Indian Tomato Soup and Chapati Breads

A warm and soothing supper, very light and completely healthy!
Perfect for a cold winter night, as it was tonight for us!

If you weren't previously aware, I'm really into wholesome and healthy eating; it's such a better way to live. Sure you can consume sugars and all, but it's just kept to a minimum. Life is good this way, full of colour and flavour, and free of guilt, that extra midrift padding and you're simply chipper!
Ahem... anyway! Moving on!

The tomato soup is nice and light, no cream or anything, just good tomato flavour.
The chapati is usually half-white half-wholewheat flours, but I just replaced both with white whole wheat. Haha!

The way I organise it is I make the chapati dough, and when it is setting (it takes 30-45 minutes), I make the soup. When the soup is finished simmering, I fry up the bread as I blend up the soup.

CHAPATI BREAD

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour *
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup hot water or as needed


METHOD

1. In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the olive oil and enough water to make a soft dough that is elastic but not sticky. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth. Divide into 10 parts, or less if you want bigger breads. Roll each piece into a ball. Let rest for 30-45 minutes. (This is when I make the soup; then set it on the simmer. I fry the bread when the soup is ready.)

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot, and grease lightly. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the balls of dough until very thin like a tortilla. When the pan starts smoking, put a chapati on it. Cook until the underside has brown spots, about 30 seconds, then flip and cook on the other side. Continue with remaining dough.


INDIAN TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. of ripe tomatoes remove seeds, peeled and chopped*
2 tbsp of Olive Oil
1 Onion chopped
1 Clove of garlic crushed
1 Small red pepper chopped (optional)
4 Cups of chicken or vegetable stock
2 oz of tomato paste
1/4 cup of Basil

*I used a 28 oz. can of diced tomato


METHOD

Heat the oil in a heavy pan, cook the onion, garlic and red pepper till soft.
Add the tomato and cook another 10 minutes.
Add the tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly and put the mixture in a blender until it is smooth.
Return to the pan and heat gradually.
Add the fresh basil to the tomato soup, cook 2 minutes and serve.

Enjoy together, yum yum!

Cucumber Cups with Smoked Trout Mousse, Lemon and Dill

These are the most refreshing hors d'oeuvres I know of and have used them on multiple occasions. The cucumber cups are the easiest thing to make; half the time I don't even do the scooping from the centre of the slice, which at times they may be termed more appropriately 'Cucumber Platters' than 'Cups'.



I loved it whenever people saw these green circles topped with the beige, gold and green being set out on the hors d'oeuvres table and asked what they were.
The mere sound of 'herring mousse' sent 'oohs' and 'aahs' through the room.
It sounded so bourgeois. But it's so incredibly simple! It's all in the name, as I frequently say.

The herring mousse has a strong flavour, so I would lend this recipe towards a more adult reception. Especially if there are spicy appetizers available nearby, or people are having relatively strong drinks, these are fit in as truly lovely and soothing.

When making the mousse, add the herring in ever so gradually, tasting it to ensure you don't ruin the mousse by too strong a flavour. Yes, I did just that! Thankfully with a further addition of lemon juice and cream cheese it evened out, but I had far more mousse than I needed! Fortunately we had two other occasions coming up, so I was able to use it then. It keeps quite well in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I'd recommend, to make things easier, to make the mousse up to 1 day in advance. Cover and refrigerate it of course, and fill the cucumber cups up to 1 hour before serving.
The cucumber cups themselves can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Call me strange, but I never liked cucumber until just recently I did; and for no reason either. It was the oddest thing; all my life they've made me awkwardly nautious, but then suddenly one day a few months ago I tried them and "Delicious, this is more refreshing than watermelon!" And I haven't let it go since.
It must have been my Mother's cuisine and use of it, I'm sure; she can make anything taste delicious. Honestly, until I tasted her peas-bacon-cashew-and-gruyere salad, I thought I would never appreicate blue cheese. I love my her!



CUCUMBER CUPS WITH SMOKED TROUT

Makes 20

1/4 lb smoked herring
1/2 Cup cream cheese
1/2 t grated lemon zest
1 T lemon juice
cayenne pepper

1 recipe cucumber cups (recipe below)
1 tsp paprkia for dusting
20 super-thin lemon peel slices to garnish
20 dill sprigs to garnish*

ESSENTIAL EQUIPTMENT
piping bag with a large star tip

*I used dried dill from my spice cupboard instead; we didn't have sprigs available, and it still gave a nicely added texture.


