Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Lasagna with roasted Pine Nuts

Ingredients

• 50g/2oz parmesan 
• 50g/2oz cheddar cheese
• one largish butternut squash and 3 large sweet potatoes
• pinch salt
• 12 lasagne sheets (or enough to make two layers) 75g/3oz 
• baby spinach leaves
• 100g/3½oz toasted pine nuts 
• 8 large slices of aubergine

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. Put the kettle on to boil for the vegetables.
3. Meanwhile, finely grate the parmesan. Grate the cheddar cheese
4. Peel and chop the butternut squash and sweet potatoes into roughly 1in cubes, cook in boiling water for 15-20 minutes until tender.
5. When cooked drain away all the water and mash adding a dessert of butter and salt and pepper to taste
6. Now assemble the lasagna in a baking dish, set on a baking tray. Spread a third of the vegetable mash in the base of a greased lasagna dish. Flatten down and add a layer of spinach followed by a half of the cheese, and a third of the pine nuts. Next, add another layer of the mash, spinach, and this time add the 8 slices of aubergine on top followed by the rest of the cheese and lastly pine nuts. Grate on more parmesan is necessary.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked all the way through. I cooked the lasagna covered in foil for 30 minutes and then took it off towards the end to let it brown. 
8. When the lasagne is ready, the pasta will feel tender when pierced through with a knife and the top will be crisp and golden-brown.

Steak Milanesa a la Christy

On my last night here in Guatemala I learnt a new Guatemalan recipe, and one which will finally keep some meat eaters happy, thanks to Christy Navidad, my chapin cooking teacher.

Serves four

4 slices of beef steak
one cup of bread crumbs (can be bought ready made called 'miga')
one egg
2-3 tablespoons of oil

1.Place the egg in a shallow bowl and beat thoroughly
2.Place the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl
3. Take the pieces of steak one at a time and place on a chopping board. Using a heavy utensil (we used the other end of a spatula but it has to have some weight) beat the steak all over to flatten it down, this makes the meat tender when eating
4. Once flattened, place the steak in the egg bowl covering the steak with egg, turn over and do the same. Let drain for a few seconds and then do the same in the bread bowl making sure the whole piece is covered with bread crumbs. Repeat with the rest of the steak slices
5. Heat up about a tbs of oil in a large frying pan and add as many steak slices that will fit. They will take around 3-4 minutes on each side and are cooked when the bread crumbs have turned a dark golden brown. Make sure there is enough oil in the pan before cooking more steak so that the pieces don't stick to the pan.

Upon serving I was told they were good enough and therefore was now ready to get married. It's good to know four years here in Guatemala was not a complete waste of time.

This dish goes perfectly well with rice, black beans and the chile coban chirmol previously featured.

Healthy Guatemalan Cucumber, Radish and Mint Salad.

Ingredients

One bunch of ‘rabano’ (radishes)

One onion

One cucumber

A quetzal of ‘yerba buena’ (mint)

One lime

1.    If you are trying to avoid getting ‘amibas’ (a kind of parasite commonly contracted by eating unclean fruit and vegetables) place the radishes and the bunch of ‘yerba buena’ in a bowl with vegetable disinfectant following the instructions indicated. Alternatively if you a looking for a fast-track diet skip this first step and add pupusas with extra ‘repollo’ from parque central to your diet to loose a stone in over a matter of days (not recommended).

2.    Peel the onion, cut in half and thinly slice. Place in a large bowl and squeeze half a lime juice over the onion to soften the taste

3.    Peel the cucumber, thinly slice into rounds and add to the onion and lime

4.    Take the clean radishes and thinly slice into rounds and add to the rest of the ingredients

5.    Using around half of the bunch of mint, take the leaves off the stalks, chop finely and add to the rest of the salad

6.    Squeeze the rest of limejuice over the salad and mix well, add a generous pinch or two of salt and leave to rest until ready to serve.

