Salmon with poached pears

I am Bengali so of course I love fish. And salmon is one of my favorite fishes available here in Europe. It is tasty, oily, succulent.. Its oil reminds me somewhat about Bengal’s favorite Hilsha, though both of them are much different in all other respects.  Therefore, whenever I get a nice piece of salmon from the fish market, I cannot just wait to go home and have it. This time I decided to keep it simple. I would just fry it with a crispy skin. To counter balance the oily taste, I decided to serve it with poached pears. The pears would be poached in milk without much addition of extra sweetener. The subtle sweetness of the pear was what I was looking to bring out. Clove is one of my favorite spices and I decided to incorporate its flavor subtly in both the poached pears and salmon. The final result was a delicious combinations of subtle flavors.

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE 

 

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 2)

1 pear

2 pieces of salmon (~200g each)

200ml milk

50ml water

2tbsp honey

10 cloves

Salt

Olive oil

METHOD:

1.       Peel, core and quarter the pear.

2.       Put the milk, water, honey and half the cloves in a pot. Heat until honey dissolves and the liquid is warm.

3.       Put the pears in and reduce the heat. Poach the pears for 15-25 minutes depending on the type of pear. Take care that the pears do not turn mushy. Let it cool in the liquid itself.

4.       In the meantime, season the salmon pieces with salt.

5.       Heat a greased pan. Add the rest of the cloves.

6.       Put fish in the pan skin side down and hold it down for a minute.

7.       When almost the whole fish is cooked (changed color), flip over and cook the other side for a minute.

8.       Serve each salmon piece with two pear pieces (without the poaching liquid).

Pumpkin quiche

We had some pumpkins from a friend. And I was planning to cook them over the long weekend we had. I love pumpkin, but savory dishes. I do not have much liking for sweets. I would love to make pumpkin pies someday, to cook something new, but I know for sure that there will be no one to eat it. Therefore, it had to be a savory pumpkin weekend. And this time I wished to try something new other than my favorite Bengali preparations. I always find quiche interesting, a nice way to try incorporating new ideas. So this lovely pumpkin quiche was on the first preparation to be on the menu. And it turned out so deliciously good!

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE 

INGREDIENTS:
(Serves 4)

500g of pumpkin or squash

2 large onions

8 sheets of phyllo dough

3 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 cup diced smoked cheese

1 stem of rosemary

1 stem of lavender

1/4 cup sage leaves

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

METHOD:

1.   Cut the pumpkin into bite size cubes. Toss it with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add a stem of rosemary, lavender and few sage leaves.

2.   Roast pumpkin in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes and set aside.

3.   In the mean time, slice onion.

4.   Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion until tender.

5.   Add 1/4 cup water. Reduce the heat and cook covered until golden brown with occasional stirring (around 40 minutes) (caramelize). Add little bit of water if it tends to get dry.

6.   Line a 26cm pie dish / spring-form pan with the phyllo sheets. Brush each sheet with oil and layer them on top of each other. Let the ends hang from the sides.

7.   Lightly beat the eggs. Add in onion, pumpkin, 2/3 of the cheese, sour cream, milk, salt, pepper, remaining of the sage leaves finely chopped. Gently mix.

8.   Pour the mixture in the pie dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

9.   Gently fold the hanging phyllo edges on the side.

10. Bake at 200°C for 40 minutes or until set.

11. Let it stand for 5 minutes more before serving.

Mango Panna Cotta

I wanted some easy simple and no-bake Italian dessert. And the panna cotta idea sounded great. I had some mango pulp can and decided to make mango panna cotta instead of a plain one. The first idea was to mix the mango pulp in the milk-cream mixture. Then I thought better. Why do not I make two separate mixtures and pour them in a beautiful layer? And why to de-mold it? Instead I will use some wine glasses. I had seen some pictures of some layered desserts (I think it was Tiramisu) served in glass, and decided to use the idea. It was smooth and creamy, fragrant with mango and cardamom. It looked great and tasted even better. What a yummy creamy evening!

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS
(Serves 12)

400ml milk

400ml cream

200ml mango pulp

Gelatin for 1lt liquid

8-10 cardamom pods

1/2cup sugar

Chopped almonds for garnishing

METHOD:

1.       Toast the cardamom pods. Crush gently and remove the seeds from within. Pound into a fine powder with mortar and pestle.