Method

Place cream cheese, zest and juice in a food processor or blender; pulse to a smooth paste. Add herring gradually, not using all of it, or using more to taste.
Add cayenne pepper to taste.
Fill piping bag with mousse and pipe into cucumber cups.
Dust with paprika and garnish with dill sprigs and curled lemon peel.



CUCUMBER CUPS

Makes 20

1 cucumber

ESSENTIAL EQUIPTMENT
1 1/2-inch fluted pastry cutter, melon baller

Cut cucumber into about 20 3/4-thick slices. Cut each slice with the pastry cutter.
Using the melon baller, scoop out the soft centres to make cups, leaving a 1/4-inch layer as a base.

You can make these cups up to 2 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Phyllo Tartlets with Spicy Cilantro Shrimp

Sweet, spicy, easy to make and with a cooling little crunch!


Invited to an hors d'oeuvres party at a friend's home, choosing to bring this recipe was sure to be pleasantly spicy variation to the array of fancy nibbles.

This has a delicious main flavour of sweet chilli sauce, with a touch of refreshing cilantro to help soothe the tang. We had no sweet chilli sauce available, so I made some fresh. It carmelised and failed miserably, so I tried again with the help of my Mother, and consequently it came out beautifully. She has such incredible talent, the way she can turn things around!

I assembled these tartlets upon arriving at my host's home otherwise the sauce would have soaked the phyllo tartlets. And that wouldn't have been very good.
If you are using frozen cooked shrimp, as I did, defrost in a colander. When defrosted, squeeze out water with your hands and pat dry with paper towels.

You'd want to make the filling a day in advance, covering it and leaving it in the refrigerator. Then fill the tartlets up to 45 minutes before serving.


FILO TARTLETS WITH SPICY SHRIMP

Makes 20

Ingredients

2 t sesame seeds
1/4 lb medium shrimp, cooked and peeled
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
5 T Thai sweet chilli sauce
20 phyllo tartlets *

*I admit I purchased them from the store. Extremely handy and there's a library of fillings to choose from for them!


Method

Toast seeds in a dry pan over low heat until golden brown, 3 minutes.
Combine shrimp, cilantro, and chilli sauce.
Spoon into tartlets and garnish with toasted seeds.

So simple.
Enjoy!

Cream of Cucumber Soup

I needed a nice chilled soup to serve alongside a meal, and since we had several cucumbers, I began googling and comparing soups until this one truly interested me.

Just the idea of blending romaine with cucumbers then adding avocado! How much fresher and refreshing could a chilled soup become? Besides, the theme of the rather Italian meal was avocado, so this fit in perfectly.

This was served alongside Herbal Cheese Rolls before the main dish was brought in, and the gently cool texture really stimulated the appetite in such a soothing way.
I found it really made conversation more comfortable, definitely something to keep a note on for posterity!


CREAM OF CUCUMBER SOUP

4 romaine lettuce leaves, chopped (about 1.5 cups) (I use tightly packed cups)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup water
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t crushed garlic (1 clove)
1/4 t salt
1/2 ripe avocado, chopped
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T minced fresh herbs, or 1 t dried (I use parsley)

Place the lettuce, cucumber, water, lemon juice, garlic, and salt in a blender and process until smooth. Add the avocado and EVOO and blend again until smooth. Add the herbs and blend briefly to mix. Serve immediately. For a chilled soup, refrigerate for 2 hours before servings.

My note: I doubled the recipe of course, and also added a little more lemon juice.
My mother tossed in some fresh basil and it really worked! Since the food culture of the evening was Italian, the basil only embellished the theme.

Garnishing idea: We sprinkled the top with chopped chives and a miniscule drip of whipping cream.

Nifty Banana Souffles in their Skins

Upon seeing these in a recipe book, at once I chose the next available breakfast to make them. I find myself making desserts many times for breakfast, but as no complaints are lodged, perhaps it isn't a bad idea! Another dessert I have made before for brekafats which comes to mind - I've made it thrice, to be honest - was the Grand Marnier Crepe Cake, a favourite of my lovely sister Catherine.

