Bonnie Deahl

I was pleased to check in here after getting my copy of AMFT on Valentine's day last week. I had ordered the book when I discovered the ffwD club from Dorie's website. Last fall I read about her new book and was intrigued by the chicken in a pot on the cover. With my organic chicken in my first winter CSA box I decided this was the best way to handle the bird...right in the pot! I was hoping to post my 2 pix here but the pix are too big for posting here. I used a bag of prepared pizza dough from the store as the 'glue' for the pot and it was very cool to see how it came from the oven. The dough was nicely browned and we all broke off pieces and dipped them in the voluptuously garlicky tasteful gravey in the pot. Chicken was moist and juicy, surrounded by many herb and vegetable aromatics. My last year was spent cooking my way through Suvir Saran's two cookbooks including a full weekend class with him up in Connecticut. So 2010 was Indian cuisine immersion 101~ This year we will diversify and head to France. This brings back memories of my flying years with Pan Am back in the 80's when I had nearly weekly layovers in Paris. I have never wanted to cook french cuisine thinking it was too complicated but Dorie has inspired me to venture forth and I can't wait to carry on.. [i am working on uploading some photos but so far no success...will keep working on it.

John, I recently discovered your travel journal of your trip to India. What a wonderful trip and account of your day by day activities. It is a dream of mine to take such a trip to India some day. I travelled there back in the 80's when I was a flight attendant so had a taste of the culture that has made me want to go back ever since. Will bookmark and read about your trip more slowly. Your photos are just beautiful. Thanks for sharing and inspiring! Bonnie

You gotta love making those turkey sandwiches with leftover white meat. Our bird was brined and grilled with tamarind glaze. Suvir Saran has a day after turkey hash in American Masala that will be the inspiration for today's leftover foray. We made this dish at a cooking class back in the summer and it was really a hit. You will need some curry leaves, cumin, jalapeno, cilantro and mustard seeds along with onion and tomato for a well spiced day after dish. Try the skillet cornbread to go with it also.

Freezer cleanout is a great thing... Jenn, When i read your post about the dried fruits I thought about a Deepak Chopra recipe I have for making breakfast bars...so pulled up my file and am posting it here. I have made this with multiple variations and all of them use up dried fruits and nuts. Let me know if you try it out... I am on the road with my job so these make good grab and go energy bars that are organic and tasty. I have quoted the book from which this comes and give credit to the authors: Breakfast Bars Adapted from The Chopra Center Cookbook, p.77 By Deepak Chopra, David Simon, Leanne Backer 12 Servings 2 cups organic rolled oats 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour 1 Tablespoon flax seeds 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup currants or dried cranberries, or other dried fruit 1 cup sunflower seeds, pecans, or cashew pieces 1 cup coconut flakes 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon ginger ¼ cup turbinado sugar (Sugar in the raw) 1 ½ cups low-fat vanilla soymilk, rice milk, or almond milk ¼ cup maple syrup (have also used Atkins maple syrup w/ Splenda) ¼ cup canola oil or ghee ¾ cup mango puree or applesauce (I prefer the applesauce) Topping: 1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar 1 Tablespoon cinnamon Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with oil. Place all dry ingredients (rolled oats through sugar) in a large bowl. Using a wire whisk, combine the mixture well. Place all the wet ingredients (soy through fruit puree) in a large bowl and combine with a whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine gently using a rubber spatula. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and distribute evenly, gently patting the batter into place with the spatula. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the mixture. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool, then cut into 12 bars. Wrap individually. Breakfast bars are great as a breakfast on the run or as a handy healthy snack. They are moist and chewy. Nutritional facts: Per 2 x 2 inch bar Calories 339, Total fat 11.4g, Saturated fat 3 g, Carbohydrates 50.9g, Protein 8.2 g Notes: You can freeze these individually and take them out when you leave in the morning. Many of these ingredients can be found in health sections of your grocery or health food store. Vary the dried fruits or nuts to suit your tastes. You could use honey for the maple syrup also. All my gardener friends love when I share these… Collected by: Bonnie Deahl

I consider myself to gravitate more to savory cooking and less to pastries & baking..so with that in mind I am going to put these on my first list: 1. Chocolate profiteroles 2. Roti 3. Spring risotto 4. Ina's easy sticky buns 5. Suvir's panchkuti daal If I can make these 5, it will start a lot of fun things in the kitchen. I love profiteroles and have fond memories of them when i loved in London; roti is just one of those many indian breads you must have so need to start somewhere; spring risotto (well I have always wanted to make one but never quite got there); Sticky buns, (say no more..I'll just go to the gym more and enjoy these); and daal ( i want to try all daal recipes, so will start here with a more complicated one. This is on an indian thread here on eG on dals. Thats it for now! Gotta make a shopping list. bonnie

I counted 140 this morning.. Many books I have had since the 1980's and still use those older titles for certain favorites. I have given away many titles I no longer actively use since I want my cooking library to be books I use with some regularity. I have become more descriminating about what I buy these days looking for diversity among the collection. I like to improvise in the kitchen, but I cook from recipes all the time and follow them closely on the first go around, making notes in my books on what i like or not (so I don't go back and repeat a no go a second time. Thanks for starting the cookbook count. Bonnie

