Wholewheat Olive Oil Galette filled with Homemade Ricotta, Asparagus Pesto & Tomatoes
Last week, my roomie Disha and I visited the Butler’s Orchard in Germantown, MD. We picked a whole bunch of gorgeous red raspberries, Sweet plump yellow tomatoes, Juliet tomatoes, Basil leaves, Mint leaves, And a whole mass of donut peaches (sweetest and juiciest peaches we ever ate) and sugar pears along with some fresh grass-fed cow milk, red apple salsa, fig jam, fresh herb bread, white eggplants, okra and heirlooms. And then we came home all crazy, excited and simply falling short for words of adoration at all the beautiful things that we picked.
For the longest time, I wanted to try making a galette — a flat, rustic-looking French tart. The galette pastry dough is usually made of plain flour and a whole lot of butter, similar to a tart pastry. Now, I haven’t tried making it that way just because a whole stick of butter in a dinner dish yielding two servings sounds scary. So I made a lighter and healthier version using wholewheat flour and olive oil. Surprisingly, the crust turned out perfect and crispy. Galettes can be sweet or savory. I made a savory one just because I needed to get my eyes off those pretty looking tomatoes before they rotted away. Along with the tomatoes, I filled the galette with some asparagus pesto and homemade ricotta cheese that I flavored with garlic, chili and dried rosemary.
Blackberry White Chocolate Macarons
I never liked how macarons tasted, but I loved how they looked — pretty pastel colored cookies with frilly centers, almost like they just walked out of a dollhouse. A couple of weeks ago, I tried making French macarons for the first time following Chef Pierre Herme’s world famous macaron recipe (Italian meringue method). I ground almonds to make my own almond flour and made the batter following the recipe to the gram. I had hopes of seeing perfect (smooth shiny tops, frilly feet and what not) macarons slide out of the oven. But I failed. As disappointed as I was, I had to convince myself that I got tricked by this 3-ingrdient recipe which looked so straightforward but was really not.
The Cookie & Milk Cup
(Partially adapted from Byron Talbott)
Chocolate Hazelnut Porridge
I don’t know if this is normal, but the first thing my sister and I crave every morning is dessert. While I generally eat a banana to satisfy my sweet craving, my sister comes up with some super healthy breakfast (dessert) ideas, like this one — chocolate hazelnut porridge. We usually keep jars full of homemade, all natural chocolate hazelnut butter and chocolate almond butter at the ready. You can simply mix a dollop of this butter with oats, spread it on toast or eat it plain by the spoonful.
Pav Bread (Indian Bread Rolls)
These super soft, airy and slightly sweet bread rolls are an Indian street-food star.
Classic Creamy Hummus
In the four years that I have lived in America, this place has not only served me mediocre weather, but also mediocre Arabic food. The one thing I miss most about home is the delectable Lebanese food — especially the luscious, silky, smoothest-ever hummus. This hummus recipe is a keeper. It is so smooth and creamy, it tastes exactly like the one we used to get at our local Arabic restaurant called Lebanese Flower, back at home in Abu Dhabi.
Wintery Tart
If I’m ever asked what my FAVORITE recipe from the MasterChef Kitchen is, I’d say “Wintery Tart”. More than just being a winner recipe, it has been a blessing for me. It is that first recipe I made as a result of a Mystery Box challenge when we were in bootcamp (top 30) and got me the first apron (with my name on it) to enter the top 12, from where started the real journey.
If at all you’re curious to know what was in that Mystery Box, we had carrots, cinnamon, strawberries, pineapple, lentils and purple yam. In addition, we had a support pantry with basics such as flours, sugars, ginger, garlic and dairy.
Pomegranate Khandvi Lasagne
Khandvi is probably my favorite Gujarati dish to make and eat. Making perfect paper thin, translucent khandvi is true art, I believe.