Aubergine slice tapas

slice two aubergines thinly
heat up a large frying pan or ideally a hot plate or griddle
add the slices (without oil) and cook until well browned, almost charred
take off the heat when cooked and add to a large serving dish
mix 2 cloves of minced garlic in a bowl with 3-4 tbs of olive oil and drizzle sparsely over the aubergine slices and season with salt and pepper
serve cold or warm as an appetizer.
they will keep for a week or two in a sealed container.

Fried herbed almonds

Perfect to start off any Christmas party

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups whole blanched almonds
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, leaves
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. STEP 1

   Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add almonds, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden and fragrant, 10 to 12 minutes.

2. STEP 2

   Stir in thyme leaves. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet, and let cool completely.Almonds can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Easy Roasted Red Peppers in Oil, Vinegar & Garlic Tapas

Perfect for a fancy appetizer

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

• 3 whole roasted red peppers
• 2 cloves garlic
• Spanish sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

place the red peppers on a hot plate over the stove or roast in the oven. When fully blacked put in a bag, place in the fridge and let to cool. Once cool you can peel off all the skin leaving you with the fresh, cut open and take out the seeds. 

Use a dinner-size plate or platter with a lip, so that they oil and vinegar do not spill over the side.

Cut each pepper in four pieces and lay on a dinner plate or platter.

Peel and mince garlic cloves. Place minced garlic in a small bowl and pour in a few tablespoons each of vinegar and oil. Whisk and carefully pour over the peppers.

Serve with slices of rustic bread as a tapa or as a side dish with a meal. These peppers go well with a main course of grilled meat or fish.

Delicious tomato and basil soup

Ingredients

1 large onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves of garlic crushed
2 lbs of tomatoes diced
3 cups chicken broth
2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper (easily mistaken for cloves apparently)

Saute sliced onion in olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and cook over
medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
add the crushed garlic cloves stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes
Add tomatoes chopped in large pieces and sweat for around 5 minutes, stirring now and again.
Add one handful of basil, chicken broth, salt and
pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes
let cool then puree soup mixture with half of the remaining basil.
serve with a sprinkle of basil on top and cream if you wish.

Stuffed Aubergine

Serves 6 as a side dish, entree or three people as a main. I served with homemade chips which worked well. This isn't a quick dish to prepare but a hearty option for a vegetarian dinner party.

• 3 medium sized eggplants, halved
• Salt for drawing out any bitterness
• 6-8 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2  red capsicums (I used one red and one orange), diced
• 3  tomatoes, diced
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (I used peanuts)
• 1/2 cup soft feta cheese (I used queso fresco because there wasn't and fea)
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (plus a little extra at end)
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• salt and pepper to taste
  
  
  Step 1 - First remove the flesh from the eggplant using a sharp knife being sure not to cut through the skin. I found it easiest to cut around the edge of the eggplant and then make a few vertical cuts and then use a knife to remove the flesh. Chop the eggplant flesh into small cubes and place it in a colander. Repeat with the remaining five halves of eggplant. Sprinkle salt over the chopped cubes of eggplant and over the eggplant skins and leave for 30 minutes to draw any bitterness.
  Step 2 - Preheat the oven to 180c/350F and line a baking tray with parchment. Fill a large saucepan with water until simmering. While it is heating up, dice the onions, garlic, capsicums and tomatoes. Toast the pine nuts in the oven for 5 minutes until golden.
  Step 3 - Rinse the eggplant skins and the cubed eggplant. In the saucepan, simmer the eggplant skins until they turn from purple to brown-about five minutes. Remove and drain.
  Step 4 - Rinse out the saucepan and dry it and then put it on medium to high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Then add some more oil and fry the capsicum, tomatoes and drained eggplant cubes and saute until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Eggplants can really absorb a lot of oil so it's up to you how much you want to use (you can also use a couple of tablespoons of water if you want to keep it low fat). Add pine nuts, feta, lemon juice, parsley, sugar, cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste.
  Step 5 - Place the eggplant skins on the lined baking tray and brush with oil. Fill with the vegetable mixture and top with more cheese if you want. Drizzle some more oil on top and around the sides of the eggplant and bake for 35-40 minutes until very soft. Serve with extra parsley.
  
