http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishRecipesinpictures/~3/W44gKjs7p70/tunas-tartare-with-fruits-vinaigrette.html

It's high time I post a recipe again! I have this wonderful Tuna's tartare that I want to share...

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishRecipesinpictures/~3/RsHGPzboCXg/duck-with-pears-aromatized-with-anise.html

Would you (American readers) consider cooking duck instead of turkey this coming Thanksgiving? Or...

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Dukka (or Dukkah)

If you're someone who never manages to use up the nuts or spices you buy for a recipe dukka (aka dukkah) could be your salvation. Basically it's a ground up mixture of roasted nuts, spices and dried herbs in which to dunk bread or raw vegetables. It appears to originate from Egypt though has become very fashionable in Australia. And it's dead tasty.

To keep down the cost if you're making it from scratch buy one of those packs of mixed chopped nuts. I'm not mad about their flavour normally but if you roast them and mix them with spices they taste fine - just nicely nutty. And - hopefully it doesn't need saying by now - buy your spices from a ethnic grocer rather than from the supermarket. You'll pay a fraction of the price.

Makes about 250g mix - enough to feed a group of six to eight though obviously check no-one has a nut allergy.

100g chopped mixed nuts
75g sesame seeds
25g coriander seeds
10-12g cumin seeds
1 level tsp dried oregano
1 level tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4

Spread the nuts and seeds on separate baking trays or tins and roast them in the oven until lightly coloured and fragrant - about 7-8 minutes for the nuts, 4-5 minutes for the coriander and seeds and 3-4 minutes for the sesame seeds. (It might sound a faff roasting them separately but you don't want to overcook them. You could toast the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan if you like. The main thing is to watch them like a hawk).

Set the nuts and spices aside to cool. Put the nuts and peppercorns into a food processor or spice grinder, pulse a few times then add the coriander, cumin and sesame seeds and oregano and salt and pulse again. Don't overdo it - you want a rough textured mixture that looks like coarse breadcrumbs (see below). If you haven't got a food processor you could use a pestle and mortar to grind everything up but that's obviously harder work.

Serve with good olive oil, chunks of bread or warm pitta bread and raw veg like carrots and radishes. It's also great as a sprinkle over roast vegetables or you can use it as a coating for soft goats' cheeses - or a topping for roast fish. You could add a few chilli flakes if you want to spice it up but this version is better for kids (provided, just to stress it again, they're not allergic to nuts).

You can keep any leftover dukka for a week or two in an airtight tin or plastic box though you might want to refresh it in the oven for 2-3 minutes before you serve it.


By the way the beetroot dip in the rather messy pic above (suddenly remembered I should snap it half way through eating it) is made from a couple of vac-packed beets - a recipe I adapted from Stephen Markwick's A Well-Run Kitchen. You simply chop them up and whizz them with 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, about a teaspoon of ground roast cumin, a pinch of hot pimenton or cayenne pepper and 3 tbsp olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.

ULUTHANKALI / URAD DAL KALI

I hope u all would have tasted this at the time of puberty. Generally grannys used to give this for the teen age girls to make the bones strong.When my paati gave this for me, i hesitated a lot to eat this .But now i know its importance. Nowadays at this early age, we get pains in joints and back very often.We are not able to bend continuously for sometime.We get pain in spine.This shows the weakness of our bones. So its better to have urad dal in our regular diet to avoid all these problems.Apart from eating idly/dosas and vadas , i feel this is also a good choice of including urad dal in our daily diet..

Now coming to the recipe,

INGREDIENTS:

URAD DAL – 4 TBSP JAGGERY or PALM JAGGERY  – 4 TBSP GINGELY OIL – 2 TBSP CARDAMOM SEEDS – 2 NOS WATER – AS NEEDED.

METHOD:

• In a kadai ,roast the urad dal till golden yellow. Powder it in a mixie adding cardamom seeds. Store it in an air tight container.
• Now take 4 tbsp of urad dal powder in a bowl and mix  2 cups of water.
• Cook the urad dal for 7-8 mins. It thickens . Stir well for sometime and make sure there are no lumps formed.
• Now add the powdered jaggery and mix well . Keep the fire in low flame. Allow it to boil till the raw smell of jaggery emanates.
• Add the gingely oil and stir well.U'll get a glossy , sliding non sticky kali is ready to njoy ..

Delicious , healthy uluthankali is ready to eat !!

NOTE :

• If u use palm jaggery instead of jaggery , dissolve in water and make a syrup. Strain and use.

KITCHEN CLINIC

URAD DAL Urad, also referred to as the urad bean, urad, urid, black gram, black lentil or white lentil (Vigna mungo) is a bean grown in southern Asia. It is largely used to make dal from the whole or split, dehusked seeds. Black gram originated in India where it has been in cultivation from ancient times and is one of the most highly prized pulses of India. It has also been introduced to other tropical areas mainly by Indian immigrants. The bean is boiled and eaten whole or after splitting into dal; prepared like this it has an unusual mucilaginous texture. Ground into flour or paste, it is also extensively used in culinary preparation like dosa, idli, vada, and papad. It is very nutritious and is recommended for diabetics, as are other pulses. Though very beneficial in limited quantities excessive intake causes flatulence, which some sources claim can be prevented by adding a little asafoetida, pepper and ginger in the culinary preparations. It is very popular in Punjabi cuisine of India and Pakistan where it is known as 'maanh'. The product sold as 'black lentil' is usually the whole urad bean or urad dal. The product sold as 'white lentil' is the same lentil with the black skin removed. HEALTH BENEFITS & NUTRITION Black beans with a white center are sold as urad in many Indian groceries. As halved beans, they are called urad dal. Urad dal is available unhusked with its black seed coat and husked. A one-cup of urad dal serving contains 189 calories, 13 grams of protein, 12 grams of fiber (about half a day's worth) and one gram of fat. Black gram requires only minimal soaking -- about half an hour -- before cooking, which takes another 30 to 40 minutes. In India, mung beans are the common man's meal. They're very popular and are eaten throughout India, from Kashmir to Tamilnadu in the south. Most popular South Indian dishes contain urad, e.g., Idli, Dosa, Uthappam, Vada etc.

 

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How to Eat for $7 or Less a Day

Welcome new readers! If you found my blog in the US News & World Report story about living on a budget on Yahoo! Finance and are looking for budget shopping and cooking ideas, please check out my Hunger Challenge posts. You'll find recipes, tips and more.

Thanks!

Amy

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION! ©2011 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy, the Oyster Local blog or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

Bread Baking Babes - Dan's Garlic Bread

Miracles of miracles I managed to bake this months Bread Baking Babes Bread - Dan's Garlic Bread from Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies.

This is a FANTASTIC garlic bread. At first the recipe intimidated me, but it's not hard or complicated, it just takes a while.

You start by cooking some whole garlic cloves and making them fabulous. When you dough is ready they get kneaded in.

The dough is cut into 3 loaves for baking. I think I overworked the dough at the cutting and forming stage, but they came out very rustic and adorable.

If Scott hadn't been home when I made this, and knew that there were 3 loaves, I would have eaten a whole one myself. Can I say it again? Fabulous.

You guys will want to make this. Go and visit Natashya and get the recipe here.

Happy Saturday!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishRecipesinpictures/~3/Pf0ZBQWOxcE/morcilla-and-pumpkin-risotto.html

My monument to the Italian Risotto! What a delicious dish it is... that flavored creamy rice can...

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