and again. Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2020/10/charred-brussels-sprouts-leeks-banchan.html For more recipes by Sunny Lee: https://www.seriouseats.com/user/profile/sunny-lee You Might Also Like... Gamja Bokkeum with Sunny Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cc-JbAzV9s Lamb Biryani with Nik Sharma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxoQyKWAD8k The Best Way to Mince Garlic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQd3hFf26R8 French Onion Soup Tarte Tatin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9lPMmbeIak Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why.

Gamja bokkeum is a simple glazed potato banchan you won't be able to stop making, or eating. Writer and Serious Eats Contributor, Sunny Lee shows you how to quickly whip up these irresistible spuds that will hog the spotlight from any main dish. Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2020/02/korean-soy-glazed-potatoes-gamja-bokkeum-recipe.html For more recipes by Sunny Lee: https://www.seriouseats.com/user/profile/sunny-lee You Might Also Like... Lamb Biryani with Nik Sharma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxoQyKWAD8k The Best Way to Mince Garlic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQd3hFf26R8 French Onion Soup Tarte Tatin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9lPMmbeIak Romesco Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqMBoFzvTEM Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why.

Biryani is a celebration of aroma, color, and flavor, with perfectly cooked, fluffy grains of scented basmati rice and tender chunks of spiced lamb. Nik Sharma shows us how to make this spectacular dish at home (along with special guest, Paddington Sharma). Full Story: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2020/07/lamb-biryani.html For more Nik Sharma, check out his new book-- The The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes: http://abrowntable.com/the-flavor-equation You Might Also Like... Gamja Bokkeum with Sunny Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cc-JbAzV9s The Best Way to Mince Garlic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQd3hFf26R8 French Onion Soup Tarte Tatin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9lPMmbeIak Romesco Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqMBoFzvTEM Subscribe to Serious Eats! https://bit.ly/2BIlM59 Follow Us Elsewhere: https://facebook.com/seriouseats https://twitter.com/seriouseats https://instagram.com/seriouseats https://reddit.com/r/seriouseats Serious Eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink: meticulously tested recipes that really work; in-depth, science-based explanations of cooking techniques; detailed reviews of cooking equipment; and guides to ingredients, dishes, and cuisines. We bring a democratic yet scientific approach to cooking the best dishes, busting food myths, and delivering strong opinions on what you should eat next, where, when, and why.

Eat thoughtfully, live joyfully.

It’s Bastille Day—and also Euro Summer week here at Food52—so we’re leaning all the way in with a roundup of our favorite French recipes to help you fête like you're picnicking beneath the Eiffel Tower (or at least pretending to at your dining table).

From classics Julia Child would definitely approve of (hi, beef bourguignon and crème brûlée) to a few breezier, “lazy girl” picks that rely on good butter, flaky pastry, and fresh herbs, this lineup has something for every level of ambition. There’s plenty of cheese, a generous amount of wine, and more than one dish with an egg on top—just as the French intended.

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We’ve all been there: sitting on the floor at your gate, clutching a sad airport meal, wondering how your relaxing vacation turned into a stress spiral. With fewer air traffic controllers and a jam-packed summer travel season, canceled and delayed flights are basically a guarantee. I’m curious if you’ve noticed similar stuff and how you’re beating the travel woes—let me know.

But one brand wants to turn that chaos into happy hour. For two days only—July 17 and 18—Cayman Jack (yes, the margarita in a bottle brand) is opening The Cayman Club: A Missed Flight Lounge at JFK’s TWA Hotel. And the only way to get in? Show proof of a delayed, canceled, or missed flight.

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It’s Euro Summer Week! Stay tuned for more stories, recipes, and travel tips—and tell us how you’re having your own.

Around this time every year, it feels like everyone you know is either in Europe, just got back from Europe, or plotting how to get there. (And yes, we’ve all Googled how much a last-minute flight would be. Spoiler: too much.)

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It's Euro Summer Week! Stay tuned for more great recipes, stories, and travel tips.

I was only eight years old the first time I stepped foot on the Amalfi Coast, and many of my memories of the place are striking and vivid—as if I had just come back from a trip. But because I was so young, others are fleeting and imperfect.

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There are two kinds of people in this world: those who order the fries for the table, and those who steal them off someone else’s plate. Within that, there's a very special subgroup—the ones who order the fries, don’t Venmo request anyone, and just silently let the group benefit. Bless those people. There’s a special place in heaven for them (probably with a trio of unlimited aiolis and fountain Diet Coke).

Fries are technically a side dish, but let’s be real: they’re doing main character work. Whether they’re saving a sad dinner, showing up as girl dinner (see: Caesar salad, fries, and a Diet Coke), or loaded with toppings and eaten straight from the sheet pan, fries are the one food that almost no one can resist.

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One of the trickiest parts of any home renovation project is the seemingly endless list of decisions. As my family embarked on our long-awaited kitchen renovation, one choice I kept getting hung up on was our sink. Should we stick with a functional and traditional double-basin, or spring for a single-basin with space to wash larger dishes and more under-sink storage? It turns out the solution to my sink dilemma was shockingly simple: a $3 dishpan that's revolutionized our kitchen workflow.