2.       Mix 250ml milk and 250ml cream in a pot and add half the cardamom powder. Bring the milk-cream to a lukewarm temperature.

3.       In the meantime, prepare the gelatin according to directions on the packet for 500ml of liquid.

4.       Take the milk-cream off the stove. Add sugar and dissolve it. Add the gelatin until completely dissolved.

5.       Pour equal porting of the mixture in little serving bowls/dessert glass/wine glass etc (or in a tray if the plan is to de-mold and cut later while serving).

6.       Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours (or until set).

7.       Mix 200ml mango pulp, 150ml milk, and 150ml cream. Add cardamom powder.

8.       Put it on low heat and warm it to lukewarm temperature.

9.       Prepare gelatin for 500ml of liquid according to directions on the packet.

10.   Remove mango mixture from heat. Add sugar if necessary and dissolve.

11.   Mix with gelatin until the gelatin dissolves completely.

12.   Remove the panna cotta from the fridge and unwrap. Top each serving with equal amount of mango mixture.

13.   Cover again and refrigerate for another 2-4 hours (or until set).

14.   Garnish with chopped almonds and served chilled.

Narkel gur naru (Coconut balls with jaggery)

The soft of my palm would get this strong burning sensation as I tried to make but uniform balls from this coconut mixture. I would grease my palms more and go for the next balls. And in between making the balls, one would jump in my mouth. I am only tasting you know. This is my memory of making these narkel naru (coconut balls) during the festive days of my childhood. They were meant to last at least a week. But the glass jar would be empty in days. I loved it. Especially the ones my grandma used to make with milk and no jaggery. So when this time I ventured to make the naru I decided to combine both the ways. Also this time I used the fresh coconut instead of the coconut flakes from supermarket (thanks that my parents brought the little hand coconut scraper, hard to use but so worth it). I had some jaggery. And I always love putting a lot of milk and then evaporating it to get the nice creamy taste. As expected, they were just gone in days!!

 You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes ~ 40)

1 medium sized coconut

(3cups coconut flakes)

½ cup jaggery/molasses

1ml full cream milk

½ cup milk powder

METHOD:

1.       Break the coconut in half and finely grate the flesh (without the inner brown skin).

2.       In a heavy bottomed pan, mix together grated coconut, crumbled jiggery, milk powder and 250 ml milk. Mix well with a wooden spoon to form a uniform mixture.

3.       Now put the pan on moderate heat and add the rest of the milk.

4.       Reduce the milk and cook until it leaves the side of the pan into a uniform mass. Take care so the bottom does not burn.

5.       Grease your palms and quickly make balls pressing between you palm and fingers while the mixture is still hot/warm.

6.       Can be stored in glass jars for a week or so, or in the refrigerator for a bit longer.

NOTE:

The balls should be made while the mixture is still hot/warm. When it gets colder it becomes crumbly and difficult to form the shapes. I know it is hard when it is hot!

Coconut flakes form supermarket can be used. But the juicy fresh coconut tastes much better and should be used if possible.

Methi paneer

For the most important day of Durga puja celebration, it was a complete Indian menu, even though a simple one. The main course was supposed to be achari chicken with flavor of different spices. Hence for the side dish, I decided on something simple and on the sweetish side. This paneer (young cheese) dish with the beautiful fragrance of fenugreek and ginger was the best choice. Simple and delicate.

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 4)

250g paneer

1 tbsp fenugreek seeds

3 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves

1 tbsp ginger paste

2 cups milk

2 tbsp raisins

1 sp coriander powder

Salt

Sugar

Ghee/ Butter

METHOD:

1.       Heat ghee, add the fenugreek seeds and let them crackle until fragrant and black. Remove the fenugreek seeds. This ghee fragrant with fenugreek will be used for further cooking.

2.       Cut the paneer in small cubes and fry until golden brown. After frying soak in warm salt water for half minute, drain and keep aside.

3.       In the same wok, add grated ginger and fry on low heat for a minute.

4.       Add milk, coriander powder, salt and a pinch of sugar. Simmer on low heat for around 5 minutes.

5.       Add dry fenugreek leaves, raisins, and fried paneer cubes. Increase the heat and bring it to boil.

6.   Serve hot.