Foodie Friday: What Fall Tastes Like

Now that it is fall and it's cold outside, (yes it's cold here in Texas!) I must share this recipe we found here.
Andrea and I had both been craving soup and the minute it got the slightest bit cold, it was time to make some. Also, I get a little obsessed with anything pumpkin in the fall. I blame Starbucks. 


Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Ingredients
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 teaspoons minced garlic
A dash of crushed red pepper
1 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 (15 oz) cans 100 percent pumpkin 
2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken broth but my roommate is a veggie)
1 cups of milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

1) Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.
2) Add pumpkin and broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3) Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
4) With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.

I also happened to have pumpkin pie spice in my cupboard, so we put a dash on top and it was delicious. A dash of pepper would also be good to give it a bit of a kick.

Happy Eating!

Deepika

Foodie Friday: Stuffed Bell Peppers

Before I delve into these delicious stuffed bell peppers (we made these in July and I STILL remember how great they tasted), let me give you a little background on Foodie Friday!

When Andrea and I decided to move in together (we have the sweetest little house), we came up with the idea for Foodie Friday. Neither of us are big fans of going out on Fridays. Dinner is about all I can  muster. So we thought, why not stay in and cook? Or maybe sometimes go try a new restaurant? Add to that a glass of wine and good conversation. Perfect Friday night solution!

Our very first Foodie Friday occurred before we even moved in together. We couldn't wait ... we were pretty excited about the idea!

Stuffed Bell Peppers (based on this recipe I found at this great blog --- We added and subtracted a few things so our version is listed below)

• Ingredients:
• 3 bell peppers halved and seeded 
• 1 bell peppers - diced into small pieces 
• 1 zucchini - diced into small pieces
• 1 onion - diced into small pieces
• 4 cloves garlic - minced 
• 1 c frozen corn 
• 1 small tomato - diced into small pieces
• 1 cup of mushrooms - diced into small pieces
• 2 tbs parsley 
• 3/4 c panko breadcrumbs  - we used garlic and herb flavored
• salt 
• pepper 
• 1 package of light cream cheese (3 oz.)
• 1 tbs essence 
• 3 tbs olive oil 
• 2 tbs butter 
• 1/4 c parmesan (to start - decide if you want more based on taste)  plus more for sprinkling 

I'm not sure how we managed to not eat all of this

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
After heating butter and olive oil in a pan on the stove, saute the onions over med high heat until translucent. 
Add garlic and cook til fragrant.  
Add the mushrooms and saute til soft. 
Add the rest of the vegetables. Saute until tender.
Then add salt, pepper and essence. 
Slowly add cream cheese until entire package is added to the vegetable mixture.
 Add parsley and breadcrumbs. Then add parmesan and take off heat.

Stuff the peppers with the vegetable-cream cheese mixture. Place in a baking dish coated with a little olive oil. Bake until peppers are softened (about 20-25 minutes).
A few minutes before the peppers are done - I recommend at about 5 minutes left - sprinkle parmesan on top of the peppers and finish baking.


Voila! Finished! And let me tell you, the leftovers are great as well. You can stick the peppers back in the oven for about five minutes or, if you are lazy like I am, just nuke them in the microwave for a few minutes!

Happy Eating!
Deepika

Happy Diwali!

Diwali. What my mom calls the indian version of Christmas. I love this holiday partly because my mom was very adamant about celebrating it. We used to light candles every year on our porch and she would often throw huge Diwali parties so I could be exposed to this special Indian holiday. I also grew up in a town with a decent Indian community so every year since I can remember, there would be a huge program that got put on full of music and dance performances.  

To give you the rundown, Diwali is the festival of lights. It covers a lot of different events discussed in Indian folklore. One is the return of Rama from 14 years of exile. Another is the killing of Nakarasura, an evil demon. If interested, Wikipedia has a decent explanation.

Basically, it's an excuse to perform a pooja (our version of a church service) and then get together with all your friends and family, wear fancy new clothes, light candles and set off fireworks, and of course, eat a delicious home cooked meal.

This year I decided to have a little Diwali shindig of my own focusing on the meal. This was the biggest endeavor I've ever attempted as far as food goes. I basically spent 4 or 5 hours in the kitchen, blissfully content as the smell of curry tickled my nose. Add a little Bollywood music and the afternoon equaled perfection.

That evening, about 10 people came over and we ate till our bellies were full.  I must add that Justin brought over DELICIOUS naan (wonderful Indian bread) and our friend Slava brought over some much needed dessert, chocolate cake. Completely rounded out the meal.

I made the following dishes: (to be served with rice or naan)

Dal Makhani: Hands down, one of my most favorite Indian dishes.  It is a black lentil dish with kidney beans, onions, tomatoes and a ton of butter and cream. Delish.

Mutter Paneer: Paneer means cheese and mutter means peas so...it's a dish of cheese and peas in a tomato gravy.

Tandoori Chicken: A very popular chicken dish where chicken is marinated in fragrant spices and yogurt and then baked.


Aloo Gobi: A potato and cauliflower dry curry sauteed in a ginger garlic sauce along with chili powder.

 




I eventually hope to break down these curries for you all so you can try them at home!
Stay tuned...


Happy Eating!
Deepika

P.S. How beautiful do Andrea (my sweet housemate) and Aleza look in their Indian clothes?! 

Just so you know...

For my already loyal and super wonderful followers, I've decided to upload posts of which the material comes from the last couple months. I've been preparing for this blog...it's about time I finally followed through on it! :)

Happy Eating!
Deepika

P.S. Per a certain follower's request, *coughs* Aleza *coughs* I will be making pumpkin cheesecake this week so stay tuned for that blog post!

And so it begins...

I've been debating about starting this blog since I moved to Austin a year ago. Although this blog will discuss a lot of different eateries in Austin it will also delve into my love for cooking and baking.
I look forward to lots of time in the kitchen and trying new places and I welcome you to join me on this journey.


Happy Eating!


Deepika