Posts made in July, 2011

Palak Paneer

Posted by Colleen on Jul 28, 2011 in All Posts, Colleen's Kitchen, Healthy Eating, Indian Recipes, Intermediate Recipes, Recipe Index, Vegetarian Entree - Curries | 4 comments

I am noticing a green theme amongst the most famous Punjabi dishes.  Saag- creamy and buttery mustard leaves and spinach leaves, Punjabi Hariyali – a medley of green vegetables with green peas, broccoli, green bell peppers, green chills, mustard leaves, spinach leaves, fenugreek leaves.  Hariyali actually means “greenery” in Punjabi so this dish is literally “Punjabi Greenery”. And finally there is Palak Paneer – pure spinach flavored with green chilis, ginger, garlic, onions, butter and topped with fresh Indian cheese. Palak Paneer is a favorite in Indian restaurants.  But you don’t need to go out to have a great dish of palak paneer.

Indian Chai

Posted by Colleen on Jul 25, 2011 in All Posts, Beginner Recipes, Colleen's Kitchen, Drinks, Indian Recipes, Learn the Indian Basics, Recipe Index | 17 comments

Some Seriously Good Pizza

Posted by Colleen on Jul 22, 2011 in All Posts, Colleen's Kitchen, Fusion Foods, Recipe Index | 8 comments

I have been trying to perfect a pizza for a while now.  Pizza is one of my favorite comfort foods, second only to eggs over medium with toast.  In my college days I loved ordering a large pizza and having it for lunch and dinner over the next couple of days.  We are spoiled in downtown San Jose where there are quite a few great pizza kitchens.  Even when I was growing up, ordering pizza from the town’s go-to pizza place made the night special.  However, pizza was often home cooked by my mom who could whip up a pesto pizza from scratch faster than any nearby delivery.

Harry Potter and the Potato Pillows

Posted by Colleen on Jul 19, 2011 in All Posts, Colleen's Kitchen, Fusion Foods, Indian Recipes, Intermediate Recipes, Recipe Index | 5 comments

Friday night, Hubby and I along with our friends Kira and Jason all went and saw the last installment of the Harry Potter movie saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.  I have been a huge fan of the Harry Potter series ever since my grandmother bought me the first book as a Christmas present back in my sophomore year in college. I own all the books and have lost count of how many times I’ve reread them.  If that weren’t enough, about three years ago I got all the books on audio tape to listen to as I try to fall asleep.  For three years now, I have listened to Harry Potter’s heroic journey every night without fail.  I’m getting to the point where I can quote all seven books. So with the last movie coming out, I wanted to make it something special.  My friend Kira is equally obsessed with the movies (she even has a Harry Potter themed Clue game which she brought over that night). The morning of our movie night I got a call from my brother, telling me all the Harry Potter showing had sold out in Santa Cruz so I immediately walked down to the theater and bought our tickets and 3D glasses to make sure we could get in.

Indian Tomato Tadka

Posted by Colleen on Jul 18, 2011 in "Behind The Scenes" Recipes for Faster Cooking, A Homemade Pantry, All Posts, Colleen's Kitchen, Learn the Indian Basics, Recipe Index | 0 comments

This tomato sauce is a type of flavor base used in Indian cooking called tadka (this one happens to be tomato tadka).  Tadka is the flavor foundation of any dish.  It’s a basic technique or process where oil is heated in a pan, whole spices are fried to bring out their flavor, onions are fried till they turn brown, ginger and garlic paste might be added, then ground spices are added and if you are making a dish which uses a tomato base as well, the tomatoes are added.  If you have browsed through the recipes on this site, you’ll have noticed the first five steps to almost every recipe is the same.

Cooking with Family

Posted by Colleen on Jul 11, 2011 in All Posts, Story Corner | 8 comments

My uncle Terry was always the cook in the family to admire.  He is the true “foodie” in the family, who’s food is always exquisite and inventive.  His son (my cousin) Teague has also taken on a passion for food and turned it into his profession, opening up a restaurant in San Francisco called Sons & Daughters which is flourishing and having great success!

So when I called up Terry last Thursday and said it might be fun to cook together, it felt like I was finally cooking with a pro.  Joining someone in an activity they are completely passionate about is such a rush and our day of cooking easily elongated into swapping tips & techniques and sharing food stories.

Vegetable Cutlets

Posted by Colleen on Jul 7, 2011 in All Posts, Appetizers & Snacks, Colleen's Kitchen, Intermediate Recipes, Recipe Index | 0 comments

One day while I was teaching, I kept thinking about how I would rather be home, working on a new recipe. Once I got home though, I couldn’t peal myself off of the couch.  Isn’t it amazing how you always want to do something other than what you immedietly have to do?

Anyway, hubby called to check in and said ever so casually, “I’ll take off at five today”.

Ahhh! It was already 4:30!

I wanted to try out a whole new recipe for our dinner that night.

July 4th long weekend

Posted by Colleen on Jul 5, 2011 in All Posts, Explore California, Story Corner | 4 comments

I love our weekend getaways to my Dad’s house in Aptos (10 minutes south of Santa Cruz).  It’s almost like having a weekend house.  We’ll pack up food for the weekend or just take things to cook down there and drive the 45 minutes over the hill to a whole other world where the air is cooler with beach breezes and all my favorite TV shows are recorded and ready for watching!

This long weekend was action packed with a big birthday party for all the July birthdays in our family.  We have four birthdays in July; mine and my twin sister’s, my older sister’s and my Dad’s. This year we decided to celebrate them all together with