  
  
  

Strawberry cheesecake in a mug

Quantities are per mug or cup

• 2  1/2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon (or lime) juice
• a small handful fresh or frozen strawberries or raspberries 
• 1/2 egg beaten well
• 1 biscuit in a zip lock bag to crush -I used Maria biscuits which would be rich tea in England
  
  
  Step 1 - In a bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, egg, icing sugar and whisk well until very smooth. Add lemon juice and raspberries.
  
  
  Step 2 - Spoon into cup or mug and place on a plate in the microwave. Microwave for 1 minute on medium. Once done, check it for doneness (it shouldn't be cooked). Microwave for 45 seconds on medium again. Jiggle it gently, the centre should be slightly wobbly and it will firm up once refrigerated. If it's still liquidey give it another 30 seconds on 50% power.
  
  
  Step 3 - Bash the cookie in the ziplock bag with a rolling pin (this is great therapy if someone is proving particularly annoying). You can use a food processor. Sprinkle the bashed up cookie crumbs on top of the cheesecake.

  
  

  Step 4 - Place cooled cheesecake in the fridge for a couple of hours. When cold and set, eat greedily and smugly knowing that this only took you 5 minutes to cook it and it is low fat.
  
  

Baked camembert

Stuff a sprig of rosemary and one garlic clove into the centre of an unwrapped camembert. Heat up in a medium over for around 20 minutes until all the cheese is gooey and served with warm bread and a glass of red wine for a perfect starter at dinner parties.

red bean and chorizo stew

Cook one pound of red beans in the pressure cooker with half a red onion for 35-40 min until the beans are cooked.
fry half a red onion in a tbs of oil until soft,
add 3 cloves of chopped garlic and continue to fry for one minute
add 3-4 chorizo sausages roughly chopped and fry with the onion and garlic until browned and almost cooked (4-5ish min)
add one chopped red pepper and 5 chopped tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes to soften
add two tbs of red wine and stir for a couple of minutes
add the beans and enough water to almost be covering the beans
stir well and cover until the stew comes to the boil
add a shake of dried thyme, basil and oregano to taste
partially cover the pan and cook for around 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This stew is delicious served with cheesy mashed potato.

Broad Beans with a bechamel sauce

boil 1lb of broad beans for 3-5 minutes until cooked
wait until cooled and unshell the beans
make a bechamel sauce - melt around a tbs of butter in a small saucepan,
add 1/2 tbs of flour and mix in with a whisk
add a drop of milk at a timing whisking constantly to avoid lumps, add around 1/2 pint of milk in total and keep stiring.
When the sauce has thickened add a few chopped basil leaves, parmesan, salt and pepper.
Mix in broad beans, heat for a couple of minutes and serve.

Serve as a side or a light main.

delicious :-)

Easy Pear Tea Cake

• 3/4 cup plain wholemeal flour
• 3/4 cup self raising flour
• 3/4 cup caster or superfine sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 125g/4ozs melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 400g/14ozs. pears or apples, diced (you can even use tinned and I don't bother peeling them)
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon or vanilla sugar
• Icing sugar to serve (optional)

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line an 20cm/8inch springform tin with parchment paper.

Step 2 - Mix the two flours, sugar, butter, egg and vanilla in a bowl. Press three quarters of the mix into the base of the tin-it will be like a sticky, buttery dough. Scatter the diced pears on top. Then place small pieces of the dough on it in a patchwork pattern so that the pear is not entirely covered up.

Step 3 - add 2/3 of the mixture to the bottom of the greased pan

Step 4 - then add the pears

Step 5 - then the rest of the dough scattered in pieces

Then the sugar

Step 6 - Sprinkle with cinnamon or vanilla sugar (I prefer vanilla sugar for pears and cinnamon sugar for apples). Bake for 40-50 minutes. Sieve some icing sugar on top. Allow to cool before slicing as it is very delicate when warm.

