Posts made in July, 2012

Ghee Recipe

Posted by Colleen on Jul 30, 2012 in A Homemade Pantry, All Posts, Colleen's Kitchen | 1 comment

I’ve noticed it takes about half an hour to make ghee, whether I’m boiling two sticks of butter or sixteen sticks of butter.  The first batch I made, I assumed it would take an hour.  So I set the timer and walked away.  When I came back the ghee had over cooked and all the butter was browned.  It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for but it wasn’t a complete loss either.  Browned butter has an intense flavor, which is somewhat sweet. So if you happen to over cook your ghee and end up with browned butter, don’t throw it away.  It’s often used in pastries and is a great accompaniment to caramel desserts.   

Homemade Ghee

Posted by Colleen on Jul 23, 2012 in "Behind The Scenes" Recipes for Faster Cooking, A Homemade Pantry, All Posts, Colleen's Kitchen | 7 comments

Whether you want to save money, or you don’t have access to store bought ghee, making your own ghee at home is cheap and easy. I’ve always bought my ghee from the Indian store, being perfectly content getting it ready made. I never would have considered making my own…until I noticed the price of ghee slowly but surely increasing. The twenty ounce bottle of ghee I add to my basket every couple months started out around seven dollars and now costs me thirteen. I didn’t think much of it beyond wishing the price would stay put. Then on a trip to India, I saw so many people in the neighborhood making their own ghee at home.  To them, store bought ghee was completely unnecessary, a waste of both time and money.

Turmeric

Posted by Colleen on Jul 10, 2012 in All Posts, Colleen's Kitchen, The Indian Spice Cabinet | 6 comments

Turmeric.  The golden spice.  It can turn a dull looking dish into a colorful treat and it’s used in almost every recipe.  While it does not add any particular flavor, it’s the rich golden color that makes this spice so desirable.  It gives curries their luscious rich color.  Add it to bland looking dishes such as cauliflower, potatoes or paneer and your dish will transform into a golden meal fit for royals. Actually,  depending on the dish, whether it’s alkaline or acidic, the turmeric can turn either yellow or red.  Mushroom Tikka Masala and Malai Kofta, both of which use a base of tomato tadka will turn red, while daals, eggs and garbanzo beans will turn yellow.

July 4th

Posted by Colleen on Jul 6, 2012 in All Posts | 0 comments

One of the things I love most about my family is the amount of time we spend together.  It seems every other weekend is a holiday, birthday or anniversary celebration.  Even so, we usually don’t need much of a reason to gather ’round the family table. Last weekend I called up my mother, told her I was bored, didn’t want to cook dinner and asked if Hubby and I could come down to her place.  Apparently my brother and sister had the same idea as she was already expecting them for dinner too.

Summer time is an avalanche of family get-togethers and parties. We have four birthdays, two annual summer BBQ’s and one anniversary,