Zucchini Gratin

This is my adaptation of an Ina Garten recipe. I was watching Ina’s show on television recently and saw her use zucchini to make a gratin. For once, I had all the ingredients on hand and was able to try it out immediately. According to Ina, this gratin can be assembled a day in advance and baked just when needed.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ tsp red pepper flakes
2 large zucchini, sliced into ¼ inch thick rounds
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
4 tsp all-purpose flour
½ to ¾ cup milk (I use 2%)
¾ cup grated mozzarella (I kept the block of cheese in the freezer for 15 minutes to make grating it easier)
½ to ¾ cup bread crumbs


Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan and cook the onions till soft. Add the red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and nutmeg followed by the zucchini and cook until tender.

Stir in the flour and then add the milk. Mix well to remove any lumps that may be present. Cook over low heat until it thickens to form a sauce.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish. (I used a 9-inch pie dish for this.)

Mix the bread crumbs with the grated cheese and sprinkle on top of the zucchini mixture.

Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is all bubbly and the surface develops a nice brown crust.

Notes: I think I’ll try grating the zucchini (instead of making rounds) and squeezing out the excess water from it when I make this gratin the next time. There was something not quite right about the texture here. I’ll also use another kind of cheese- the Mozzarella here gave the gratin a slightly chewy and almost rubbery texture. Ina recommends Gruyère cheese for this recipe.

Vegetable And Cheese Swirls

While looking for ideas on how to use the puff pastry sheets I’d purchased, I came across a good recipe on the Pepperidge Farm website itself.

Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce package), thawed according to package instructions
Flour (for rolling out the puff pastry)
1 Tbsp oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped finely
3 cups mixed vegetables, cooked (I used onions, mushrooms, capsicum, fresh spinach and frozen corn)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½-1 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
Salt


Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to a 16 x 10-inch rectangle.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and add the garlic, jalapeno and onions followed by the mushrooms. Cook till the mushrooms are moisture-free and then add the chopped bell peppers, spinach and corn. Add the lemon-pepper seasoning. Cook and set aside.

Add the contents of the pan into a bowl. Cool for a bit and add the shredded cheese to it. Mix well.

Top the puff pastry sheet with the cheese and vegetable mixture leaving a 1-inch border on the sides. Starting with the long side of the dough, roll it up to form a log. Cut into slices. Place the slices, cut-side down, onto a baking sheet that is greased well. (This is important: I did not grease my baking sheet properly and had some difficulty getting the baked swirls off the sheet.)

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet.

We had a few of these swirls to go with some soup and it made for a delicious and filling dinner.

Kaju Katli (Cashew Fudge)

I made this the other night when I was looking for something sweet to round off dinner. I followed Saffron Hut's recipe for quick and easy katlis. Though the original recipe was simple and easy enough to begin with, I simplified it even further by eliminating a few steps. The recipe calls for just 2 major ingredients- cashews and sugar- in addition to a little bit of water. I started making this right after dinner and it was ready in less than 10 minutes (cooling time not included).

Ingredients:
(For 20-22 small pieces)
1 cup unsalted cashews, powdered
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water

Method:
Heat the water and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan on low heat. Bring the sugar syrup to a boil.

Stir in the cashew powder. Mix well. Cook for 4-5 minutes on medium heat stirring constantly. When the mixture starts to bubble, thicken and pull away from the sides of the pan, it's done.

Line a baking tray with foil and grease well. Pour the mixture onto the tray. Cool for a bit (refrigeration for at least 2 hours is recommended so that it sets nicely) and then cut into squares or diamonds.

Vegetable Quesadillas

I made a Mexican-inspired meal recently using a few tortillas and some bits and pieces of vegetables I had in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator. I'd just visited Namratha's blog and had seen her quesadillas and decided that was what I was making for dinner that night.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped finely
1 jalapeno
½ onion, finely chopped
8-12 mushrooms, chopped
½ green bell pepper, diced
½-¾ cup corn (I used frozen)
½ tsp roasted cumin powder
½ tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
Salt
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
4 tortillas (I used flour tortillas)


Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic, jalapeno and onions followed by the mushrooms. Cook till the mushrooms are moisture-free and then add the chopped bell peppers and corn. Add the roasted cumin powder and lemon-pepper seasoning. Cook for another minute or so and set aside.