Chirmol

toast one lb of tomatoes and a small handful of chile coban (less if you want to be less spicy) brown on all sides, this will take around 15-20 minutes, the chile will take less time
Take the chile and put into a chirmolera or pestal and morta and grind until a fine powder.
Add the tomatoes one at time and crush with the chile.
Add 2 tb spoons of chopped cilantro and half an onion finely chopped
add salt to taste and 2-3 tb spoons of water depending on how thickness you want the salsa to be.

Perfect for a special breaskfast, churrasco or celebrating the independence celebrations!

salsa for veggie tacos

one red pepper
one red jalepeno
one red onion
2 chiles chiptoles (I used chiles from a can)
2 tomates
1/2 tp of cumin seeds

Put all the above in a blender to make a sauce, add a little water if needed.

Add to a pan and heat with chopped coriander, add some sweet corn and 1/2lb of cooked black beans. Heat through a serve on corn tortillas as tacos, cheese and avocado go well :-)

Quick and Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
  
  
  1. 1. Saute onion in oil until translucent.
  2. Add chicken, and brown lightly.
  3. Combine ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, and pepper; mix well. Pour over chicken, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 to 35 minutes.
  For such a simple dish I didn't expect it to taste so good. I added 3 cloves of garlic and 1 sliced red pepper to the sauce before simmering.
  Serve with rice and green stir fried vegetables would go well.

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  tea spoon of freshly ground black pepper
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Louis's Garifuna's rice and beans

cook one pound of red beans
cook the rice in the coconut water or coconut milk or a mixture (keep stirring and make sure it doesn't burn)
mix beans and rice together
add tsp of cumin, salt, thyme
mix and cook a little longer
and serve with chicken and tomato recaudo. Also fried pineapple with chilli also goes really well!!

:-)

Pea, feta and mint toasts

Ingredients

• 
  
• 300 g frozen peas
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 100 g feta cheese, crumbled
• ½ lemons, juiced
• a bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped
• 1 baguette

Method

1. Bring a pan of water to the boil, and tip in the peas. Allow them to sit and defrost for a couple of minutes, then drain.

2. Put the peas, reserving a teaspoonful as a garnish, into a food processor with 1 tablespoon of the oil, and pulse until you have a chunky purée – it shouldn’t be smooth. Add the crumbled cheese and the zest of the lemon and pulse briefly to combine.

3. Squeeze in lemon juice to taste, and stir in the chopped mint, reserving a teaspoonful as a garnish. Add a little black pepper, and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

4. Heat the grill and cut the baguette into slices. Arrange on a grill pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil. Season and grill until golden, then turn over and grill the other side.

5. Garnish the dip with the reserved peas and mint, then spoon on to the toasts and drizzle the remaining oil on top before serving. 

Chorizo pasta bake

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 red pepper, roughly chopped
• 120 g chorizo, chopped
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• pinch dried red chilli flakes
• 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes (or I used tomate paste and 5 chopped tomatoes)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 300 g penne pasta
• 200 g mozzarella

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and then gently cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft, add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

2. Add the peppers and chorizo and cook until the meat starts to crisp up. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, paprika, chilli if you want an extra kick, and the plum tomatoes.

3. Mix it well, breaking up the tomatoes then season with a teaspoon of sugar and salt and fresh black pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, drain and then add to the pan of simmering sauce.

5. Tear the mozzarella into small pieces and stir half into the pasta mixture. Turn out into a large oven proof dish, and then dot the remaining chunks of mozzarella and then bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted.

6. Serve with a large green salad and garlic bread. 

Avocado Dessert

The trick is to have really good avocados!!!

Ingredients 

Original recipe makes 4 servings

4 avocados

1 cup of milk (use less if the avocados are small)

1/2 cup of sugar

teaspoon of vanilla

1. Mash avocado with an electric mixer, or use a food processor. Blend in the milk, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Chill for about 20 minutes before serving.

