Cooking Club: August 2010

Theme: Worldly Cuisine

Teresa and Denise: Almond Buns- Fyldte Mandelkager from Denmark 

Linda: Polish blintzes

Betty: Russian Potato salad 

Chris- Croatian dish, Stuffed Cabbage.

Summer- Vegetable Masala

Shanua- French and African Wines, Indian Beer

Susan- (wasn't able to join us, but sent along some tasty wines)

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Almond Buns

These heavenly buns were scented with cardamon and cinnamon (the kitchen smelled amazing when I arrived). They would have been delicious on their own, but the whipped cream and ground almond filling made them a nice dessert.

Teresa always decorates her house so cute. For this cooking club, she hung up flags from all over the country. Very cute!

Polish blintzes

These blintz were a special recipe handed down from Linda's Polish grandma. 

A simple filling of sauteed onions and cottage cheese is wrapped up in a crepe and lightly fried. These were so tasty and addicting. 

Russian Potato Salad

Betty, who made this salad, searched out an authentic Russian market here in Salt Lake to get Russian bologna just for this salad. The salad had a unique flavor that was garlicky and almost smokey. Everyone really enjoyed this dish! 

Indian Basmati Rice

Whole spices like cinnamon sticks, cardamon pods and cloves are sauteed in oil to bring out their spicyness then mixed with basmati rice.

Vegetable Masala

A mix of vegetables are cooked with indian spices, tomato sauce and cream. Very delicious and tasted like an authentic dish from Bombay House.

Stuffed Cabbage

A mixture of onions and ground beef is rolled up in cabbage leaves and baked with a tasty topping of tomato sauce. These were a hit!

All the food was delicious and everyone went back for seconds. It was fun trying all the different dishes with their unique ingredients and flavors. 

We also enjoyed wines from France, Chile and Africa. The delicate french wines were everyones favorites.

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I can't believe we're gearing up for our fall cooking clubs already!


Next month: Recipes from our favorite chefs

Host: Betty

September 12th at 5:00PM 

Vegetarian Masala
Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, cubed, blanched
4 carrots, cubed, blanched

1 small head of cauliflower, blanched
3 tablespoons ground unsalted cashews
1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce 
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 bunch fresh cilantro for garnish


Directions
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until tender. Mix in ginger and garlic, and continue cooking 1 minute. Add in blanched potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, cashews, and tomato sauce. Season with salt and curry powder. Cook and stir 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Stir peas, yellow bell pepper, red bell pepper, and cream into the skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

• I added extra spices like garam masala, turmeric powder, ground fenugreek and cardamom to make the flavor more authentic. 

The rest of the recipes will be added shortly!