Recipes

This rich dal is a common recipe in most Bengali households. It is usually served for breakfast or on festive occasions and the vegetarians regard it as a delicacy that can be cooked without fuss.

Simmer celery in stock in a covered saucepan 15 minutes. Place celery and stock in a food processor or blender; add 1 cup of flaked crab meat, the milk solids, water, milk, salt, and mace. Puree mixture; pour back into saucepan. Heat crab mixture to simmering. Mix arrowroot with a little cold water; stir into crab mixture. Simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened. Stir in...

This is a healthy fish recipe where the fish fillets are not deep fried. The coconut milk adds to the nutritive value of the dish along with enhancing its taste.

A classic south Indian snack, masala vada is an all time favorite. It is protein rich due to the goodness of chana dal and is very easy to make. A baked version makes it much healthier without compromising on the taste.

An old-fashioned spice cake topped with delicious orange buttercream frosting.

This is a very common vegetarian dish in Bengali households. It is eaten during the summer and is served before the main non vegetarian dish of fish or meat. The drumsticks are plentiful in summer and contain numerous vitamins which makes the dish quite healthy as well as tasty

This is a twist on the traditional North Indian Keema masala. This does not have as many spices and hence the minced meat retains some of its nutrients making it both comparatively healthy as well as light.

Paris will always be a home away from home for Phil and I.  If we could, we’d fly back there more often, but unfortunately we go through several years of (switching briefly to Portuguese) “saudades de Paris”.  Saudade is a word from my native language that has no exact match is English. From Wikipedia: “Saudade describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic or deeply melancholic longing for an absent something or someone who one loves”.  The word originated in Portugal to describe the feelings of family members of sailors who would see them leave shore on the glorious days of Portuguese expeditions, uncertain of their return.  And the exact same feeling hit the sailors themselves, as the distance between them and their beloved country would get bigger and bigger.  It’s been 3 years since we’ve last been to Paris, so the “saudade” is intensifying quite a bit.  How do I deal with it? I indulge in reading some wonderful French food blogs, like Du Miel et Du Sel, where I found this post about a chocolate mousse. It was described as  “légère comme une plumme“, or “light as a feather”.  It delivered exactly what it promised, a mousse without the cloying nature that often sends it over the top for my taste. The secret? No egg yolks and no butter!  Just pure chocolate deliciousness MOUSSE AU CHOCOLAT (from Marie Claire,  Du Miel et du Sel) * 8 servings* 200 g dark chocolate (I used 72% cocoa) 200 g heavy cream 200 g egg whites (6 egg whites) pinch of salt 60 g sugar Cut the chocolate in small pieces and place inside a large bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a gentle boil, then pour it over the chocolate, one-third of the volume at a time, mixing well after each addition.  After all the cream is added, the chocolate emulsion should be very smooth, without any lumps. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt for a few minutes until they start to get some body.  At this point, add the sugar slowly, a little at a time, always whipping the eggs.  Beat until they form firm peaks. Mix 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate, no need to be gentle at this point, just mix it all well to lighten up the chocolate mixture.  Add the rest of the egg whites very gently, folding with a spatula, making sure not to deflate the egg whites too much.  Divide the mousse into 8 serving cups, refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. ENJOY! to print the recipe, click here We make desserts exclusively when we have guests over for dinner.  For this particular occasion, we had three very special guests at home, a Brazilian scientists who came over to give a talk, and two friends from KSU.   Our Brazilian guest not only is a great scientist and a dear friend, but once suffered through a tricky situation in our home in Oklahoma.  He came to give a talk in our former department (just like he did now at KSU), and on that evening we hosted a lab party that ended with a strawberry genoise cake.  By far the worst concoction I’ve ever made, one that my guests ate in silence, but not the “good” type of silence.  The bottom layer of my “masterpiece” had somehow turned into a solid rock, hard to cut even with a serrated knife!  I know, I know, how could anyone achieve that?  It was very embarrassing. I wanted to disappear from the face of the planet. Of course, once the initial shock was over,  we laughed about it, and everyone salvaged the top layer of the cake and left the concrete part untouched.   I’ve never attempted a genoise again, although my friend Gary, patissier extraordinaire, keeps telling me to go for it.  I will, once I get over that trauma (sigh). Anyway, I wanted to exorcise the demons of my past, and make a dessert that our guests would enjoy. A chocolate mousse light as a feather could not possibly turn into a rock, right?  Right.  This was the happy ending I was hoping for our pizza party.  You can make them big, you can make them s

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry; beat yolks until thick. Combine yolks, soup, bread, chicken, cheese, almonds, onion, and herbs; gently fold in whites. Pour into 1 1/2-quart casserole. Bake at 325°F. for 1 hour.

Cut veal into 6 pieces (about 6x4 inches); pound. Place 1 slice proscuitto on each piece veal; top with cheese. Roll up; fasten with toothpicks. In skillet, brown roll-ups in butter; push to side and cook onion with garlic until tender. Stir in soup and milk. Cover; cook over low heat 45 minutes or until tender. Stir now and then. Meanwhile, mix 1 cup water, cornmeal, and salt; pour into 3...