Green lentil curry with coconut milk

I didn't end up finishing this recipe, I left the lentils and cauliflower on so they cooked too long. So I added the spiced mixure, an egg and made lentil burgers, dipping in flour and frying, delicious although it wasn't what I[d planned to cook.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 cups of green lentils, rinsed
• 1.5 litres of vegetable stock (or 1.5 litres water with 1 stock cube)
• 1 white onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger, minced
• 1 chili, finely chopped
• 1.5 tablespoons of curry powder
• 1 tablespoon of white mustard seeds
• 1.5 tablespoons of garam masala
• ¾ cup of tomato paste
• ½ cup of coconut milk
• 2 handful spinach leaves
• Coriander to garnish

Directions

1. Rinse lentils well until the water runs clear (this step is important)
2. Cover lentils with water in a large pot and bring to the boil. Turn heat down and simmer for around 15 minutes
3. At the same time that the lentils are cooking, dice onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and fry in a little oil on a low heat until the onion begins to turn translucent (around 10 minutes)
4. Add the spices to the onions and cook for a couple of minutes to form a dry spice mixture
5. Add the coconut milk and tomato paste to the onions and spices and stir. This will help lift all the spices from the bottom of the pan.
6. Pour into the saucepan with the lentils and simmer for a further 20 minutes
7. Add spinach about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time
8. Serve with brown rice and garnish with coriander

Beetroot, walnut and feta salad

I forgot the onion but it was still delicious and I added a pear sliced which worked well. I also couldn't find feta so toasted goats cheese on bread and served on the side. healthy and tasty. 

• 3-4 medium beetroots
• 50g baby spinach
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 75g feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup walnuts, lightly toasted
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1. Step 1
   Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Wash beetroot. Pat dry. Wrap in foil. Place on a baking tray. Roast for 1 hour or until tender. Cool for 15 minutes. Meanwhile prepare remaining ingredients. earing gloves, peel and discard skin from beetroot. Cut beetroot into 2cm pieces.
2. Step 2
   Combine spinach, onion, feta, walnuts and beetroot in a bowl. Toss to combine.
3. Step 3
   Place orange juice, oil and mustard in a screw-top jar. Season with salt and pepper. Secure lid. Shake to combine. Add to beetroot mixture. Toss to combine. Serve.

Roasted Squash, sage and bacon risotto

Cooking risotto at my dad's house has to be my favourite passtime, nothing makes me happier. This is a new recipe and it's delicious, possibly a favourite. I used bacon instrad of pancetta, chilli flakes instead of dried chilli, with no mascapone. I added mushrooms as I didn't have chesnuts and took the sage out the garde.

Serves 6 (ish)

Ingredients

• 1 basic risotto recipe
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 level tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 small dried chillies
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 12 slices higher-welfare pancetta or dry-cured smoky bacon
• 100 g chestnuts, vac-packed is fine
• 1 bunch fresh sage, leaves picked
• 6 heaped tablespoons mascarpone cheese, optional
  
  

  Method

  Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Carefully cut your butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Put these to one side. Cut the squash lengthways into 0.5cm/¼ inch slices. Bash up your coriander and chillies with a pinch of salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar (or use a metal bowl and the end of a rolling pin). Dust this over your squash with a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss around until completely coated. Line up snugly in a roasting tray and bake for around 30 minutes until the flesh and skin are soft to the touch. Now get all your ingredients ready and start making your basic risotto.
  
  Remove the squash from the oven and lay your pancetta over it. Mix the squash seeds, chestnuts and sage leaves with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the squash and pancetta and place back in the oven for about 5 to 10 minutes until the pancetta is crisp.
  
  Once the squash has cooled down a little, shake off the pancetta and chestnuts and finely chop the squash – it will be quite mushy but that's fine. I go for half of it fine and half chunky. Add this to the risotto at the end of Stage 3. Carry on as normal through the basic recipe, season to taste and serve with the pancetta, chestnuts, sage leaves and squash seeds sprinkled over the top.
  
  Lovely served with a big dollop of mascarpone cheese on the side.
  
  Try this: Place a grater and a block of Parmesan cheese in the middle of the table so that everyone can help themselves.