Next, get the tortillas ready. Place a tortilla in a skillet on medium heat. Evenly sprinkle some cheese all over the tortilla. Top with a layer of the vegetable mixture followed by some more cheese, and place another tortilla on top. (I used very little cheese- just enough to bind the vegetable mixture to the tortilla.) Press down with a spatula.
Cook for a minute or so until the cheese melts and the tortilla is golden brown. Flip over and cook the other side similarly.

Repeat with the remaining tortillas, cheese, and vegetables. Cut into quarters and serve with salsa. I had mine with some Pico de Gallo. (For the Pico de Gallo, I chopped up some tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and jalapenos and then tossed it all together with some lime juice and salt.)

Instant Khaman Dhokla

After several unsuccessful attempts at making dhokla, I finally managed to find a recipe that gave me fantastic results. The recipe I followed was Daagh's and it can be found here.

Ingredients:

For the dhokla batter:

1 cup chickpea flour/ besan

1 Tbsp semolina/ rava/ sooji

1 cup water (I used a little more than ¾ cup but a little less than 1 cup)

Juice of a lemon

1 Tbsp oil

2 green chillies, chopped finely

2 tsp sugar

A pinch of turmeric

Salt

1 tsp Eno fruit salt

For the tempering/sugar solution:

2 Tbsp oil

1-2 tsp mustard seeds

A pinch of asafoetida

2 green chillies, finely chopped

4-5 curry leaves, chopped

2 tsp sugar

Juice of a lemon

For garnishing:

2-3 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Combine the chickpea flour, semolina, lemon juice, oil, green chillies, sugar, turmeric powder and salt in a bowl. Add enough water to make a smooth and lump-free batter.

Just before steam cooking the batter, add the Eno fruit salt and mix.

Steam the batter for 15-20 minutes. (I greased one of the stainless steel containers that came with my pressure cooker and steamed the batter in my cooker without using the weight.)

While the batter’s cooking, get the sugar solution ready. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the mustard seeds and asafoetida and let the seeds pop. Add the curry leaves and chopped green chillies and turn off the heat. Then add the lemon juice and sugar and mix.

Once the dhokla is ready (a toothpick inserted should come out clean when it’s done), poke a few holes all over the surface of it and pour the sugar solution all over the steamed cake while it is still warm. Cool for a bit, cut into wedges and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with some green chutney and tamarind-date chutney.

Mango Halwa

I came across Madhuram's mango halwa a few days back while I was looking for ways to use up some mango pulp that had been left over from a recipe I'd tried a couple of days earlier. I decided to give her recipe a try based on the great feedback she'd received by way of comments, and her beautiful picture of the halwa.

Ingredients:
(For 7-8 small pieces)
2 cups canned mango pulp (easily found at any Indian store)
1 Tbsp ghee


Method:
In a heavy-bottomed pan, add the ghee followed by the mango pulp. Cook, stirring at regular intervals till the pulp thickens. It will reduce considerably as the moisture in it evaporates, almost 55-60 minutes. It is advisable to use a splatter screen while cooking to keep the stovetop and its surroundings clean. Though I cooked the pulp for close to an hour, I did not get the consistency that I was looking for. I thought that refrigerating it would help solidify it a bit, so I left it in the refrigerator overnight. However, it was still very soft and gooey the next day. I then microwaved it (in a small microwave-safe cup) for 5-8 minutes taking the sticky mango mass out of the microwave and stirring every couple of minutes. Finally, it began to come together.

Place the halwa on a small greased plate and spread as evenly as possible.

Refrigerate, cut and serve.

Notes: I managed to get the texture that Madhuram got (she cooked almost 3 cups of the pulp in 45-50 minutes on stovetop alone) only by a combination of stovetop cooking (an hour, in my case) and microwaving (another 6-8 minutes)- too much work considering that all I wanted to do was just use up some leftover pulp! This is definitely a lot of work for something that yields so little. The taste, despite a hint of sourness, is simply fantastic. I will make this again for sure, relying completely on my microwave the next time, to simplify things a bit to get the job done.