Diwali Celebrations

A few weeks ago I had an afternoon soirée to honor the celebration of Diwali. Diwali is a holiday celebrated throughout parts of India for a period of five days.
Some of the details in the celebrations are the lighting of candles and oil lamps throughout the house, and of course, food. Glorious sweet and savory treats are to be shared and enjoyed together and throughout the days of celebration.

Here is the menu, and of course all made from scratch.

=Samosas
=Baingan Bharta (eggplant)

=Chapatis (flatbread)

=Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese)
=Cucumber Raita (yogurt with chopped cucumber and lime juice)
=Butter Chicken

=Dahl Makhani (black lentils with kidney beans)
=Goat Biryiani (goat meat with spiced rice)=Carrot Halwa (sweet milk and carrot pudding)
=Badam Phirni (sweet almond pudding)

Everything turned out absolutely delicious.
In addition to my significant other's immense contributions and his family's recipes, I have to give credit to Sanjay Thumma. His website www.vahrehvah.com really helped out with all of the preparations for this feast. Not only does his website have great recipes, but it also has wonderful videos demonstrating techniques. In addition to his website he has a separate blog. (He also seems very nice and in one of the videos I watched, his food actually brought tears to his eyes. Beautiful!)

We started the meal with a tea tasting of Three Chrysanthemum Blossoming Tea from the Red Blossom Tea Company in San Francisco.

I acquired the tea my last trip to the city, and was delighted to indulge in a tea tasting at their store in China Town.

The tea was a perfect start to our sumptuous feast and celebration. The buds opened up completely unleashing their sweet honeysuckle flavor.


We had the Samosas next, and I have to say for the first attempt at making these bundles of spicy potatoes and peas - they were crisp, and magnificent.


With the main courses, we sipped on Mango Lassis (yogurt and mango puree with a hint of sweetness, and just a bit of water to thin out the consistency) with shot glasses filled with chilled vodka and Lemons for a squeeze. The Lassi by itself was a delightful complement to the savory dishes, but with the vodka it gave that extra little citrus boost.


We spent all afternoon and evening reveling in the fabulous dishes we created as we discussed the significance and relevance of the celebrations we were acknowledging. There is nothing like enjoying food and friendship surrounded by candlelight and amazing aromas.

Creamy Roasted Squash and Saffron Soup

I absolutely love fall squash. Soups, tarts, pies, pasta you name it.
Being the season for the squash, I acquired both Butternut and Acorn Squash at the market the other day and I couldn't resist. This soup is so easily prepared. I could have added many varieties of root vegetables but I decided to keep it simple with just the Acorn and Butternut squash, and carrots.
Here we have the Creamy Roasted Squash and Saffron Soup:

1 med sized Butternut squash
1 med Acorn Squash
4 carrots chopped
1 med onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 stick butter
7 strands saffron
2 bay leaves
8 oz heavy cream
2-3 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
3 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Chop both squash, carrots, and garlic. Scoop out seeds from the squash and place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and bake in 425 degree oven until toasty and golden.
Place veggies on a baking sheet and dress with 3 pads of butter and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.

Sautee chopped onion in 3 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil until lightly golden. Add chopped garlic and sautee for one minute. Add veggies and stir to mix. Pour in stock to almost cover veggies. Add Bay leaves and Saffron. Simmer for at least 20-30 minutes. With an immersion blender blend soup till desired consistently. ( I left mine just a bit chunky, but mostly smooth)
Pour in cream and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
Serve with toasted seeds as garnish.

Gala Apple Crumble

The fruit crumble is such a simple and satisfying dessert, or breakfast for that matter. It takes hardly any time to assemble and yet the reward is sweet and satisfying.
I purchased some Gala Apples from Patterson Fruit Farm in Chesterland, Ohio and had every intention in creating a delicate apple pie. But, the apples slowly were eaten one by one and I ended up having only three left. This specific afternoon, I had just finished breakfast and happened to glance upon these three lonely Gala Apples just waiting to be turned into something delicious. Not really wanting to get into a long process of dough creation, the Crumble was the best option.
So here we have:

The Gala Apple Crumble

3 Gala Apples sliced, and then chopped into somewhat small pieces
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbs granulated sugar
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs butter
For Topping:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 Tbs oats
2 Tbs cold butter
pinch baking soda

In a medium mixing bowl add all ingredients from top section and stir to mix. Pour into greased baking dish of choice. (I used a bundt pan this time)
Using same bowl add all Topping ingredients and mix the cold butter in until it is a crumby texture. Pour topping onto the Apples.
Bake at 375 degrees til golden and bubbly, about twenty minutes.
As I mentioned above, I only had the three apples left so of course, the recipe can be multiplied for larger amounts. I served the Crumble with a little cream poured over top.
The creaminess and the apples that were both sweet and tart were a perfect afternoon delight.

