While everyone was filling up yesterday on Roast Turkey, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce and Pumpkin Pie, none of those things were being enjoyed in my house.

I may be a Brooklyn born American, but my palette definitely belongs to the Caribbean and Asia, as does my heritage. Although once in a while I do a traditional American Thanskgiving, this was not one of those years. I think the spirit of Thanksgiving is to be with family and especially in these difficult economic times and global terrorist threats, be thankful that we have food on our table, a roof over our heads and the company of our loved ones. What matters is who you are with; not what is on the table.

My Thanksgiving table included Roast Cornish Hens with Potatoes, Sauteed Turkey Breast in Coconut Milk, Green Bean Salad (flavored with Ginger, Soy Sauce and Chili Paste), Pan Roasted Pork Chops with Carrots and Pears, Wheat and Barley Pilaf, Cornbread and Ginger Spice Cake.

While I can’t give away all of my secrets, I have included a link to what I think is the best cornbread recipe - It is foolproof.

I will give the recipe for my Roasted Cornish Hens and Potatoes. I love Cornish hens because due to their small size, the cooking time is not long and this also leads to a more moist bird.

Th night before stuff the cavity of the bird with a selection of herbs of your choice - I used rosemary, thyme, chandon beni, sometimes spelled shadoe beny (aka as recaito), and 1/2 a Scotch Bonnet (or habanero) pepper in each bird. For more info on chandon beni (if the herb is unfamiliar to use, please view my previous post here: http://gourmetglobal.blogspot.com/2008/03/whats-your-herb.html
I also put loads of smashed garlic cloves in each cavity. Great herbs to use would also be parsley and cilantro.
The next day I took some potatoes and cut them into 1/4″ slices and tossed them in olive oil and more herbs (chopped). I spread these around the birds and rubbed onto the birds so that the top of the birds were coated with olive oil and the herbs. Because they are flavored so much with the herbs, very little salt is needed so you can just sprinkle very lightly with salt and pepper. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes covered with aluminum foil. Uncover and cook for another 20-30 minutes depending upon the size of the birds.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Alright, I know Rosh Hashana and Sukkot have passed, but Hanukah is coming next month, so here is a delicious recipe for Fruit Kugel you can make - You can impress your friends with it, whether they are Jewish or not.

1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup apple juice
1 (12-ounce) package wide egg noodles
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
4 eggs, well beaten
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Cinnamon-sugar, to taste

Soak raisins in apple juice for a minimum of four hours.

Preheat oven to 375 F. degrees.

Cook noodles in boiling water 5 to 10 minutes, or until tender; drain.

Combine noodles, butter, apples and drained raisins in large bowl.

Add eggs; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon mixture into well-oiled 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with
cinnamon-sugar.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until top is brown and crisp.

This is delicious and can be eaten warm or cold.

Enjoy!

Yesterday was Diwali, aka as “The Festival of Lights”. It is the most important Hindu holiday, celebrated as the Hindu New Year. No matter what strain of Hinduism you practice - Jain, Sikh and even some Buddhists - Diwali is the most important holiday on the calendar. It celebrates different things depending what strain you practice and where you are located - Some say it celebrates the birth of Lakshmi (Hindu Goddess of Wealth, Properity and Luck) while others believe it celebrates Lord Krishna defeating Indra. Click here for more information about Diwali.

It is called The Festival of Lights because lights line the cities where Diwali is celebrated and in homes, candles and diyas are lit in glory to the Gods. Here in America, Diwali was celebrated in many home with candles, diya and incense burning even if we were unable to make it to temple. Prayers are offered as well.

Sweet things are traditionally eaten on Diwali so that hopefully sweet things will occur in our lives in the coming year.
Here is a recipe for Gajar Halwa, which originates from the Indian state of Rajasthan:
500 grams of carrots, peeled and shredded
1 litre of milk
1 cup of sugar
25 grams each of almonds, pistacchios and raisins
4 dried dates
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
a few drops of Rose essence
ghee (clarified butter)

Instructions:
Soak dates in water for 15 minutes. Drain and chop.
Chop nuts and raisins.
Cook carrots and milk together, stirring frequently until the mixture is dry and thick.
Add sugar and continue stirring until the sugar is dissolved and absorbed by the carrot mixture.
Add 4 tablespoons of ghee and fry until the color has turned red.
Mix in essence and cardamom powder.
Serve, garnished with the nuts, dates and raisins.

Recipe taken from Aroona Reejhsinghani’s Best of Indian Sweets and Desserts

October is a very important month in most of the major religions, except Christianity.

For Jews, there are three major religious holidays this month: Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
For Muslims, there is Eid-al-Fitr.
For Hindus, there is Diwali.

For all of these religious holidays, there are foods that are commonly served to honor the respective holiday.

I will focus today’s entry on Eid since today is in fact Eid-al-Fitr, which ends the month of Ramadan. After fasting for a month, a huge feast of many courses is usually prepared. I remember the first time I experienced Eid-Al-Fitr, I was visiting my cousins in Holland who are of Islamic Indonesian decent on their father’s side and I was amazed at the amount of food. My aunt had been cooking for days. There is no one food used to commemorate Eid. Islam is a religion celebrated in many countries, in many regions of the world from Morocco to Pakistan to Malaysia to Guyana and the foods prepared are the foods indigenous to the nationality. While my aunt prepared food like Nasi Goreng and Peanut Soup, in Pakistan foods like Biryani and Korma are prepared and in Morocco, the best tagines are prepared on Eid.

