Healthy Butternut Squash Soup

My hubby surprised me with dinner at California Cafe on my birthday. It was a nice cozy restaurant and the seafood there was fabulous. We also had butternut squash soup which left a great impression on both of us. It was a very simple recipe with saffron, nutmeg and cinnamon. Butternut squash is rich in beta carotene and eating orange and yellow colored vegetables offers protection against cold and flu.

Today, while the cold winds have been roaring outside, we got butternut squash from Safeway on the way back home and I recreated this soup. It takes around 40 minutes to make this and it is a perfect recipe for the cold winter. The verdict- creamy texture, great flavor, yummy and it goes on the once-to-be-tried-every-week list.

Butternut squash

Ingredients
3 cups roughly cubed butter nut squash
1/8th teaspoon cinnamon powder or as desired
1/4 cup tangerine juice or mandarin orange juice or canned tangerine or mandarin orange( I used canned tangerine )
8-10 strands of saffron
2 pinches of nutmeg powder
3 tablespoon thick cream (I used 5 tablespoon reduced fat milk)
2 tablespoon butter
pepper and salt for garnishing

Method
Heat butter in a pan and caramelize the butternut squash till it is light brown on all sides. Don't let it loose its orange colour while caramelizing otherwise the soup may turn brown in color. I cooked it covered it on medium flame for 20 minutes with occasional stirring. Cool it for 10 minutes. Grind it into a smooth paste with the tangerine juice or canned tangerines or mandarin oranges, nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder, salt and pepper. Add salt carefully as the butternut squash is very flavorful. Add saffron and get the ground paste to a boil. Add thick cream and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Banana Flower Stir Fry / Bondi Upkari

I find this vegetable most of the times when I visit my local Indian grocery store. This stir fry is a very interesting combination of coconut and the banana flower. Banana flower is considered to be a little heaty for the body so I mostly make it in the winters and the cold season. We never used a lot of it in India, but I tried to make this like any other Upkari's or Sabzi's I make. It tastes great with rice and a spicy curry like Sambar.

Ingredients
1 banana flower
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 cup grated coconut
3 tablespoon gur or jaggery or sugar
2 dried red chilies
salt for taste

Method
Remove and discard the first few layer of petals (i remove at least 3-4 layer of petals) covering the banana flower and use the flowering buds found inside the petals. The petals are discarded as they are very fibrous in nature. Chop the rest of the flower into very fine pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the red chili and fry for a minute. Add the chopped banana flower and a cup of water. Cook covered for at least 30 minutes or till it is soft. Add gur or sugar and salt and cook for another 5 minutes. Garnish with grated coconut and serve hot.

Zucchini Spice Bread

This is the first time I participated in Taste and Create event, a challenging event hosted by Nicole of For the Love of Food. In this event two bloggers are paired against each other. Each of the paired bloggers has to select and make a dish from the other's blog and send the entry to the event. I feel that it is an amazing way to get to know other bloggers and expand one's horizon in the world of recipes. I was paired with Stephanie from Iron Stef . I short listed many of her recipes including Zucchini Spice Bread, banana bread , bruschettas, potato chips in microwave, Falafel. I loved the falafel recipe as it is on my soon-to-do-list but when I saw the zucchini spice bread I fell in love with it instantly. Both I and my husband love zucchini and I try to use it in soups and sabzi's. I also saw a Zucchini bread recipe in her blog, but choose the spice bread as it made use of plenty of spices. I used half quantity of whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour. I didn't have walnuts on hand, so I used cashew nuts and black raisins. Half way through the baking process the whole house was filled with the sweet aroma of spices. The bread was delicious and we had it for tea. Check out the recipe here.

Bruschetta

What do you do when you feel like eating something special without taking a lot of effort to make it? This weekend I made bruschetta for late evening snack. Bruschetta pronounced as "brusˈketta" is usually served as an appetizer along with soup. It is a beautiful dish which has all the three favorite Italian colors- White, Green and Red. It makes a tasty tangy and cheezzy snack to make without spending much time. The toppings may vary-one can experiment with different kinds of vegetables like pepper, beans; different meats and cheeses can be substituted as per one's taste. I have even seen fruit bruschetta's recipes made using peaches, apples and various cheeses in some of the television shows. My version includes cilantro which I love a lot and use to make the basil flavor a little milder. I am sending this recipe to WYF: Light Meal event announcement. I served it with coffee, but it can also be served with minestrone soup.

Ingredients

loaf of Italian bread or French bread or garlic bread
2 tomatoes
powdered parmesan cheese
olive oil
chopped coriander leaves or parsley as per one's choice
chopped basil
pepper and salt for taste

Method
De-seed the tomatoes and dice them. Slice the bread loaf into 1/2 inch pieces. Drizzle olive oil on the bread. Sprinkle the diced tomatoes, parsley or coriander leaves, basil and cheese on the bread. Sprinkle salt and pepper for taste. Bake the bread till the cheese melts on the bread. Serve immediately to avoid a soggy bruschetta.

Serve hot with minestrone soup.

Happy Diwali 2009

Hope this Diwali fills your year with joy, peace and prosperity and continues to brighten the rest of your life. Wishing you all a Very Happy Diwali.

My Diwali Nivedya thali (offering during puja)
Chole, Poori, Sheera, Chooda, Nariyal Barfi

Other Diwali Treats:

Bottle Gourd Barfi
Dudhpak

Narla Khadi / Coconut Khadi / Coconut Barfi / Nariyal Barfi / Coconut Fudge

My grandmom was an expert cook and sweets and snacks were her speciality. She would always make special items when we would visit her during the holidays. She also made various kinds of khadi's (burfi's)- rava, coconut, cashew nut, only milk burfi, banana and wheat khadi. This is one of her recipes passed on by my mom to me. This year I decided to leave behind all the rules of healthy diet and decided to make this coconut burfi. Though this takes a little longer than wheat and rava burfi, it is far more superior in taste that the other two. The verdict- the burfi just melts in mouth with the sweet and nutty flavor of the coconut.


Ingredients
2 cups grated coconut
1 cup besan or chick pea flour
1 1/2 cup whole milk (I used 1 cup whole milk and 1 cup milk powder as I had some on hand)
4 cups sugar
10-15 cardamom
1 cup ghee

Method
Roast the besan on low heat till it gives out a sweet smell. Let it cool down. Mix the grated coconut, milk, sugar and ghee.

Cook on a low flame till it leaves from the sides and almost solidifies. I take a pea sized sample of it and check if it solidifies upon cooling.

Pour immediately on a plate greased well with solid ghee (if liquid ghee is applied to the plate then the burfi sticks to the plate). Flatten it with the back of a glass so that it is smooth on the top. Cut into squares when hot. Cool it down and then separate the squares. Store in air tight container.


The above measurement makes around 75 burfi's.