Wine Braised Oxtails

Oxtails are made from time to time here in this household due to my significant other bringing these meaty morsels into my world some years ago. I had been trying to come up with different recipes using the Oxtail for some time. As usual, I find something I like, change it a bit, and throw some stuff together and then turn out with something that tastes wonderful. So here we have succulent:
Wine Braised Oxtails with Parsnips and Asparagus

11 Oxtails of varying sizes ( I had 6 large ones and 5 smaller)
2 large carrots (peeled)
5 stalks of celery with leaves
3 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
1 medium bunch parsley
4 bay leaves
1 1/2 bottles dry red wine
2-4 cups water depending
Pour wine into pot and boil to reduce by about half.
Add bay leaves and coarsely chopped parsley. Clean Oxtails, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides in deep pot.

Remove and set aside.
Coarsely chop all vegetables and in separate pan cook on low heat with a bit of butter and olive oil until softened.
Pour some of wine into Oxtail pot to de glaze the bottom.
Arrange Oxtails in pot in one layer and cover with vegetables.
Pour wine mixture over top and then fill with hot water until just covering the vegetables. Add more pepper and pinch salt.

Cover pot and place in 325 degree oven for at least 2 1/2 hours if not 3 hours.

Oxtails should be very tender and just about falling off of the bone.
When finished braising, pour over cheesecloth and strain out vegetables and set Oxtails aside. Reserve liquid and place over med/high heat to reduce. Whisk in pieces (2-4 Tbsp) of cold butter to thicken and silken sauce.

Parsnips:
8 Parsnips (peeled)
4 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup milk
(salt and pepper)
Boil Parsnips until soft, and then mash adding butter, milk, and salt and pepper.
Asparagus:
Trim ends and saute with butter, olive oil, and garlic. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Arrange items accordingly and pour sauce over Oxtails.

The Oxtails, Parsnips, and Asparagus made a perfect meal.

The tender and fatty oxtails, the sweet and creamy Parsnips, and the crisp and garlicky Asparagus, not to mention the rich and silky wine sauce ended up just being perfectly delicious.

White Chocolate and Espresso Pot de Creme

Ok, I have been out of the loop for a bit, the cooking just hasn't been happening around here lately. I had been wondering why something felt amiss, and that explains it...
I have been contemplating what my next sweet experiment would be, and this won. Previously, I experimented with the Pot de Creme, using a Belgium Bittersweet Chocolate, but this time we are going with Ghirardelli White Chocolate and some brewed espresso (no instant stuff around here).
My first attempt at the Pot de Creme was not as creamy as I would have liked, so I made sure these beauties did not fall to the same tragedy..Here we have:
White Chocolate and Espresso Pot de Creme

3 cups heavy cream (1 cup for whipping at the end)
1/2 cup whole milk
5 ounces White Chocolate
6 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly brewed Espresso

Chop chocolate into somewhat even pieces.
Combine 2 cups cream and milk in saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir occasionally until simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate pieces and stir until thoroughly melted. Set aside and let cool a few minutes.

In separate bowl whisk together eggs and sugar.
Slowly pour chocolate mixture into egg mixture stirring constantly.
Strain mixture into separate bowl and let cool another ten minutes or so.
In this recipe I filled six ramekins with the mixture that I have so far. I then stirred in the Espresso. The new mixture was then poured into the rest of the ramekins. So I ended up with the two different types.
Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or less, I like to take a peek around 30 minutes.
When finished, centers of custard should still jiggle a bit. Remove from oven and let cool.
Whip remaining cream until stiff and add a few Tbsps of confectioners sugar.
Top Pot de Creme accordingly.

As I mentioned above I was very careful on the cooking time, because I didn't want to end up with the consistency I got the first go around. And I have to be honest, that some of the Pot de Creme this time around fell to the same tragedy, but fortunately not all of them did!

The Espresso babies came out perfectly.

So creamy, and the flavor of the Espresso was bursting with the sweetness of the White Chocolate. But...a few of the White Chocolate, not so lucky. Don't get me wrong, the flavor was there, but they just weren't that perfect creaminess I am looking for.
There is always next time, and there will be, I promise!