Anyway, I love souffles, and having never made banana souffle, I looked them up in my recipe book, and these came up. It remided me of when I made curry potatoes, where you halve the potatoes, scoop out the flesh, stir-fry the flesh with spices and then return it to the skin before baking them all and serving with sour cream.
I did result in a large quantity of left-over souffle mixture after this, so I made a big souffle for the next day's breakfast, since I had already served pre-made Apple Spice Bread alongside these little souffles for breakfast.

Note: The recipe only serves two people, as it is a dessert. I doubled the recipe, giving everyone one each (some fortunates recieved two), and the rest of their hunger was satisfied with another recipe of Apple Bread. So unless you are not serving these after dinner, I'd recommend pairing them with something more substantial!

NIFTY BANANA SOUFFLES IN THEIR SKINS

Overall timing: 25 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients

4 Ripe Bananas
2 T Butter
6 T Sugar
Vanilla
2 T Rum
2 Large Eggs
2 T Confectioners' Sugar

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Make two lengthwise slits with a sharp knife at the top of each banana, leaving the skin joined at the stalk end. Roll back skin. Remove banana pulp with a teaspoon and place in a bowl. Mash well to a puree.
Put the banana puree into a saucepan with the butter, sugar, a few drops of vanilla and the rum. Cook for about 3 minutes over a low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Separate eggs. Stir yolks into the banana mixture. Place pan in cold water to cool mixture quickly. Beat egg whites till firm, then lightly fold into cold banana mixture with a metal spoon.
Fill banana skins with mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately with pouring cream.

Chicken and Prawn Money Bags

If ever you are throwing a hors d'oevres party and want a more cultural nibbley-dibbley, or you are having Chinese food and would like an entree, I have relied on the almighty Money Bags to solve the issue for a while! More ommonly known as 'wontons', one of the best things about them is the fact you can do almost anything to the filling and it hardly matters! Of course, having a good, tasty filling is optimal, but the diversity in wonton fillings is incredible! (of course, I wouldn't recommend going with vegemite and sweet chilli sauce with cream cheese, but hey, if *you* like it.....!)

Recently I've developed an interest in dumplings, but they are, I grant you, slightly more difficult to make; they must be kept steamed until just before serving and you can't really lump them together, amid other complications... Wontons though, you can even make a dumpling recipe and then toss then in the oil and make wonton-like yummies. Wontons can thence be kept in the oven on a slightly warm temperature till serving time. Very handy.

Putting together a good filling for the wontons isn't difficult, but I would recommend making it a day in advance, or at least a few hours. This is because it's meant to marinate and as we all know, the longer in marinates, all the difference in world! It usually composes of chicken and prawns, but I occasionally use pork, like in dumplings; personally I like the filling to have that denser, chewier consistency pork gives after biting through the golden crackling shell of the fried wrapper.

You can even make the wontons and setting them on a tray dusted with cornstarch, cover it all with cling wrap and freeze it until needed. Very handy if you're catering, which I did once when taking a 5 hour drive to Massachusetts for New Years a few years back. Fry them and pair it with say, a nice plum sauce, and there you are!

For those of us who like things a little fancier, after frying and cooling the wonton, you can then slice a strip of spring/green onion and tie it around the neck of the 'money bag'. It really adds to the effect, and livens up the colour of the dish, especially when paired with the plum sauce, you then have the gold of the wonton, the dark red of the sauce and the bright green of the onion.

Aye, very bourgeois.

And for those of us who really like to have as much in the recipes made at home as possible, you can even make the wrappers.

Don't be daunted. In the beginning, it may be slightly tricky, but the ingredients are almost nothing, and then it's just a matter of rolling it out in squares when you're ready.

If it's for a big party, I would recommend making up the wrappers' dough and assembling the wontons the day before, refrigerating/freezing them until serving time. (allow for a short while for them to thaw, bien sur!)