OK, I am also in...thanks Anna for a fun way to share with others. I will put my list together over the weekend, but I must say that most of them will be indian recipes since I am learning indian cuisines now. I made a wonderful hyderabadi chicken biryani last week and can't wait to try another dish.. stay tuned for Bonnie's list over the weekend.... '

OK, as an avid reader and user of cookbooks in my library (and many are found in used bookstores) I would like to jump in with my list of favorites...in any order: 1. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison 2. Classic Indian Cooking, Julie Sahni 3. The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, Rosso/Lukins 4. The New Basics Cookbook, Rosso/Lukins 5. The Enchanted Forest, Katzen (plus other titles by Katzen) 6. Everyday Mexican, Bayless 7. Barbeque Bible, Raicheln 8. Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay (plus other titles) 9. Barefoot Contessa back to basics, Ina Garten 10. herbs & spices, Jill Norman (great reference) I haven't counted the titles in my library and am more discriminating with purchases these days, but I refer also to some older titles for certain recipes i like: Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, Louisiana Cajun cooking, Paul Prudhomme.

Chicken biryani...i had never made chicken biryani before until about a week ago when I tried Sanjay Thumma's Hyderabadi chicken biryani. It is a layered dish where the uncooked yogurt-spice marinated chicken pieces go on the bottom of the pot, sprinkled with fried onions, then a layer of half cooked (50%) basmati rice. Rice has been soaked prior to cooking. The biryani is then topped with more fried onions , cilantro & mint and drizzled with a tablespoon or 2 of saffron water. Covered and put atop the stove on a medium heat for about half an hour, this was just fabulous! I have made vegetable biryani's but found that they lost their flavor as leftovers. I finished the last of this wonderful rice today and it was as tasty without the addition of any masalas to jazz it up. Sorry this is a reply to a thread started long ago...maybe we might resurrect it.. www.vahrehvah.com and then search for hyderabadi biryani.. yummmm

Thanks for the welcome Linda. I recently learned how to make channa masala and just love how it all comes together at the end. I have been watching some of Sanjay Thumma's videos and have learned a lot about common techniques in the cuisines itself. It is a dream to one day go on a culinary tour of india...with the right travelers and guide, preferably a chef. I was a Pan Am flight attendant for over 13 years and travelled several trips to India, so was bit by the desire to go back again one day. There is a general lack of understanding of indian cuisine in many parts of the american culture. This is changing with the melting pot of ethnic cultures here, a growing change toward both organic and vegetarian related cuisines and the internet that brings so many things to us. Give it time...

I am a newcomer to eGullet and am enjoying the indian forums..indian cooking is a hobby for me and I am in a great learning mode. As a great lover and user of spices, naturally i find indian cuisines to be made for my obsession. Indian cooks are masters in the art of using spices. Now to the topic: Curry powder and how i use it. I have a couple of "curry powders" that i will use in a pinch: vindaloo, sweet curry, madras curry...and all come from Penzey's spices. I enjoy their blends. If I cook a non-indian type recipe such as a British chicken curry (tamed) or egg or chicken salad, these curry blends are great to use. If I am going to buy a blend, it will likely be from Penzey's. I might also be included to use a curry blend to spruce up a leftover dish like using up cooked lamb and making a quickie lamb curry & rice or potatoes. (now i am getting hungry...)haha I believe they could also be incorporated into rubs suitable for grilling meats or fish. I am now learning that indians have many "blends" such as garam masala (also Penzey's) and I have recently bought MDH Chole channa masala and dal makhani masala. I am assuming these are the "finishing spices" for many dishes and there is a staggering variety of them out there. When i look at the ingredient labels, there are obscure ingredients that may be hard to find for many so these finishing masalas seem to be the way to go. I have played around with a great variety of indian spices including but not limited to amchur, ajwain, fenugreek and even hing...i just bought some curry leaves at my nearest indian shop and put them in the freezer. I just love the variety in this cuisine!

I have made ghee using unsalted, organic butter. It turned out very nice and has a nice nutty flavor. I like using it in indian cooking when called for. As for the tadka discussion.. I totally agree that the tadka makes the dal. It seems like the adding of a signature to the dal. I have not encountered another cuisine that uses tadka as a flavor element except in indian cuisines. Ghee seems like a flavorful carrier for distributing the infused spices into an otherwise blank pallete such as a simple dal preparation. I would like to try Suvir's Panchkuti dal recipe. It looks like a complex dal that must be heavenly.

Jenni, thanks for the info on sambhar. I was watching Vahrehvah chef, Sanjay Thumma do his version of Sambhar and can't wait to try it one day. The tamarind is something I have not worked with but one time, but he showed how to soak it to extract the juice and flavor. I would like the flavors of South India from what I have learned so far. Making the sambhar powder is shown in his video also.

and bought most items from Penzeys!

The new Penzey cinnamon blend is excellent. If you use a lot of it you can buy it in bulk bags. They also sell cinnamon sticks too. you can order online also. If you have a location near where you live, check it out. On a small aside....a few years ago I went through my entire spice cabinet and threw away anything that had no smell. I then started over, choosing whole spices where possible and buying smaller amounts of ground spices since they lose their potency with time. The whole spices will last much longer. However..if you use a lot of one type of ground spice, buy it in small quantities and replenish it often. Cooking would be a fun without the world of spices!