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 Plum and Ginger Chutney Total time: 10 minutes, depending on your fruit.
Adapted from “Pureed Fresh Mango-Ginger Chutney” in 1000 Indian Recipes, by Neelam Batra.
1 pound of plums, washed, peeled, pitted and diced
1 Tbsp peeled and minced fresh ginger root
2 Tbsp lemon juice (or lime)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro, including soft stems
1 serrano pepper, minced with seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Mash the plums with a fork or potato masher to make the fruit as smooth as possible.
Mix in all the remaining ingredients.
Keep up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Some of the Daring Cooks used a plum chutney with their September Challenge, which made me want to try it, too. Then a friend brought me some fresh plums from her tree, and I knew it was meant to happen. I didn’t use the same recipe as the other folks, though. I love my book of Indian recipes, and I like to make them adapt!
The original recipe calls for mashed mango, and suggests mixing in 1/2 c yogurt or substituting peaches, plums, nectarines, pineapples or other soft fruit in place of mango.
 Vegetable dosa with coconut curry sauce The Daring Cooks‘ September challenge comes from Indian Dosas from the reFresh cookbook by Ruth Tal and Fresh Restaurants.
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don’t be afraid to make a full batch. Can substitute potatoes for chickpeas.
Total time: Approximately 30 minutes.
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste
1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.
Shown here served inside Instant Flour Dosas, topped with Coconut Curry Sauce.
Total time: 20 minutes.
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.
Total time: 50 minutes.
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced
1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.
 Creamy Rice with Artichokes, Mushrooms & Pasta Spools Total time: 1 hour, plus sofrito and aioli time.
Adapted from Creamy rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, this recipe contains no fish or meat. Daring Cooks’ August challenge.
* 1 cuttlefish or substitute
* 2 Artichokes
* 6 Mushrooms
* 1 Bay leaf
* 1/4 c of white wine
* “Sofregit”
* 1 cup short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain)
* Water or Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
* 3-4 saffron threads (or ground turmeric)
* Allioli (optional)
If using vegan pasta, skip steps 1 & 2. Prepare your pasta according to directions, and add to the dish near the end.
1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean and cut into eighths.
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into fourths.
5. Add a bay leaf, the artichokes and the mushrooms to the cuttlefish.
6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the pan get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8. Add a couple spoonfuls/scoops of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit (I’ve used anywhere from 1/4 c to 2 c).
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.
 Creamy rice with mushrooms, artichokes & pasta spools; this time, with more sofregit! The first picture:
1. Vegan pasta loops shaped to look just like cuttlefish.
2. I cooked and ate my artichoke leaves and used the stock in place of fish stock.
3. I blended up my mushrooms in my food processor before adding them to the skillet (hence the excessive brown hue).
4. I’ve never owned white wine, and I found a “substitute” recipe that included lemon, vinegar and water.
5. I followed the instructions as best I could, and I used 1/3 cup of my sofrito because it tasted so awesome.
The second picture:
Steps 1-4 same.
5. I used 2 cups sofrito, and then I stirred in 1/4 cup of aioli.
 Sofrito Total time: 1 hour.
* 2 tablespoons of olive oil
* 5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
* 2 small onions, chopped
* 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
* 4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
* 1 Bay leaf
* Salt
* Touch of ground cumin
* Touch of dried oregano
Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)
I used 1/2 cup mushrooms, no green peppers, and added 2 habaneros. This took about 30 minutes to prepare and another 30 to cook.
 Epic Aioli Fail Total time: Approximately 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
* 4 garlic cloves, peeled
* Pinch of salt
* Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
* ~1 cup Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)
Directions:
1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
6. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.
Tried this a couple of times the traditional way, and I’m still unable to get it to come out looking like mayonnaise. The flavor’s still great, but the consistency never comes out. There’s a “modern” version with eggs I might try later.
 Olive Garden® Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo Total time: 45 minutes, plus pasta cook time.
No longer on the menu at Olive Garden® is my absolute favorite entree from this restaurant. Lucky for all of us, Olive Garden® has always been happy to share their recipes for everything. This was pulled from their website before the menu item was removed!
Menu Description: Grilled beef medallions drizzled with balsamic glaze, served over fettuccine tossed with spinach and gorgonzola-alfredo sauce.
Serves 4
Cook time 10 minutes (depending on doneness of steak)
Prep time 30 minutes
Ingredients
2.5 pounds marinated steak (recipe follows)
1 pound uncooked pasta
16 fl oz spinach gorgonzola sauce (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese
2 tablespoons chopped sun dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons balsamic glaze (recipe follows)
1. Grill steak to preferred doneness.
2. Cook 1 pound pasta according to the directions.
3. Place drained pasta in saute pan with heated sauce.
4. Toss pasta with sauce and place on a large platter.
5. Place grilled beef on pasta and sauce.
6. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle gorgonzola cheese and sun dried tomatoes.
Steak marinade
1.5 cups Italian dressing
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1. Cut beef into 1 inch cubes and set aside
2. Mix the dressing, rosemary and lemon juice together
3. Add the marinade to the beef, toss, and let marinate for at least 1 hour.
Spinach Gorgonzola Sauce
16 fl oz Alfredo sauce*
4 cups chopped spinach
½ cup chopped green onion
3 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese crumbled
1. Heat Alfredo sauce in a large saute pan.
2. Add onion, spinach and gorgonzola cheese.
Olive Garden® Alfredo Sauce
1 1/2 cup(s) White Milk
1 1/2 cup(s) Heavy Cream
1/2 cup(s) Imported Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/2 cup(s) Imported Romano Cheese, grated
6 Egg yolks, fresh jumbo eggs
Salt and black pepper
BALSAMIC GLAZE #1
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
Simmer until thickened, cool to room temperature.
BALSAMIC GLAZE #2
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Mix together ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly and becomes syrupy, whisking often, about 15 minutes.
Pick your glaze or make a combination of both. We skipped this altogether when we made it the first time. We also used our own alfredo sauce.
 Beef Stir Fry with Vegetables Total time: 25 minutes, plus rice or pasta cook time.
Citrus, soy and spice are everything nice. This works well as a marinade or sauce, grilled or stir fried or any way you like.
3 Tbsp peanut oil
3 Tbsp orange juice
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp spicy vinegar
1 Tbsp ginger root, minced or grated
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp sambal oelek
1 clove of garlic, minced
optional ingredients:
1 pound meat, your choice, finely sliced
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 can baby corn
1 cup broccoli florets and/or pieces
1 can water chestnuts
1 bell pepper, chopped
Heat a large frying pan or wok on medium-high to high heat. Add peanut oil, swirl. Stir fry your onions for 3 minutes, then add meat, garlic, ginger, and lime juice. Continue to stir fry until meat is desired doneness (3-7 minutes). Add remaining ingredients and stir fry for 3 more minutes or until vegetables reach desired doneness.
Serve with rice or noodles!
Shown here with carrots, sliced water chestnuts, baby corn, and spinach.
I like to marinade my meat and onions in the sauce for 4-6 hours before cooking. I use the above method only if I don’t have time to set a marinade.
 Single Serving Total time: 10 minutes with a food processor or 30 minutes by hand.
If I weren’t so afraid of the food processor, I’d use it. Instead, I peeled my tomatoes and chopped everything really teeny tiny. Your call.
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, peeled (optional) and finely chopped
2 serranos, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (about a handful)
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Mix well.
Serves two.
A little warmer than I originally thought it was going to be, but perfect for JB.
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