Almond Shortbread

The Halloween celebrations last weekend have officially marked the beginning of holiday season. I love this last quarter of the year where you have all the celebrations, festive foods and lots of sales (read shopping) to look forward to. Considering the gigantic sweet tooth that I have, I love these sugar high holidays - A reason to eat more sweets and feel a little less guilty about it.

Almond Shortbread Cookies

(From this recipe, Makes 12 wedges)

I have a bunch of bookmarked recipes and have been wanting to make these shortbread cookies for a while now. This is probably the simplest baking recipe ever. You just cannot go wrong with it. The recipe calls for Almond Meal. This is an expensive ingredient. One pound packet costs about $12. I was very sure that I will not be able to use up so much quantity in a couple months. I was reading the label on the packet and it said "Almond meal is simply the blanched almonds ground..." So I thought why not make my own almond meal? All you need is blanched almonds.

(Almond Meal)

I used 1/2 lb blanched almonds which yielded 3 cups of ground almond. The recipe I followed for shortbread also mentions that adding sugar while grinding almonds helps absorb oils from the nuts.
1. Using a coffee grinder or Indian style mixer-grinder or mixie as many people call it, ground almonds in batches.
2. I divided half pound almonds in 4-5 batches. With every batch add a couple pinches of sugar and grind to a medium powder.
3. Voila, you almond meal is ready! Store in an air tight container in the fridge.


I followed the recipe from Joy of Baking word to word. The only change was instead of rice flour, I used corn flour.

• In a bowl, beat together 1/2 cup butter (at room temperature) and 1/4 cup sugar. Add 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract.
  
• In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup APF, 1/4 cup almond meal, 2 tbsp corn starch and 1/8 tsp salt.
• Fold in the dry ingredients in butter-sugar mix. This forms into a soft, buttery and loose dough.
  
• In an 8" round pan press the dough and score into wedges. Prick the dough with a fork so that it won't puff up.

• Bake in a 300 F oven for about 50 minutes or until golden brown.
  
• Let cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and cool completely before storing.
  

The shortbread tasted great and we had it with evening tea for three days in a row. The next time I make it, I think I will use a square pan and cut it into sticks instead. I think powdered cashews will taste equally good and plan to use them next time.


This weekend celebrates Diwali, the festival of lights. Wish you all a very Happy Diwali and a wonderful year ahead!

One Pot Vegetable Stew

I am a big fan of one dish meals. Who wouldn't like it if you could have all the flavors and nutrients in one dish instead of cooking a couple different dishes? These one pot wonders often cook in my kitchen. Though rice tops when it comes to one dish meals, stews and pastas are also the tough contenders when it comes to balanced meals.

One Hot Stove, the host for Blog Bites event is hosting its eighth edition this month, which by the way ends in a few hours. And I am gonna make it just in time :) The theme for this month's BB8 is One Dish Meals, and here is my entry.

Vegetable Stew

(adapted from this recipe)

This is a very simple and versatile stew. All you need is some veggies and spices of your choice. I used onion, potato, carrot, bell pepper, corn, tomato and black eyed peas.


1. In a pot heat 2 tsp oil and add a clove of garlic - grated or minced.

2. Add 1 small onion diced, and saute until translucent.

3. Next add half a carrot and 1 small potato and let them cook for a while.

4. Add pepper, corn, tomato and cooked beans of your choice along with 3 cups of water or vegetable stock.

5. Season with red chilli powder, cumin powder, a teaspoon of sugar (optional) and salt to taste. Feel free to use the spices of your choice. Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes on a medium heat.

6. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and toasted bread. Alternatively you can toss in some short cut pasta as the stew simmers.

With proteins from the beans; carbs, vitamins and fibers from veggies and whole grain bread/pasta, this one pot stew is a complete meal. And now off it goes to BB8!

Delicious Vegetarian turns One!

Delicious Vegetarian turned ONE just a couple days back... YAY. I can't believe it's actually been a year. What started as a getaway from studying for CPA exam has become a fun activity for me (though I always thought I should write a blog, I was more than happy reading and enjoying what others wrote).

