I do not anything about Indian food.  Ive been out for Indian food a couple of times in Winnipeg but only under the tutelage of others more experienced than I.  Today one of my students invited me to taste his homemade lunch.

He unwrapped the chapati which he described to me as being made from a firm dough made from whole grain flour and water mixed with a little bit of salt and oil.  Small portions of the dough are rolled out into discs using a rolling pin. The rolled-out dough is thrown on the preheated dry skillet and cooked on both sides.

Spices mixed and ready to be crushed into curry.

Often, the top of a chapati is slathered with butter or ghee (clarified butter). Chapatis made in domestic kitchens are usually not larger than 6-7 inches in diameter since the ‘tava’ from which they are made comes in sizes that fit comfortably on a domestic stove top. Tavas were traditionally made of unglazed earthenware, but are now typically made from metal. There are also electric tavas manufactured in India.  Some households simply use a kitchen work top as a sort of pastry board, but homes have round flat-topped ‘boards’ specifically for rolling out chapatis that may be made of wood or stone.

A piece of chapati is torn off and used to pick up the vegetable dish.  This families version is a combination of carrots, peas and potatoes, quickly tossed in a skillet with some salt, olive oil and he said chili powder (but I am pretty sure he meant curry).  The complex taste of curry is certainly the taste that I detected.

I was offered what he called pickles-succulent, marinated pieces of chili and ginger.  To off set the spiciness of the vegetables, a yogurt sauce with a simple sprinkling of salt and pepper could be dolloped on top.

I know that this gentleman’s diet is dictated by his religious beliefs and that he feels that it is his responsibility to eat healthy, whole foods.  This shared lunch, certainly was an indication of those premises.  In my life, there is no greater honour, than when a person invites me to share their lovingly prepared meal.

Kath’s quote:  “This curry was like a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony that I’d once heard…..especially the last movement, with everything screaming and banging ‘Joy.’ It stunned, it made one fear great art. My father could say nothing after the meal.”-Anthony Burgess

Last night was our monthly young families’ night and I was stumped.  I’ve been travelling a lot lately and between trying to get caught up on my “real” work and tidying the house for guests, I didn’t have a lot of time for supper preparations.  Sister #3 came to my rescue with an enormous pot of what we call “Three Sisters Lentil Chili”.

She says that it is a snap to make but it actually tastes very complex-between the sweetness of the carrot, the tartness from the salsa, the slightly spicy taste of the chili powder.  The texture is varied too, between the variety of beans and lentils.

She has a very good friend who is vegan and this is the dish that she makes for her when her gf is visiting from Toronto.  We served it with a sprinkling of cheese but that is an after thought.  This is truly a vegan dish.

Here is the recipe:

Three Sisters Lentil Chili

• Heat a large pot. Add the oil and onion. Sauté until the onion is translucent, approximately 3 minutes
• Add the carrots, red pepper, and the garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes
• Add the can of lentils, kidney beans, plum tomatoes, tomato paste, salsa, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and basil
• Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender
• Add the package of Yves Veggie ground round and heat through.

Serves 8

I had roasted some leeks the day before and made this swirled bread.  Sister #3 also provided some left over corn bread.  If we had not been entertaining such little ones, I might have served the dish with taco chips too.  Those delicious but pesky chips can get caught in toddlers’ throats.

For dessert we had strawberries and bananas dipped in sour cream and brown sugar AND a surprize birthday cake: brown flour and carrot cake with a light and delicious cream cheese icing.  I was so busy trying to facilitate the kids getting their supper, that I forgot to get a picture of the beautiful cake!

Kath’s quote:  “Lentils are friendly—the Miss Congeniality of the bean world.”
-Laurie Colwin

The Frenchman and Daughter #2 made up the team that drew the side dishes.  They decided to work independently on two separate little plates.

Both dishes included Le Grand Garden pesto.  D #2 assembled a silky cream of potato and butter nut squash soup.  She creatively initialed each bowl for every member of the family.

The Frenchman opted to use the same gorgeous green Garden pesto and blended it with chopped poached shrimp and feta and stuffed it into a mushroom cap.  Parmesan shards were melted on top.  He also grilled marinated artichokes to accompany the caps.

Both members of this team are very proficient in the kitchen and very confident in their skills.  This can create high drama just like the reality shows that we were recreating.

The third team made up of the Son and his wife (J1 & J2) drew the entree and the Le Grand Sundried Tomato pesto.  They worked somewhat independently as well but more harmoniously (they’ve known each other since they were 12, after all).

