An Inspired Kitchen

Slow Cooker Indian Beef Stew with Coconut and Sweet Potatoes

I have finally embraced that fall is here and am happy to be cooking slow cooked comfort foods once again.  This beef stew is such a great twist with the Madras curry powder, ginger, red pepper, sweet potatoes and the coconut milk makes it really creamy and delicious.   You can put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and let it go all day, or if you have the time, brown the beef, onions and red pepper before you put it in the slow cooker to really develop the flavor or you can cook it in a Dutch oven.  I served it over fragrant Basmati rice and garnished it with green onions.  I didn’t have any fresh cilantro, but that would have been good as well.  Click here for the recipe….

Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Ginger Glaze

I always have a hard time transitioning from summer and letting go of barbecuing, beautiful evenings dining on the patio by the lake and boating and reluctantly make the shift into fall. It takes me a while, but I slowly get excited about the autumn foliage and look forward to roasted vegetables and braised beef stew and all the comfort foods and flavors of fall and winter.  Pumpkin and spices are two of my favorite fall things, and since I always love a good cookie, thought I would make this recipe to ease into fall.  The cookies are very soft and cake-like and with the addition of pumpkin puree, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, it is the quintessential fall cookie.  I added a little ground ginger to the glaze which really made it good. I was also thinking they would be delicious turned into pumpkin whoopee pies by sandwiching them between a cream cheese and ginger frosting. Click here for the recipe….

Chocolate Pear Pudding Cake

This dessert is like a molten chocolate dessert with the addition of pears.  It’s my go to quick dessert because I usually have everything on hand and try to keep several cans of canned pears in the pantry so I can make this dessert at a moments notice.  The recipe calls for unsweetened coco powder so you don’t have to go to the hassle of melting chocolate, and with one bowl you can mix the batter all together and pour over the pears.  The dessert is meant to be under-baked so there is a gooey chocolate center.  To really put it over the top, you could serve a scoop of ice cream, but it is also good on it own.  Click here for the recipe….

Tandoori Chicken

Indian Rice Pilaf

Tandoori chicken is traditionally cooked in a cylindrical tandoori oven that is made of clay or metal and coal or wood is used to heat and cook a myriad of items.  Tandoori chicken is so full of flavor with all the spices that marinate with the chicken before you grill it.  It starts with a yogurt base and you add grated onion, garlic and ginger, turmeric, lemon juice and some garam masala.  Garam masala is a spice blend and there are many variations of the combination of spices that are used.  Often it has cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick and whole cloves that have been ground.  You can find this spice mixture in most grocery stores, or make your own with a mortar and pestle or in a coffee grinder that is dedicated to spices.  Marinate the chicken with the mixture for several hours or overnight.  In the summer I grill the chicken, but you can also put the chicken on a baking sheet lined with foil and broil it, or cook it on a cast iron grill pan on the stove.  Tandoori chicken is usually basted with clarified butter which helps brown the chicken, but if you are watching calories, you can skip it.  Since I usually don’t have clarified butter around, I usually just melt some butter and brush it on the chicken as it is cooking. I served it with Indian Rice Pilaf made with basmati rice.  You sauté an onion and add the rice to toast a little and add cardamom pods, black peppercorns, whole cloves, cumin seeds, a cinnamon stick, turmeric and sauté the spices a little to develop their flavor before adding chicken stock or water.  When the rice is almost finished cooking, you add some raisins, frozen peas and slivered almonds.  I served some grilled asparagus and grilled naan bread alongside and it was delicious.  Click here for the recipe….

Minted Pea Dip

This minted pea dip is a healthy and refreshing change from a lot of the cream cheese or sour cream based dips and is really fast to make if you have a food processor.  Tahini ~ which is a sesame seed paste, is the magic ingredient that brings the whole thing together. Trader Joe’s now carries it.  Just thaw some peas (or blanch some fresh shucked peas) and add them to the food processor along with some tahini, fresh mint, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice and whiz it into a puree.  It can be made the day before.  If you wanted to make individual appetizers, you could spread the dip on toasted croutons, add a few whole peas to one side and garnish it with a little sprig of fresh mint and sprinkle some very fine lemon zest over the top, or serve the dip on a platter with veggies, crackers or croutons and let everyone make their own.  Click here for the recipe….

Blackberry Crumb Bar

My niece made this dessert and it was over the top delicious.  It has a shortbread-like crust and you divide the dough in half and press it into the bottom of the pan.  The filling is a mixture of fresh blackberries and blackberry jam (you could also use raspberries or blueberries) and then you crumble the rest of the dough on top before you bake it.  When it comes out of the oven you make a cream cheese glaze and drizzle it all over the top.  Everyone was raving about it and it was a great summer dessert.  I wish I had a piece now!  Click here for the recipe….

Smoked Salmon Pizza

Wolfgang Puck inspired this pizza quite a few years ago and it is a delicious appetizer or could be the main dish served with a great salad.  To really take it over the top, you could sprinkle caviar over the top of the pizza before you serve it.  Trader Joe’s has a good pizza dough in the refrigerator section (or you could buy some from your favorite pizza place if you don’t want to make the dough yourself) and I also buy the smoked salmon or gravlax and crème fraiche there.  When I am making this for appetizers, I form the dough into a rectangle and cut them into squares which is easier to serve.  Thinly slice some onion and scatter it over the top of the dough and rub olive oil all over before you bake it.  When it has cooled a few minutes, spread the crème fraiche all over and lay the smoked salmon or gravlax over and garnish with some lemon zest and fresh dill.  It’s best to make this right before you serve it because the crème fraiche can make the dough soggy after a while.  Click here for the recipe….

Chinese Chicken Salad with Peanut Vinaigrette

We had our annual family reunion a few weeks ago and I made this salad for about 25 people.  It’s easy to make ahead the day before and toss with the vinaigrette right before serving.  The crunch of the broccoli slaw, carrots and peppers along with the crunch of roasted peanuts and chow mein noodles is wonderful.  I bought a bag of broccoli slaw, shredded carrots and frozen snap peas from Trader Joe’s which makes assembling the salad even easier.  I grilled 8 large chicken breasts the day before and shredded them and put all the vegetables in zip lock bags so right before serving I can just add everything to the salad bowl and toss the zip lock bags away with no clean up (always looking for ways to reduce clean up on the day of a party!).  It has a peanut vinaigrette with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, peanut butter, sesame oil, and is made tangy with some rice vinegar and then you toss the salad together with fresh cilantro.  I served grilled naan bread alongside.  A very light and refreshing salad for a hot summer day.  Click here for the recipe….

Peach and Frangipane Tart

This is a delicious summer tart and you can use any kind of stone fruit or berry combination.  I had some incredible ripe and juicy summer peaches.  You could also used canned peaches or pears.  Make a pie dough and press it into a tart pan and then make the frangipane which is a mixture of almond flour, butter, eggs almond extract and vanilla and spread it on the bottom of the tart pan.  Then decorate the top with the sliced fruit and bake.  To finish it, I heated up some apricot jam in the microwave and brushed it on the fruit to give it a glossy shine.  You could also sprinkle some sliced almonds on top of the frangipane (which I forgot to do!)  which would give a nice crunch.  Click here for the recipe….

Plum Galette

This fresh plum galette is a variation on the many different fruit galette’s I make throughout the summer.  You make a streusel topping with flour, sugar and butter and you can add sliced almonds or other nuts to the topping.  It is a nice rustic dessert that is simple and fresh and is quick to put together.  I sprinkled raw sugar over the crust to make it glisten and give it a little crunch.  Serve it with a scoop of ice cream or fresh mint whipped cream.  Click here for the recipe….