Here is a delicious recipe for a Tagine of Yam, Carrots and Prunes (if you do not like prunes like many of us Americans do not, you can substitute any combination of raisins, currants, dried apricots, figs and dates)

Ingredients

3 T olive oil

a little butter

30 pearl onions, blanched and peeled

2 lbs. yams, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

3 carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces

5 oz. prunes, pitted

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground ginger

2 t clear honey

2 c vegetable stock

bunch coriander, finely chopped

bunch mint, finely chopped

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole with the butter and stir in the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are tender, then remove half of the onions from the pan and set aside.

Add the yams and carrots to the pan and cook until lightly browned. Stir in the prunes with the cinnamon, ginger and honey, then pour in the stock. Season well, cover the casserole and transfer to the oven for about 45 minutes.

Stir in the reserved onions and bake for a further 10 minutes. Gently stir in the chopped coriander and mint and serve the tagine immediately over couscous or Basmati rice.

I posted holiday recipes for Purim and Holi , now Easter. Yesterday was Easter Sunday and lamb is the traditional meal to eat on Easter. Being of Caribbean, Indian and et al decent, the way my family eats lamb is not the traditional American way of English/Irish tradition with mint jelly.

The roast lamb and tamarind coconut sauce I made used Indian seasonings. First the roast lamb. I created a paste in the food processor using methi (aka fenugreek) leaves, mint leaves, minced garlic, ginger paste. Methi is a common herb used in Indian cuisine. Lamb Methiwala is a fabulous yogurt curry with lamb, methi, tomatoes and potatoes. It is an herb with an earthy quality so use in moderation. If you use too much, your food will taste like dirt, but the combination of methi and mint is complementary and creates a great depth of flavor. Methi can be found at Indian supermarkets.

I sprinkled all sides of my boneless leg of lamb liberally with Global Tastes & Travels Indian spice blend (an Indian spice blend including everything from curry leaves to dried mango and coriander) and then I spread the taste on the inside of the leg of lamb. In a baking dish, I poured a few tablespoons of mustard oil.
I then rolled the lag of lamb and placed in seam side down in the baking dish and spread the remainder of the paste (reserving two tablespoons for the sauce) on the outside of the lamb and let it marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours.
I roasted it in a 350 degree oven for an hour and a half. It came out perfect, well done (the way we Caribbeans like ALL meat) but still juicy.

To make the sauce, take the reserved paste and place in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of tamarind concentrate, 6 tablespoons of sugar, 2 cups of coconut milk and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until sauce is thickened and serve over lamb with rice. DELICIOUS!!

For info on purchasing the spice blend, send me an email!!!!

Thanks and have a good night!

This weekend every one is celebrating religious/cultural holidays. The Jews had Purim yesterday. Today is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter for Christians and the Hindus have Holi.

Holi is a very festive holiday celebrated by Hindus in India and the world over. Of course, it is celebrated widely in India, Trinidad and Guyana. Even in NY, our local mostly Caribbean Indian community has a Holi Parade tomorrow at noon at 133rd Street & Liberty Avenue if anyone in the NY area is interested. Holi is celebrated by throwing colored powders on people, so wear your old clothes. For more about the origins of the holiday, please see here.

Just like yesterday, since this is a food blog, here are a few traditional Holi recipes:

Gujia

• Mix the six tablespoons of oil with the maida.
• Now add some water as required and knead into soft dough.
• Set aside and cover with a damp cloth.
• Fry khoya in a deep-frying pan to a light brown color.
• Add sugar, almonds and kismis into the khoya and mix well.
• Remove from the fire and let it cool.
• Roll out the kneaded dough into a small and thick chapatti.
• Fill half the chapati with the khoya mixture and seal the round, twisting the edges inwards.
• Deep-fry these gujhias to a deep golden brown color on slow flame.
• Take them out with a sieve type ladle and drain the oil completely.

Purim is a very festive holiday celebrated by Jewish people the world over - complete with noisemakers, heroes and villains. In short, it is a story of deliverance of the Persian Jews. For the full story, please see here
But over to food, which is what I blog about. One of the greatest things about Purim is Hamentaschen. Fruit filled butter cookies that melt in your mouth. I am not Jewish, but I think this is one of the best reasons to celebrate Purim with your Jewish friends (not diminishing the importance of the holiday for them).
Here is a recipe for Hamentaschen (I will not take credit for the recipe - I simply pasted it from a Jewish website) - You don’t have to be Jewish to make these!!

Recipe for Hamentaschen
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup orange juice (the smooth kind, not the pulpy)
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour (DO NOT substitute white flour! The wheat flour is necessary to achieve the right texture!)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
Various preserves, fruit butters and/or pie fillings.
Blend butter and sugar thoroughly. Add the egg and blend thoroughly. Add OJ and blend thoroughly. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating white and wheat, blending thoroughly between each. Add the baking powder and cinnamon with the last half cup of flour. Refrigerate batter overnight or at least a few hours. Roll as thin as you can without getting holes in the batter (roll it between two sheets of wax paper lightly dusted with flour for best results). Cut out 3 or 4 inch circles.
Put a dollop of filling in the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, folding the last corner under the starting point, so that each side has corner that folds over and a corner that folds under (see picture at right). Folding in this “pinwheel” style will reduce the likelihood that the last side will fall open while cooking, spilling out the filling. It also tends to make a better triangle shape.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown but before the filling boils over!
Traditional fillings are poppy seed and prune, but apricot is my favorite. Apple butter, pineapple preserves, and cherry pie filling all work quite well. I usually use Pathmark grocery store brand fruit preserves, and of course the traditional Simon Fischer brand prune lekvar. I have also made some with Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread); I find it a bit dry that way, but some people like it.
The number of cookies this recipe makes depends on the size of your cutting tool and the thickness you roll. I use a 4-1/4 inch cutting tool and roll to a medium thickness, and I get 20-24 cookies out of this recipe.