Ghee

Ghee is a traditional Indian preparation of clarified butter. I like to use butter for roasting and as my go to fat for high heat cooking. Ghee is pretty expensive here in Ohio-san. And since butter is NOT expensive, I decided to go ahead and make my own.

Melt the butter over medium heat.

Once the butter is all melted, the clear fat will separate from the milk solids and continue to simmer over medium heat.

After simmering for 10 minutes, the milk solids will start to brown and sink to the bottom, remove the pan from heat.

Strain the hot ghee through a triple layer of cheesecloth.

Yipee!

Now you can store the ghee in a sealed glass jar. You don't have to store it in the fridge... but you might want to just in case.

Chicken and Veggie Tikka Marsala

• Hello friends! Now that I no longer work full time, I have time to update and cook! 

John and I have relocated (yet again) to Troy, OH. We are going to be here for a while. (Awesome.) This is pretty exciting news. We have moved every year since we've been together. Sometimes we move twice since we love moving so much! But we have no plans of moving again in the near future, so my boxes in the attic can gather some dust and our stone can stop rolling so we can gather some moss. 

Below are two recipes. One for Chicken Tikka Marsala and one with just veggies. Despite John's constant protest, I have stopped eating meat. Except for fish. I like putting fish in my mouth.

• 
  
• Marinade for Chicken Tikka Marsala: 
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 
  

 

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour (Or overnight).

On a cast iron pan or grill over medium heat, cook chicken until the juices run clear. 

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

For fancy rice:

1 cup of rice

2 tablespoons of butter

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 tablespoon of turmeric

Put it in the rice cooker and give it a good stir with the water stars boiling.

When the rice is done, stir in a cup of frozen peas. (The heat of the rice will defrost the peas for you.)

Vegetarian Tikka Marsala 

• Mushrooms - 1/2 cup
• Peas -1/2 cup
• Carrots - 1/2 cup
• Cauliflower - 1/2 cup
• Potato - 1/2 cup
• Yogurt  - 1 cup
• Lemon juice  - 1 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1 inch. (chopped)
• Garlic - 3 (chopped)
• Onions - 2 (chopped)
• Turmeric Powder  - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
• Oil/Butter - 2 tablespoon
• Cardomom - 2-3 no's
• Coriander leaves - A bunch
• Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste     

• Smooth blend the yoghurt ,chopped ginger, garlic and onions into a blender.
• Add the lemon juice, salt and Pepper and mix well.
• Add the spices ,coriander leaves and blend all  until nicely mixed.
• Heat the butter in a pan and melt until the butter starts slightly bubbling, add the blended ingredients into it.

• Make the cardomom pods into poedre form and add to the sauce. 
• Add the  vegetables , mix gently and add the rest of the Coriander leaves.
• Cook on low heat till the vegetables are done.

Serve over your turmeric rice.

YUM!

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Coming at ya from Kettering, Ohio.....

The Fatty is back!

The last two months has been very crazy. Packing up all our belongings in to a truck and moving to Ohio from California was more than an adventure than we were hoping.

The great news is that we are now in our new apartment, I have a kitchen of my own and no *beep* messing with my *beep*

beeeepppppppppppppppppppppppp.

Autumn here is more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I am told at least once a day that I am going to freeze my tush off in the near future. Since that is going to be the case, I am going to have warm up my soup making skills.

John and I are going to give in to our old people souls and just eat soup all the time. Soup is the glue of our relationship. Our love for soup is what keeps us together.

I kid.

As a warning, this soup is going to take about 3 hours to make, so I suggest you do this on an off day when you are sit at home and enjoy the wonderful smell of roasted veggies and the heat from the oven while everyone freeze their butts off outside.

