Mango Chutney

Ryan and I made this chutney to go in the Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken I can't shut up about. But it was so good on saltines that we almost weren't able to save any for the curry. It's a little bit spicy and mangoey sweet, which goes well with a mild saltine. This chutney actually gets better after sitting for a day or so.

Mango Chutney
This recipe is adapted from the humbly named Best Ever Indian Cookbook.

4 T. malt vinegar (we used red win vinegar)
1/2 t. dried red chillies
6 cloves
6 peppercorns
1 t. roasted cumin seeds
1/2 dried onion
salt, to taste
3/4 c. sugar
1 lb. green (unripe) mango, peeled and cubed
2-in. piece fresh ginger root, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

In a medium pan, combine vinegar, chillies, cloves, peppercorns, cumin, onion, salt, and sugar. Over low heat, simmer about 15 minutes.

Add the mango, ginger, and garlic. Simmer until mango is soft and most of the vinegar has evaporated. Allow to cool before eating. Store in refrigerator.

Chocolate Soufflés

I've known that soufflés are hard to make since before I knew what a soufflé was. It seems like that's their defining characteristic, their difficulty. When Ryan's mom suggested we make them last night, I was a little worried. Won't they fall? I asked. Because I'm not the most, shall we say, dainty of bakers. I don't like fussy desserts. I know that I will break them.

Luckily, I do like tasty desserts. Once I had been reassured that the soufflés would not bite, we got started. Lo and behold, soufflés are not that difficult! Mine didn't puffed up quite as high as some I've seen, but that could be because I kept opening the oven door to check on them. I have no self control. Once they were done, I snapped a few pictures, but for once my laziness as a photographer was justified. There was no way I was going to let them fall while I was snapping away.

Hot fudge was drizzled, whipped cream was dolloped, and all was well with the soufflés. The slightly crispy tops were followed by fudgey gooey insides. They were rich and light at same time. I think that my soufflé career has just started. Next (or someday) I will make this delicious-sounding little number, and perhaps stay at the old yacht club while I'm at it.

Chocolate Soufflés
This is a recipe Ryan's mom had lying around, not sure where it came from, but it's delightful. We made ours in 5 8-oz ramekins, but it could work in whatever size ramekins you have.

1/3 C. sugar, plus 2 T. for sprinkling
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely
3 large egg yolks
6 large egg whites (just save the extras for creme bruleé)
1/16 t. salt butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter the insides of the ramekins and sprinkle with sugar. Pour out excess sugar.

Melt the chocolate pieces in the microwave or in a metal bowl placed over a pot of simmering water. Check and stir often. Remove from heat and stir in the egg yolks.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and salt on medium-high speed until they reach soft peaks. (This is a helpful image of soft peaks.) Gradually add the 1/3 c. sugar while still beating. When the mixture holds stiff, glossy peaks, stop beating. (Another helpful image.)

Gently stir 1/3 of the egg-white mixture into the chocolate mixture. Carefully fold in the rest of the egg whites until the mixture is evenly colored, with no white streaks. It should be light and bubbly at this point. Pour the mixture into the prepped ramekins.

Bake 12-15 minutes (although ours took about 17 minutes, probably because of the altitude). When they're puffed and have formed a slight crust on the tops, they're done.

To serve, make a small well in the top of each soufflé with a spoon. Drizzle some hot fudge inside and top with whipped cream.

Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken and Channa Masala

Has anyone else noticed how expensive it is to go out for Indian food? (Apparently I'm Jay Leno today.) But really folks (okay, now we're just being silly), it's exorbitant. But it's also really, really good. So I make my own sometimes. Yes, the ingredient lists are long. And yes, you probably won't have all of the spices on hand. But it's worth it. After the initial investment in spices, it's also pretty cheap.


(Because I am helpful: I got most of my spices here, our friendly, neighborhood international market. I'm sure an Indian market would be great too.)

So, on to the Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken. If my cook book is to believed (and I think it is since it brought me this wonderful curry recipe), Balti-style Indian food was actually invented in Indian restaurants in Birmingham, UK. I find this very interesting. It's like how falafel (or gyros?) was invented by Turkish immigrants in Germany. (I'm not sure that's true, and I'm too lazy for googling. Repeat at your own risk.)

I'm generally not a fan of the Chinese restaurant sweet and sour. Something about that pale reddish-pink sauce freaks me right out. So when Ryan chose this recipe, I was all "Do we haaaaaaaave to? Can't we make something eeeeeeeelse?" In the end, it was fantastic, a huge success. And it tasted nothing like the sweet and sour sauce I was imagining. There was a certain tinge of sweet and tart, but it was subtle.

The Channa Masala is kind of our go-to Indian side dish. It balances the sweet of the curry with it's mild spice. It doesn't steal the show though. So if you're going to make one of these recipes, I's say go with the curry.


Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken
This recipe is adapted from the humbly named Best Ever Indian Cookbook.

3 T. tomato paste
2 T. plain yogurt
1 1/2 t. garam masala
1 t. chili powder
1 t. crushed garlic
2 T. mango chutney (recipe here, or you could use bottled)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. sugar
4 T. oil
1 1/2 lb. chicken, cubed
2/3 c. water
2 fresh green chillies (I used serrano), finely chopped
2 T. chopped cilantro or parsley
3 T. light cream

In a medium-size bowl, mix tomato paste, yogurt, garam masala, chili powder, garlic, chutney, salt, and sugar.

Heat the oil in a wok or other deep pan over medium-low heat. Add the tomato-spice mixture. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Toss in chicken pieces and stir until well coated.