Saag Paneer a la Kirsten

Saag paneer literally means “spinach cheese.” This classic northern Indian dish has become so popular that it's sold here in the frozen food section, but, as always, homemade is best. You can use other fresh cheeses if paneer is unavailable; Mexican- or Spanish-style fresh cheese is especially good. We used a diet fresh cheese here in Guatemala and it worked well.

You can make this into a larger dish, I added boiled potatoes and added while I was frying the spices, and peas go really well. We used this as a pizza topping sprinkling cheese on the top, it was delicious!!!

PreparationIngredients

• 2 bunches spinach, trimmed
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
• 3/4 tsp (4 mL) cumin seeds
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp (10 mL) finely grated gingerroot, or minced
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) finely chopped fresh coriander
• 2 tsp (10 mL) ground indian hot pepper, or 1/2 tsp/2 ml cayenne pepper
• 3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) turmeric
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 3 plum tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) plain Balkan-style yogurt
• 2 tsp (10 mL) lemon juice
• 3/8 tsp (1 mL) garam masala
• 8 oz (227 g) paneer, cubed

In large pot of boiling salted water, blanch spinach just until wilted; drain, chill under cold water and drain again. In food processor, purée spinach with 1/4 cup (50 mL) water; set aside.

In large deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook cumin seeds until slightly darkened, about 10 seconds. Add onion and butter; cook until onion is golden, about 8 minutes. 

Reduce heat to medium; stir in garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Stir in fresh coriander, hot pepper, salt, ground coriander, turmeric and cinnamon; cook, stirring, until very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring, until tomatoes break down, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in puréed spinach; cover and cook, stirring occasionally and adding 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 25 mL) water if mixture is no longer saucy, until steaming hot, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in yogurt, lemon juice and garam masala; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low; add paneer. Cover and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Source : Canadian Living Magazine: September 2009

peach and creme fraiche

1/2 recipe All-Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough, chilled for at least an hour in the fridge

Streusel
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I needed the latter amount to get this into a crumble)
1/4 cup cold (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling
1 1/2 pounds ripe (4 to 5 medium) yellow peaches, pitted and quartered
2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 tablespoons crème fraîche*

Prepare pie dough: Roll out pie dough (look!: a tutorial) to about 1/8-inch thick and fit into a regular (not deep dish) pie plate, 9 1/2 to 10 inches in diameter. Trim edge to 1/2 inch; fold under and crimp as desired. Pierce bottom of dough all over with a fork. Transfer to freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F right before you take it out.

Make streusel: Stir confectioners’ sugar, baking powder, salt and three tablespoons flour together in a small bowl. Add bits of cold butter, and either using a fork, pastry blender or your fingertips, work them into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add additional flour as needed; I needed to almost double it to get the mixture crumbly, but my kitchen is excessively warm and the butter wanted to melt. Set aside.

Par-bake crust: Tightly press a piece of aluminum foil against frozen pie crust. From here, you ought to fill the shell with pie weights or dried beans, or you can wing it like certainly lazy people we know, hoping the foil will be enough to keep the crust shape in place. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove carefully remove foil and any weights you have used, press any bubbled-up spots in with the back of a spoon, and return the crust to the oven for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until it is lightly golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F.

[P.S. If you're not overly-concerned about "soggy bottoms" (in the words of Julia Child) you can save time by skipping the par-baking step. Given the light nature of the filling, odds are good that it would not become excessively damp even without the parbake.]

Make the filling: Sprinkle quartered peaches with sugar (two tablespoons will make a just-barely-sweeteened pie; add the other two for a still not overly-sweet but sweeter pie) and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Spread two tablespoons crème fraîche in bottom of par-baked pie shell, sprinkle with one-third of the streusel and fan the peach quarters decoratively on top. Dot the remaining three tablespoons of crème fraîche on the peaches and sprinkle with remaining streusel.

Bake the pie: Until the crème fraîche is bubble and the streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cover edge of crust with a strip of foil if it browns too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack at least 15 minutes before serving.

I stored this in the fridge, due to the crème fraîche, and found that I liked it even better cold, with the flavors better married.

* Make your own crème fraîche: It’s true! You can make a version of it at home, using these instructions.