• 1/2 butternut squash, seeds removed cut into 3 large pieces
• 1 lb . carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 3 bell peppers, stemmed & seeded, and cut into large chunks
• 10 oz. fingerling potatoes, or any small potato, cut in half
• 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, stems removed
• 1/2 head of garlic, don’t remove paper
• 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled, stems removed & quartered
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon of dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1 – 14 oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 1/2 -2 quarts chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make it vegetarian)
• 2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the butternut squash in a large baking pan and season with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl toss the remaining vegetables through onion with olive oil, salt and pepper, the rosemary  and and thyme. After the squash roasts for 30 minutes, add the remaining vegetables and roast for another hour to hour and a half until they’re tender. Toss them around every 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven once tender and pick out the thyme, rosemary (toss these) and garlic (keep this). Remove skins from the butternut squash and add all the vegetables & the fire-roasted tomatoes to a large stockpot, barely cover with chicken broth. Squeeze garlic cloves out of the skin.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes then puree with an immersion or regular blender. Add chicken broth until it reaches the consistency you want. I added 1.5 quarts and 2 bay leaves. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning the bottom. Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.

Yea.... I am all over it...

Even Butterscotch likes it... Although Comrad doesn't....

Vegetarian Lasagna

Summer contains so many wonderful things. Plants blooming, summer squashes, days laying out in the grass... Watching Comrad sleep in the shade.

We have been thoroughly obsessed with our local Farmer's Market. On Sunday mornings, we get out of bed early, have a giant breakfast and speed our way down to the Farmer's Market with my Monkey Tote. Our budget is usually $20, including vegetables and fruits in our selection.

We recently watched a documentary called Future of Food. It's a movie about the food industry and how genetically enhanced foods are not required to be labeled, which are ever so present in our grocery store. It's pretty grotesque.

Since we began shopping at the Farmer's Market, it gives me a great chance to cook with seasonal foods. The first stand that we encounter when we get in to the Farmer's Market is a stand with a very friendly woman whom I always purchase my squashes from. We brought 5 baby cucumbers to pickle, and I brought 4 summer squashes and 4 zucchinis.

Let the layering begin.

Vegetarian Lasagna

• 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 6 cups marinara sauce
• 24 ounces low-fat cottage cheese
• loads of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped herbs (basil, parsley, or thyme)
• 4 summer squashes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 zucchini , cut lengthwise into slices 1/4–1/8-inch thick
• 1 lb of mushroom sliced
• 1 white onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1/3 cup chopped basil
• 1 cup of red wine

Directions:

Sauté vegetables until they are cooked through. Set aside.

 To make the marinara sauce, begin by heating the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and stir until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes, add red wine and let simmer for 5 minutes, and tomatoes and simmer for 25 minutes. Stir in the basil, 2 sprigs of thyme and 2 sprigs of parsley and add salt and pepper to taste, then simmer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°. In the bottom of a 8" x 12" pan add 1/3 cup of sauce and place a layer of dry noodles. On top of that, add about 1/3 of the marinara sauce, about 1/2 of the cottage cheese, and about 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle herbs over the top, and add a layer of vegetables. Repeat the process. Finish with a layer of noodles, then top with tomato sauce and a thick layer of mozzarella cheese.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife pokes easily through the lasagna. Remove the plastic and foil and bake at 450° for 10 minutes, or until the top is browned.

Remove lasagna from the oven and let sit for 20 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil leaves or other fresh herbs.

It doesn't look good, but I swear it taste good. The noodles weren't holding up all the cheesy madness!!!

Penne with Vodka Sauce

I am on a quest to make all pasta sauces, it's very similar to the Rebel's Resistance against the Empire...

Empire of Jar Pasta Sauces!!!

We went shopping on Sunday, John wanted to get me a hand chopper device so I no longer have to shed tears when a dish calls for onions. What's better than that, was when we were at William Sonoma, he also brought me.... A STAR WARS APRON!

Now, if ewoks were real, my life would be complete...

INGREDIENTS

• olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, diced  
• 1 shallots, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 14 oz can of tomato sauce
• 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 pound dried Penne
• 1 cup heavy cream
•  3 tablespoons vodka
• 3 tea spoons of Italian parsley
• Martini at hand for drinking while watching water boil.

The Plan:

Boil water with a teaspoon of salt for the pasta.


In a large pan on medium heat, cook shallots and garlic in olive oil until golden brown then add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, bring to a boil, then let it simmer for about 20 minutes until sauce is reduced to half. Stir in cooked pasta and let it heat through.

Stir in vodka, then stir in cream.

Let sauce simmer until desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with sprinkle parsley on top and top with mozzarella cheese. (Optional- I am not one to say No to cheese.)

 This is TONS more creamy than the pre-made sauce. It was delicious and great for a Monday night dinner.