J2 fired up the barbie and stood in the snow flipping her grilled zucchini and eggplant disks.  She crumbled feta upon the circles when they had finished grilling.  She then stacked them Inukshuk style to accompany the chicken.

J1took a family favourite and modified it to incorporate the “hero” product.  First he pasted the inside of the breast with the bright, colourful and tasty pesto, then added cheese and fresh spinach that J2 had steamed for him.  After the ingredients were sealed inside he bathed it in a mixture of Dijon mustard and white wine.  This provided adherence for fresh bread crumb coating.  While these were baking, they created a spicy cream sauce from the pesto that was kicked up with some chili powder and tabasco.

Once the chicken was cooked and sliced, smudges of the sauce were placed atop in addition to dollops which graced the plate.  J1 loves hot sauces while he is aware that others in the family prefer more subtle tastes.

Before the end of the evening, we were declaring that we would all be anxious to purchase the Le Grand pestos on a regular basis because of the ease of handling, gorgeous bright colours and startlingly fresh tastes.    We also knew that these family cooking challenges would be a regular occurrence perhaps even involving extended family up at the cottage.

As I provided the live tweets and was the videographer and photographer, I did not do any of the cooking.  The rule in our family therefore, is that I did the dishes.  This was accomplished in two dishwasher loads that evening as well as (I’m guessing) 4 sink fulls of pots.  Hmm, next time, which cooking team, shall I try to get on?

Kath’s quote: “Life is too short to stuff a mushroom.”-Shirley Conran

The stage was set.  Teams were formed, courses were drawn, the three Le Grand Pestos were revealed as the secret ingredients, and oh yea, the wine was poured.

D had made a bread dough in the afternoon to bake a loaf to have with supper.  But when he and Daughter #1 picked the appetizer course, they quickly modified their plans to use the dough for pizza.

We were calling it pizza because they used our round pizza screens to bake it but it really tasted more like a flatbread.  No matter how you describe it-call it absolutely delicious.

The team made a couple of very strategic decisions.  At one time, they were contemplating the inclusion of corn meal crusted back bacon but decided instead to make the flatbread a true vegetarian recipe.

They started with huge smears of the gorgeous green pesto and then began layering on the roasted vegetables: yellow and red peppers, eggplant, mushrooms and butternut squash.

They went very easy on the cheese so that the complex and varied tastes of the roasted vegetables would shine through.  There was mozzarella, Parmesan and a light sprinkling of Bothwell’s red wine and sharp cheddar as well.

In addition, in order to offset the nuttiness of the pesto, they included roasted pine nuts to add some crunch.

The resulting appetizer course could have been our entire meal, but we kept warning each other to stop eating so we would have room for the other dishes that were still ahead.

I was looking for a flat bread quotation, when I came across this one regarding flatulence (with apologies to my vegetarian readers and friends).  Kath’s quote: “Vegetarianism is harmless enough, though it is apt to fill a man with wind and self-righteousness.”-Sir Robert Hutchinson

This is what the top looks like when it comes out of the oven.

I thought nothing of the fact that I was making Lumpy Bread recently until I casually tweeted about it and Dig In Manitoba asked me to share my recipe.  Trouble is, it isn’t a recipe per se, just a “process” that I can restate here:

I use my breadmaker constantly, but perhaps surprizingly, not for making bread, but for making dough.  I have the portions for a basic dough etched in my brain and I use this as my basis for numerous concoctions. 

So on this day, once the dough cycle had completed itself, I removed the dough and cut it with kitchen scissors into big hunks and placed these into a stainless steel mixing bowl.  Next, I stuck my head into the cheese keeper in the fridge and pulled out whatever had not been wrapped carefully and was hardening at the edges-in this case havarti and white cheddar.  I threw these into my Magic Bullet and pulsed for a few seconds.  This produced some grated cheese and other pieces still in quite large cubes-perfect for this recipe.  I tossed the cheese with the bread dough and a couple of glugs of canola oil to encourage the surfaces of each to meld together.

A side view where the cheese and dough have softened and married each other.

I greased a bundt pan with olive oil  because I like the brown and crunchy texture that it produces on bread crust.  I love the new silicone bundt pans for a task this.

Now I could have thrown different types of cheese and/or garlic and herbs or even softened onions into this, but this is what stared me in the face, when I opened fridge door, so I went with it.

The bottom of the bread when it was turned from the pan.

So as you can see, not much of a “recipe” but  I served it with soup and more cheese to our dinner guests that evening (9 babies & toddlers and their 4 sets of parents) and everyone seemed well-pleased. 

 Kath’s quote: “Bachelor’s fare: bread and cheese, and kisses.”-Jonathan Swift