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Tag: ground nutmeg

Pumpkin Bread with Cranberries

Lets do a pumpkin week- here is the first one.

  • 1¼ cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • ½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
  • 1 cup turbinado sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ extra light olive oil
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Lightly brush a 9X5X3 inches loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add one egg at a time mixing in between. Add 1 cup pumpkin puree and orange zest and mix for about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the cranberries and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes before taking it out. Cool completely before serving.

Pear and Ginger Crumble

Pear and Ginger Crumble

Topping

  • ¾ cup white whole-wheat flour
  • 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch squares

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an ovenproof dish that is approximately 13 X 9. Mix the seven ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the butter and rub in with fingers until moist clumps form. Keep aside.

  • 2 pounds ripe yet firm pears, peeled, cored and sliced thin
  • Juice of one lemon
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Toss the pears with the lemon juice, sugar and flour. Transfer the filling to the ovenproof dish. Sprinkle topping over. Bake the crumble until pears are tender and the topping is golden brown- about 40 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream.

Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

My daughter has been eating oatmeal for breakfast for many many years and then all of a sudden she announced, she was done with oatmeal and does not want to eat it again! So, I had to think about breakfast as I feel it is very important to give her a healthy start to the day. She loves anything with pumpkin flavor, especially this time of year- so I looked at a few recipes and came up with the following. These delicious muffins have whole wheat flour, oats, coconut oil, walnuts and dark chocolate. I make a batch that results in approximately 14 muffins and I am set for a while. A muffin, some fruit and a glass of milk and she is all set for the morning!!

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup old fashioned oats
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup full fat yogurt
  • ½ cup full fat milk
  • ¾ cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ cup walnuts, chopped
  • ½ cup dark chocolate, chopped

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 15 to 16 standard size muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and sugar. In a glass bowl, melt the coconut oil and add the yogurt, milk, pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla extract. Whisk well and add to the dry ingredients. Add the walnuts and chocolate. Mix well and divide batter between the muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or till the toothpick comes out clean.

Quick Parsnips

This was a great accompaniment with the fish… I served a crunchy salad to add some texture to the dish…

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 packet parsnips, cut into 3 to 4 inch sticks
  • ¼ cup ground nutmeg
  • Salt
  • ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Heat the butter in a medium frying pan. Add the parsnips and sauté to coat well. Add the nutmeg and salt. Saute on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for ten minutes. Take the lid off and make sure the parsnips are soft but not mushy. Garnish with dill and parsley.

Cider Duffins

Cider Duffins

  • ¾ cup raw sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ cup extra light olive oil
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup fine raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, cider and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well.
Divide batter evenly into the muffin cups, filling about ½ full.
Bake for 15 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar and cinnamon into another small bowl and mix well.

Once the muffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the cinnamon sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.

Pomegranate and Walnut Chicken

Pomegranate and Walnut Chicken This was a delicious dish. My husband and I used to order a chicken dish made with pomegranates at an Afghani restaurant years ago. The placed closed down a while ago and I have not eaten that delicious dish for a long time.

I have had pomegranate glaze in my pantry for a long time. I had bought it a couple of years ago from Trader Joes (they had it briefly and don’t anymore). I did some extensive research on the internet and came up with my own version. The two main flavors are the walnuts and the pomegranate glaze. I marinated the chicken in ginger and garlic. In the meantime I made a gravy with onion, and lots of aromatic spices including cinnamon.

The dish has a very distinct taste- really delicious. Serve the chicken with some aromatic basmati rice or freshly made rotis.
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Chicken Chettinad Tikkas

Chicken Chettinad Tikkas1 These are a one of a kind of tikkas I came up with the other day. I asked my husband what he wanted to eat for dinner. He thought about it and suggested I make something with south Indian flavors. I knew I wanted grill some chicken- so I decided to come up with a recipe for chicken tikkas but not with the usual suspects. I added some south Indian flavors to it.  Instead of the lemon juice, I used tamarind. It provides the same tanginess but also adds an earthy flavor lemons don’t have.

For the spices, I used a combination of cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. I roasted them with curry leaves and ground everything up. Everything was mixed with the greek yogurt and marinated for several hours. It resulted in a super flavorful chicken. Everyone loved it, especially my husband.

I think this chicken will be part of the summer meals repertoire- it is perfect to serve with grilled corn and other vegetables. Try it- you will love it.
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