Stir in water to thin the sauce a bit. Continue cooking 5-7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Sir in the chilies, cream, and cilantro or parsley. Cook 2 more minutes over low heat.

Serve with white rice or naan.


Channa Masala
This is a great, go-to side dish. It could even be a main dish on a busy night. It comes from Madhur Jaffrey's Invitation to Indian Cooking.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions (peeled and minced)
1 clove garlic (peeled and minced)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
6 tablespoons chopped tomatoes
1 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons ground roasted cumin seeds
1 tablespoon amchoor powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced)
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper (minced)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Heat oil in a large skillet.Add onions and garlic and sauté over a medium heat until browned (3-5 minutes). Turn heat to medium-low.Add the coriander, cumin (not the roasted cumin), cayenne and turmeric. Stir for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes until browned lightly. Add chickpeas and a cup of water and stir.

Add the roasted cumin, amchoor, paprika, garam masala, salt and lemon juice. Cook covered for 10 minutes. Remove the cover add the minced chili and ginger. Stir and cook uncovered for 30 seconds.

Classic Creme Bruleé

If I could choose one fictional character to be friends with, it would definitely be Amelie. I mean really, she's got it all: Great hair? check. Lives in Paris? check. Ability to write menus backwards on café window? check. And, most important, a deep and abiding love for creme bruleé, specifically for cracking the top.

Cracking the top of a dish of creme bruleé is wonderful. Amelie was so right. I always thought that creme bruleé was one of those things that you only eat in restaurants. As if there was some magical secret to making it that only professional chefs were allowed to know. It turns out that creme bruleé is totally doable at home, and it's not even hard. Yes, it takes some time and effort, but it's pretty straightforward and the results are amazing.

The things that make creme bruleé intimidating are in fact like monsters in the closet—not so scary once you flip on the light. The torch isn't really necessary (but is very fun), water baths are so not the big deal that they sound like, and ramekins are just cheap little dishes that can go in the oven. So stop your fretting and let's make some creme bruleé!

Classic Creme Bruleé
This recipe actually came out of the booklet that came with our kitchen torch. I figured I'd start with this one and then move on, but I haven't really felt the need. This recipe is simple (4 ingredients!) and the results are delicious.

2 c. heavy cream
4 T. sugar
5 large or medium egg yolks
1 t. vanilla
turbinado (or plain white) sugar to bruleé

Preheat over to 300 degrees. Get a medium-sized pot of water boiling.

In a saucepan, combine cream and 4 T. sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until small bubbles appear around the edges. It shouldn't be boiling, or even simmering. It should just look like it's thinking about simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla with a fork until smooth. A little bit at a time, pour hot cream mixture into egg yolks. Beat well with each addition. Don't go to fast at this part. If the cream is too hot or is added too quickly, the eggs with scramble themselves, which is really not what we're going for. Once the two mixtures are combined, divide it among 4 6-oz. ramekins.

Ok, it's water bath time. Place the ramekins in a baking pan. Place the pan in the middle rack of the oven. Very, very carefully, pour the boiling water into the bottom of the baking pan until the water level is about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with foil.

Bake until the custards are just set. About 30-40 minutes. When you wobble the pan, the custard should jiggle like soft-ish jello. Remove from over and chill for about 2 hours.

To bruleé the tops, sprinkle the turbinado (or white) sugar generously over the tops of the custards. Make sure the surface is evenly coated. At this point, you have two options.

1 ) While a kitchen torch is ideal, the bruleé-ing can be done under the broiler. Just be sure the oven is nice and hot before you put the custard in. Watch it closely and whip it out before it burns.

2) Now, if you've gone with the torch, congratulations: you will be playing with fire. Take it slow. Adjust the torch's strength as well as your distance from the surface. Move the torch in small circles until the sugar starts to melt and bubble. It takes a little bit of practice, but you'll figure it out pretty quick.

Once you've done the tops, pop the ramekins back in the fridge for a few minutes so they can cool. Next step: remove from fridge, crack the top with a spoon, and enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Bars

Today I saw a gust fall leaves tumbling down the sidewalk, and there was a can of pumpkin puree rolling along behind. Later I went to the craft store and noticed a can of pumpkin nestled with the gourds in a cornucopia. And then I saw another can peeking out of a pile of turtlenecks at Gap.

All this to say that I'm kind of into pumpkin right now. I have heard these crazy rumors that you can buy canned pumpkin puree all year round but, to me, pumpkin goes with fall. You don't see me sipping pina coladas in November, do you? So, much as I love pumpkin, it rarely makes an appearance in my kitchen unless there are also falling leaves, cornucopias, and turtlenecks afoot.

Which brings me to Sunday night. I needed something quick and easy that would go with vanilla ice cream. The possibilities were endless. And I knew it had to involve pumpkin. A whirring kitchen-aid and 35-40 minutes later, these pumpkin bars were born. They were the surprise hit of dinner. Each time someone went back for more, my heart broke a little, because I knew that was one less pumpkin bar for me to eat later. Ever the gracious hostess. Luckily I managed to squirrel away a couple, which I ate for breakfast the next morning.

Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Bars

This recipes comes from my good friend Kip, who maintains a smashing blog, which you can check out here.

2 c. flour
1 T. pumpkin pie spice (or 1/3 t. nutmeg, 1/3 t. all spice, and 1/3 t. cinnamon)
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1 c. canned pumpkin puree
3/4 pkg. (8 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend well. Then beat in pumpkin puree. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly in greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, about 35 to 40 minutes.