I'll take this opportunity to say "Thank you Mom" for teaching me the basics of cooking and being an inspiration. Thank you dad for trying my recipes in the times when I could barely call myself a cook. And a BIG thank you to A, my ever supportive husband. Oh by the way, he is also the designated photographer of this blog and often my sous chef too :)

I also want to thank all my friends who read my blog and email me their feedback, tips, comments etc etc. AND a thank you to all you readers. So let's celebrate the first birthday of my lil blog with something sweet.

But before I write any more, let me answer the question in my earlier post. The answer is PURPLE BASIL. It smelled so good. I thought it smelled like a combination of fennel and basil. How I wish I could cook with it. But with A being under the weather, I had no time for a few days and had to give away my basil before we went out of town. Hopefully I will get it again come next summer.

Gajar (Carrot) Poli

(adapted from this recipe)

Ever since I came across the recipe for Gajar Poli on Aayi's Recipes, I wanted to try it. I followed the recipe with some modifications.

1. For the carrot mix, I used a cup each of shredded carrots, milk and sugar. In a pan add a teaspoon of ghee (clarified butter) and saute carrots until slightly tender.
2. Add milk and cook until the mixture starts to thicken. Add sugar and mix well. The mix will loosen up after adding sugar.
3. Cook until the mixture thickens again. Add a teaspoon of cardamom powder and let cool.
4. To make poli, take a small ball of whole wheat dough and slightly roll it out. Stuff it with carrot mix and close all the edges as you would do for a dumpling.
5. Roll the stuffed ball and cook both sides on a pan, and serve.

Welcome to My Kitchen!

Have you ever heard of a food blog event that doesn't ask you to cook at all? Wait till you read this. This week Nupur of One Hot Stove is hosting a real fun event which asks the participants to write about their own kitchens, how they organize it and post some snaps of their spaces.

The event is just for this week. I was out of town and wasn't sure until today if I would be able to participate. But now that I can, I am so glad. Every cook longs for a great looking, clutter free and well organized kitchen, and I am no exception. I just cannot work in a kitchen that is full of clutter and my biggest necessity is to have everything organized. But apartment living hardly offers you any options. I am not unhappy with my kitchen, I only wish it had more storage space.

(Left side of kitchen)

Mine is a 9x11 rectangular kitchen. On left side are cooking range, 2 counters, sink and a dishwasher. This side has a total of 4 overhead cabinets. 2 small square ones, and a full and a half cabinet. It also has a half cabinet under the first counter. The counter next to the stove is used the most, and drawer under it holds all the cooking tools.


The next counter has a corner rack for dinner plates, a caddy for forks & spoons, and a dish drainer. This counter is not used very often for prep purposes, and whenever I need it, I simply keep aside the dish drainer. Simple rods, a couple baskets and s-hooks from Ikea really helped organize things.

At the very end of left side is a small pantry that houses my groceries. The recycled pasta sauce and Bournvita bottles carry all dals, dried beans, and other items. They have really optimized the use of pantry. I also have some groceries in simple Rubbermaid take along containers just because of the fact that they are stackable.

(Pantry)

On the other side of the kitchen is the fridge and next to it is a counter. However, this counter is of no use since microwave takes almost the entire space. It also has a full overhead cabinet that holds extra spices and snacks.

(Right side of kitchen)

Next to this counter is some free space, where I have a bookshelf. Sounds odd... isn't it? I was looking for something which I could use for appliances and other stuff. I have spent a lot of time looking for storage solutions. I looked for baker's racks and kitchen cabinets, but they were too expensive. Then I bought a simple folding table, but had to return it as it was too big for the space. Then I had this thought of using a bookshelf and it worked just perfectly. Thankfully, it doesn't look that odd (or may be I am used to seeing it there).


The drawers under the microwave counter are full of steel bowls, knives, strainers, peelers and some other stuff.


I am very fond of storage bins as they prevent clutter. On the topmost shelves of overhead cabinets (which are accessible only with the use of a footstool) I have packets of snacks (like parle-G, granola bars), spices and the like put up in plastic baskets. I would hate to dump food packets on the shelves and then rummage through them to find what I need, so I bought these baskets from dollar shop - a simple and cheap solution. So far I am happy with my kitchen. It is totally functional, plus there is nothing more I can do to it even if I want to as there is no more space.

If you too want to share your kitchen spaces, join the "Kitchen Link Party" here.