Pakoras (Spinach, Onion and Potato Snacks)

These are vegetable fritters with Indian spices and just a hint of heat, fried crispy in a chickpea batter and delicious.
They are best served with various chutneys. This recipe is from Indian Home Made Cooking. 

Pakoras

Ingredients (for about 30 pakoras): 

Spice Powder:

-1 tsp coriander seeds

- 1 tsp cumin seeds

- 1 tsp garam masala

- 1/2 tsp cayenne/chili pepper

- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

For fritters: 

- 6 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped 

- 1 medium red potato, peeled and very finely diced

- 1 medium red onion, diced 

 - 1 fresh hot green chili pepper, very finely chopped

- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- 2 cups chickpea flour (can be found in the "natural foods" section of many supermarkets)

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1.75 cups water 

- Canola oil for deep frying

Preparation: 

1. Mix the spices in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind very coarsly. 

2. Combine the spice powder with the vegetables, chili, cilantro, flour, salt and baking powder and stir to coat everything with the flour. Add the water gradually and stir to create a batter. 

3. Pour several inches/cm of oil into a large skillet and heat over medium heat until the oil is hot (but not very hot. You want the potatoes to cook without the pakoras burning). Spoon 4-5 large spoonfuls of the mixture into the oil. Allow to fry for about a minute, then turn over and cook for another minute, then keep cooking, flipping occasionally, for about 5-6 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. 

4. Using a slotted spoon, remove the fried pakoras into a plate lined with paper. Keep doing this until you fry all of them. Serve hot with chutney.

Naan bread

Yes, it's once again Indian Food time at our house.
This time, we made Naan bread.The recipe is based  on the one here.
We made it GF with Cup4Cup flour and it came out very nice, but I'm not sure it'll work with other kinds of GF flour. 

Naan Bread

Ingredients (for 8 Naans): 
-1.5 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1.5 tsp sugar
-3 cups all purpose flour
-1 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) or oil
- 3 tbsp yogurt or sour cream

Preparation: 
1. Add the yeast to the warm water and sugar. Leave aside for 10 minutes until it begins to bubble.

2. In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a mixer) combine the flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture, the yogurt and half of the ghee/oil. 

3. With your hands or a mixer, knead until a soft, elastic dough forms (if you use GF flour it will be less elastic).

4. Place the dough into a bowl, lightly oiling it to prevent drying. Cover the bowl and allow to rise in a warm area (if your house is not very warm, put it in a very slightly warmed oven) for 90 minutes, until about doubled in size.

5. Preheat oven to 200 C/400 F. Punch down the dough and divide it into eight equal balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a flat round, about 7-8"/ 18" in diameter.

6. Cover a baking tray with lightly oiled aluminum foiled. Put the naan's on the tray, making sure they don't touch each other (you will probably need more than one tray). Brush with oil/ghee and put in the hot oven, baking until the naan puffs and turns golden (this will take about 7 minutes), then turn around and bake a bit more (about 3 minutes). Remove from oven and serve.

Mac and Cheese

Normally, I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to home-made or fancy mac and cheese. The truth is, that there is just something about this dish that really requires it to be fluorescent orange and come from a blue box in order to give the right experience. However, after  a visit to S'mac in NYC, where the menu is comprised of endless variations of mac and cheese, and everything can be made gluten free too, we decided to give the home-made thing another try.
The result is neither florescent orange nor redolent of the satisfying-yet-artificial-flavors of the boxed version, but it is incredibly rich, delicious and wonderful.
The recipe here is from Comfort Food, by Williams Sonoma.

Mac and Cheese

Ingredients (for 4-6 servings, depending if it's a main course or a side): 
 - 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1.5 cup bread crumbs (gluten free will do. Fresh crumbs are ideal).
-  Salt and pepper
- 1 lb/500 grams small short pasta (elbow macaroni is preferred, but other shapes will do)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour (gf options will do, either all purpose or even corn starch)
- 3 cups milk, warmed
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or other sharp cheese)
- 2 cups shredded fontina cheese (or other milder hard cheese)
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard (optional)

Preparation: 
1. n a large frying pan, melt 3 tbsp of the butter over medium low heat. Add the garlic and cook, until tender but not browned. Add the bread crumbs, stir to coat and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C. Oil a large and shallow baking dish, or individual baking dishes (or, if you want to go the S'mac route, cast iron skillets).

3. Bring water to a boil and cook macaroni according to instructions, until just al-dente (you don't want it too soft because it'll keep cooking in the oven). Drain and set aside, washing a bit to prevent sticking.

4. Add the remaining 4 tbsp of butter to the pasta pot, melt over medium heat. Stir in the flour. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring to a bubble, stirring so that the mixture doesn't brown. Gradually stir in the milk, raise the heat to medium and bring to a boil while stirring. Remove from heat and stir in the cheeses and mustard (if using). Season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the pasta.

5. Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the crumbs are browned and the sauce is bubbly. If you have a broiler and your dish is broiler safe, you can broil it for a bit at the end to get that golden-brown crust.  Cool for abut 5 minutes, then serve hot.

Potato and Onion Pie

This is one of my favorite savory pies, filled with lots of onions and potatoes in a flaky crust.

To save time, you can also make this in a puff pastry crust or, if you want a low-fat version, with filo pastry.
To make it gluten free, you can use a good all-purpose GF flour for the crust. It should work.

I find the filling is at it's best when you take the time to finely chop the onions and potatoes into tiny cubes. I used my trusty onion chopper to chop both the onions and the potatoes.

Potato and Onion Pie 

Ingredients (For one large rectangular pie. You could probably make two smaller round ones from this): 

For the Crust:
- 3 cups   all purpose flour (GF will most likely work)
- 1 container (about 150 ml) plain yogurt (greek yogurt will work)
- 200 grams/7 oz butter, chopped into small cubes

For the Filling
- 3 large onions, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 large potatoes, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp flour (gf will work)
- 3 eggs
- 2 containers (about 150 ml each) plain yogurt (greek yogurt or sour cream will also work)
- Seasoning: Salt, pepper, minced onion (optional) 


Preparation: 

1. Combine all of the crust ingredients in a food processor (or work by hand) until a dough forms. Line a large rectangular glass baking dish (or a pie dish of your choice) with the dough by taking pieces of the dough and pressing them into the dish until the entire surface is properly covered.

2. Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F. In a large skillet, melt the 2 tbsp of butter. Add the onion and sugar and cook over medium heat until the onion is softened and golden. Add the potatoes and cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to soften a bit. Add the flour and seasoning and keep stirring for another minute. Remove from heat.

3. Mix the eggs and yogurt into the the onions and potatoes, stirring well to prevent the egg from cooking from the heat. Season a bit more. If you don't mind eating a bit of slightly raw egg, test the seasoning and correct. If you do, just risk it (you can always sprinkle some salt over the top and the end).

4. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes, until firm.