I♥CC: January Potluck with Madhur Jaffrey-Cranberry, Ginger and Garlic Chutney~

It’s time for a Madhur Jaffrey Potluck at I♥CC!  That means we can cook any Madhur Jaffrey recipe we choose.  That always makes for a really fun round up!  I selected a recipe, introduced a few months back by Mike of You Are Here: Cranberry, Ginger and Garlic Chutney.  Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s “East/West Menus for Family and Friends”  Mike is right.  It’s hard to stay out of it.  I’ve made it twice…once at Thanksgiving…when I couldn’t quite talk myself into putting in the garlic….*hangs her head* and then again at New Year’s when I served it with…ham!

You start with a can of cranberry sauce… I haven’t had a can of cranberry sauce in the house for 30 years!  LOL!  So…open up a package of cranberries, pour them into a dish, rinse them off and check them for  any that might be spoiled.

I went ahead and added the spices to my cranberries as they were cooking.  I figured it would bring the spicy essences out more…mmm….!  For a bag of fresh cranberries, I usually add 1 1/2 cups water, 1 cup sugar or any sweetener you choose (honey is nice), strips of zest of 1 orange and chunks of the completely peeled orange.  Adding in a bit of vinegar plays off the citrus-acid, and all those warm spices…this makes an incredible side sauce.  Don’t worry about the garlic.  It just adds another wonderful dimension to the flavor.

Sadly… I didn’t take any END pictures.  I thought I had!  So…I’ll have to make some more…and very frankly…it’s the end of football season and this chutney would be great over a block of cream cheese…with that little cayenne…”YeeeHaaaw!” in there!  Yummm!  And look…it will be a lovely 49’er red when it’s cooked!  *Ü*

Happy New Year!!

As I was reading a popular food oriented web site the other day, I was inspired to challenge myself to something kind of fun, and yet rather practical too.   The article mentioned that today’s home chef should be able to put out four creditable desserts:  Creme Brulee,

Chocolate Lava Cake,

Meyer Lemon Souffle,

and Pear and Almond Tart.

I don’t exactly have a dessert repertoire.   I can do a couple things relatively well, more jazz than substance, so I get away with it.  It’s time to fix that.  That’s the plan, anyway!  Over the next few months (too hot for any dessert except fruit and ice cream in the May-September months!) and maybe finishing off in the fall, I’d like to master these desserts.  I’ve made a creme brulee, but it wasn’t traditional.  I’ve made souffles too, just not the dessert variety.  It can’t be that much different, can it? That leaves the tart as the big intimidator…but…this really doesn’t look all that tough.  So…what’s stopping me?  I don’t know, but desserts intimidate me!  LOL!  Oh, this is going to be fun!

I♥CC: Jaffrey-style Appetizers-Quick Fried Shrimp~

The start-of-the-year theme at I ♥ Cooking Clubs is Appetizers.   What an appropriate theme!  Much as we start a meal, we will start our year with a tidbit that will make you want more…need more… My selection in this quest is found in Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking, page 187: Quick Fried Shrimp.

These are evil, addictive little creatures.  They were a little too easy to put together as well.  I put my flour and spices in a small brown paper bag and cooked batches of 4 shrimp at a time in my little wok.   The seasoned flour makes the most delicate crust on the shrimp that is simply wonderful!

These turned out to be the star of the night when we did “Rice is Nice.”  Neither of us were particularly hungry, and I “needed” to cook rice…but with what?  So we had the shrimp with the rice, and edamame on the side.  This was also about mid-early December after some busy times.  That’s okay. I could eat these lil suckers just about anytime.  I’m thinking they need to be paired with a nice little steak.  Next time.

Our next theme is Potluck…we get to choose any Madhur Jaffrey recipe we wish.  That leaves quite a wide playing field!  Drop by I♥CC and check out what the group is doing… I’ve found some incredibly awesome recipes that way!