CHICKEN AND PRAWN MONEY BAGS

Ingredients

250 g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
1 dried black shiitake mushroom, soaked in hot water to soften, finely shredded*
1 spring onion/shallot, chopped
1 teaspoon very finely grated ginger**
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine [S]
1/2 teaspoon very finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar***
1/4 white pepper
200g minced chicken
3 water chestnuts, very finely chopped [S]

40 wonton wrappers

2-3 cups (500-750 ml) vegetable oil for deep-frying
spring onion curls or strips, to garnish


[S]ubstitutes

- Use sherry or mirin instead of Chinese rice wine
- Use 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery if you do not have water chestnuts

* shiitake mushroom - I never have these type mushrooms around (to my grief), but I'm sure it'd make it much nicer than your average mushrooms (avoid the canned ones, of course!)
** ginger - I always add a little extra ginger to my asian recipes, remember that you can just flow with these Money Bags fillings, a little more of this, a little less of that...
*** sugar - I never add this, but you can if you'd like that extra bing


METHOD

Mince the prawns and put them in a medium sized bowl. Add the mushrooms, spring onion, ginger, garlic, salt, sugar and pepper and mix well.

Place the prawn mixture in a medium bowl. Add the chicken and water chestnuts, mixing well.

Leave for at least an hour and up to two days for the mixture to really have a good soak.

Prepare the wrappers (Recipe Below).

Now for the fun!

Place one heaping teaspoon of the mixture in the centre of each wonton wrapper.*

Gather in the sides and press firmly to make a bag with a "neck", leaving a frill of wonton wrapper at the top.

Heat a wok or deep frying pan for 30 seconds, then add the oil. When hot, add the filled wrappers, a few at a times, and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes.

Drain on paper towel, transfer to a serving dish and garnish with spring onion. Serve hot.

* Ensure you don't overfill the wrapper or it won't close.

WRAPPERS RECIPE

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1/3 cup water

1. In a medium bowl, beat egg. Mix in water.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and slowly pour in your egg and water mixture. Mix well. If mixture is too dry, increase the amount of water one teaspoon at a time until a pliable dough has formed. (you will probably use little less than 1/2 cup water)
3. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until elastic. Cut dough into two separate balls. Cover dough and let sit for a minimum of 10 minutes.
4. Rip ball from dough and roll out into 3 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 squares.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

Before anything is said I must share with you that this marinade is divine. It's so insanely delicious that you have to only have a bit of it, because of the strong flavour, of which most of the credit is rendered to the lemon juice!

What I find to be so incredibly brilliant about this recipe is that you do not throw out the marinade after using it. You take ti and blend it with cream and then serve it over your grilled meat.

Even though this recipe is intended for skewering and grilling, I simply marinated the chicken and cooked in my skillet, for it can be then serving it with rice and fresh vegetables. The greatest part is the idea behind doubly using the marinade, since I've always disliked throwing out the marinade even if you brush the meat under the broiler or over the growl, it seems such a waste.

This would be absolutely lovely on a summer afternoon, because of the freshness felt from the tang of the lemon in the aroma of the rosemary.

Here is the recipe though, according to the skewering format. I can attest it would be far superior than how I did it since the cherry tomatoes would lend an even fresher touch to it...and who doesn't enjoy grilling?

Personally, I love it. Just have the marinated meat going, enjoy some Storm King Stout, chat with your friends... it's really a social event!


LEMON-ROSEMARY CHICKEN SKEWERS

Ingredients

8 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (each about 7 ounces)
48 8-inch bamboo skewers, soaked in water 30 minutes, drained
1 1-pint basket grape tomatoes or small cherry tomatoes

1 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh lemon juice
6 bay leaves, broken into small pieces
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

1 cup light mayonnaise

Method

Cut each chicken breast half lengthwise into 6 thin strips. Thread each strip completely onto 1 skewer, leaving 1/2 inch of skewer exposed at 1 end. Press 1 grape tomato onto end of skewer. Divide skewers between two 15x10x2-inch glass baking dishes, stacking skewers if necessary.

Pour oil into bowl. Whisk in next 6 ingredients. Pour marinade over chicken. Marinate 1 hour at room temperature, turning often, or cover and chill overnight.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove skewers from marinade and arrange on 2 large rimmed baking sheets; reserve marinade. Bake chicken until just cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer to platter.

Transfer reserved marinade to medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat 1 minute. Cool marinade 15 minutes. Strain. Pour 1/2 cup marinade into medium bowl; whisk in mayonnaise. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon remaining marinade over chicken to moisten. Serve chicken with sauce.