The Surprisingly Brilliant Hack

Before the renovation, I spent years with an outdated but extremely functional double-basin sink. Our family system was clear: stack and soak dishes on one side, keep the other side free for washing. When I looked at friends' single-basin sinks, I noticed they inevitably wound up washing dishes on top of a pile of dirty ones—a workflow nightmare I wanted to avoid.

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If you’ve been around literally anyone in the past month, you’ve probably heard chatter about Love Island—whether it’s the UK version or the ever-iconic USA one. Maybe you’re all in. Maybe you’ve only absorbed it passively, against your will. Either way, it’s hard to escape.

As someone who’d never tuned in before, I was surprised by the sudden cultural takeover. In the past few weeks alone, I’ve sat through full dinners where people debated their favorite couples, predicted drama, and ranked bombshells with passionate conviction. I finally had to get up to speed—if only to participate in what feels like a nationwide group project (slash networking event).

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I have a 4-year-old, which means even though I love a good sandwich, I rarely get to eat one without a little negotiation. Unless it’s a burger (she’s all in for burgers), meals between two slices of bread often fall flat. That’s why this week’s plan is all about flexible sandwiches: DIY-style builds, deconstructed options, and satisfying meatless takes that appeal to both kids and grown-ups.

Also included: a nostalgic breakfast sandwich inspired by my early 20s, when I helped open a cafe on the North Shore of O‘ahu. It was hearty, rich, and packed with meat-free protein—just how I like to start the day. As always, while the groceries are listed based on what you need, they’re flexible enough to swap based on what you’ve got—especially for things like mayo, hot sauce, or bread.

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Welcome to Like a Local, our series where writers share how to spend an ideal long weekend in their favorite towns. This time, Kim gives us an insider’s guide to Palm Beach, FL.

What started as yearly visits to Palm Beach turned into biannual trips, and no matter how often I went, I always had a great time. It wasn’t until I was lucky enough to get “stuck” in Palm Beach for months during the pandemic that I began to appreciate all this destination has to offer. Sure, it’s gorgeous ( like stepping into a Slim Aarons imagery time capsule), easy to get to (landing at PBI airport feels intimate, not intimidating) and its food rivals that of NYC and Rome. But living like a local made me appreciate all the nooks and crannies of this island. Here are my best bets for a perfect long weekend in Palm Beach.

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If you’ve felt like smoothies have gotten suspiciously expensive, you’re not wrong. We now live in a world where $17 blends with spirulina and collagen are a bit too normal—especially if you’re shopping somewhere like Erewhon. These LA luxury grocery stores aren’t just health havens; they’ve become known for their celebrity-backed smoothies, like Hailey Bieber’s now-famous Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie loaded with sea moss, peptides, and hyaluronic acid. I’ve even heard of hotels licensing the rights to serve these viral drinks in their lounges. This is not your average fruit smoothie.

While I don’t splurge often, I’ve definitely noticed the growing hype. Back in college, there was always a long line at the açai bowl truck that parked near the far quad (sometimes rivaling the line when Raising Cane’s opened). I never totally got the appeal or the price, but it was clearly a thing. And this wasn’t even in LA or New York—it was in east central Illinois, where smoothie prices still capped around $12 back then.

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Our Favorite Recipes, Curated and Collected

Almond-studded choux pastry and rich, nutty praline crème mousseline join forces in this impressive French dessert.

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This eggy, aromatic, and plush Armenian bread is traditionally made to celebrate Easter, but it’s delicious enough to enjoy any time of year.

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Basque cheesecake boasts a deeply caramelized top and bottom, with a creamy center thanks to a high-temperature bake. No crust required.

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Cauliflower cooked down into a savory-sweet sauce with Sicilian staples: anchovies, pine nuts, raisins, saffron, and toasted breadcrumbs.

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This pasta bursting with clams, mussels, shrimp, squid, and fresh tomato is a coastal Italian classic.

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Eggs and cheese come together to form this silky, meatless Neapolitan sauce.

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A shortcut homemade pork sausage is the key to this creamy, hearty Umbrian pasta.

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Vegetables are the star of the show in this meatless Tuscan "fake" ragù.

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Cozy, comforting pasta with ham, cream, and peas.

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Pasta with brothy chickpeas is Italian comfort food at its best.

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Gnocchi alla bava is true mountain food. Hailing from the Italian Alps, it features tender and lightly sweet potato gnocchi in a rich and creamy Fontina cheese sauce, flavored with little else aside from a touch of black pepper and nutmeg.

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Onions are the star of the show in this slow-cooked beef ragù from Naples.

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Sweet and tender roasted beets, carrots, and onions, tossed with a zippy lime dressing and topped with crunchy, golden shallots.

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A rich, meaty variation on the classic Apulian pasta. Pork sausage, bitter greens, olive oil, garlic, chiles, and al dente orecchiette.

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Orecchiette with olive oil, garlic, chiles, anchovies, bitter greens, and toasted breadcrumbs. Straight from the heel of Italy.

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