One of my favorite meals as a child was my father’s goat curry with rice. He used to make it for us mostly on special occasions and the amazing smell of spices would fill our home. My younger brother and I would rush down the stairs and begin to argue about who would get the pieces with the marrow – “suckers” we used to call them. Now, some 20 years later, it’s still one of my favorite meals. And although we no longer argue over which pieces of meat we get, the memories are still there.

I created this recipe as a way to indulge in a bit of nostalgia with a twist. I love this recipe for the holidays because it’s easy to make for a large group of people and it offers a different spin on traditional Indian food. I prefer to use lamb when I make this, simply because it’s more readily available, but this method would work equally well with goat. Picking a full-bodied red wine to cook with helps balance out the spices and adds a heartiness that makes this a great go-to meal when paired with a creamy risotto.

Enjoy! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Ingredients:

For the lamb:

1/4 cup olive oil
4 medium lamb shanks
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon anardana (pomegranate) powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
5 cinnamon sticks
4 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 inch piece of ginger, grated
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 medium carrots, cut into rounds
1 – 28 ounce can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 bottle (375 mL) dry red wine (I used a Zinfandel)
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock or broth
Cilantro sprigs, for serving

For the risotto:

1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup Basmati rice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup frozen sweet peas
3 cups chicken stock or broth

Method:

For the lamb:

Heat half of the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the lamb shanks and saute until brown on each side, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer lamb shanks to a plate and set aside.

In the same pan, heat the remaining oil, keeping the heat at medium. Add the cumin, coriander, cloves, anardana, chili powder, fennel, cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon and bay leaves and saute for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the crushed garlic and grated ginger and cook for another 30 seconds, constantly stirring. Add the onions and stir continuously until all pieces are covered in spices and begin to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots and cook for another 3 minutes until they begin to soften.

Transfer spice, onion and carrot mixture to large stockpot over medium-high heat (will need to be large enough to fit all 4 lamb shanks). Add tomatoes, wine and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, constantly stirring. Once boiling, add lamb shanks and turn to medium-low. Cover the stockpot and cook until lamb is tender, approximately 2 hours.

Once lamb is tender, remove shanks from the stockpot and transfer to oven to keep warm. Cook the liquid uncovered on high for about 10 minutes, or until it begins to reduce.

To serve, plate one lamb shank with the risotto (recipe below) and pour sauce over it. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve immediately.

For the risotto:

Heat butter in a large pan (I like using a 2.5 quart cast iron dutch oven) over medium heat. Once melted, add cumin seeds and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shallots and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, or until rice also begins to turn translucent.

Add the chicken stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly. The rice will slowly begin to absorb the liquid. It’s important that you don’t let all of the liquid become absorbed, or you risk charring the rice. Continue to add the broth until the rice is tender, about 30 minutes.

Once rice is cooked, add the peas and stir for another 3-4 minutes. Serve immediately with the lamb and enjoy!

Anytime I’m invited to a party, my first thought is, I wonder what kind of food they’ll serve? A good guest list is nice and a theme is fun but if it’s a party with drinks and a cheese plate, in the words of my favorite internet celebrity, “ain’t nobody got time for that.” And while I don’t normally consider meatballs to be party food, these Indian-spiced meatballs are a fantastic twist on boring ol’ appetizers.

I made up a giant batch of these Indian-spiced meatballs on a regular ol’ weeknight. I served ’em with fancy little toothpicks, and we ate them standing around our kitchen counter, drinking water out of plastic toddler Ikea cups. We were celebrating just another week of food and family which is definitely worthy of celebration. And these meatballs were delicious! I can only assume they’d be even more perfect for a real party!

Ingredients:

20 oz. ground turkey
1 cup quick oats
1 cup milk
1/2 onion, diced finely
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra oil for frying

Method:

Heat oil in skillet. Fry diced onion until translucent. Mix with remaining ingredients. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of meat, roll into ball. Repeat with remaining meat mixture. Heat additional oil in skillet and fry meatballs. Serve with BBQ sauce, marinara, or queso.

Read full post: Party Meatballs

A beautiful comforting and homey pudding something that my grandmother often made as treat steamed in tightly closed stainless steel bowls until it reached soft comforting indulgent perfection.
The potent yet magical ingredient in this bread pudding are the raisins which can be soaked for up to a week. This pudding is adapted from a old fashioned family recipe. I know that it seems strange but my grandmother made many a bread pudding that were rich tasting, creamy and imbued with brandy instead of rum. Why brandy? Oh well! Dida (my grandmother) believed that a shot of brandy would chase away some very bad chills except that we never had too many of those chills and the brandy remained.
Raisins were soaked in that brandy and tossed into a fairly creamy rich bread pudding and the rum and raising bread pudding happened.

Ingredients:

½ cup large raisins
1/2 cup pineapple rum
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups half and half
2 cups white bread cubes (the bread should be at least a couple of days old and brioche and challah bread)
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
For the sauce
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
Zest and juice of 2 clementines
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
mint springs to garnish

Method:

Place the raisins in a small bowl, pour on the rum, and set aside to soak while
preparing the batter. You can soak this well up to 3 to 4 hours or even over night.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes
until nice and thick. Add the vanilla extract and half and half and beat well.
Toss the bread cubes in the melted butter and place in a 10-inch to 12-inch square casserole. Pour in the rum and raisin mixture and mix lightly to distribute
evenly. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes and mix well.
Place the casserole in a deeper ovenproof dish and fill with 2 inches of water. Place the pans in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes, until the mixture is golden and well risen. Turn off the oven and let the pudding cool in the oven for at least 30 minutes before serving.
In the meantime place the cranberries, sugar, zest and clementine in a saucepan and let it cook on low heat. Gradually the sugar will melt and the cranberries will softly begin to pop, and dissolve into a soft tangy sweet mass of delightful and vivid sauce.
Pour the sauce over the pudding.
To serve add the pudding into serving bowls topped with springs of mint and serve.

Read full post: Rum and Raisin Bread Pudding with a Cranberry Mint Sauce

The most favorite cookie of this season without eggs….

Ingredients:

for cookie;
1 1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
3/4 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Sugar powder
1/2 cup Unsalted melted butter
3 tbls Milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
for coating;
2 tbls Sugar powder
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
some small decorating candies(optional)

Method:

Method:
* Mix sugar powder and cinnamon powder and keep it aside for coating the cookies at last.
* Mix all purpose flour, sugar powder, baking powder, baking soda & salt in a bowl.
* Combine them very well.
* Mix melted butter, milk & vanilla extract in another bowl and mix well.
* Add melted butter and milk mixture to dray ingredients.
* Fold them in till you gets smooth dough.
* Chill the dough in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.
* Preheat oven to 330* F.
* Line baking tray with parchment paper.
* Now Take out dough from fridge.
* Make smooth equal balls from dough.
* Roll all balls into prepared cinnamon-sugar mixture and coat well.
* Arrange the cookies on the baking tray, flatten them slightly.
* Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or till the edges are medium brown in color.
* Remove from oven and sprinkle some decorating small candies.
* Wait for 5 minutes.
* Remove from baking tray and let them cool down completely on cooling rack.
*Enjoy !!!!

Read full post: Snickerdoodle Cookies