Chana Dosa

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Chana Dosa with Cheese and Veggie SautéFor Sunday Brunch this week I made my second run at dosas, which are sort of like crêpes, except made from plant protein sources instead of eggs. Chana Dosa is a delicious and nutritious version using chickpeas as the batter base.

We had these last summer at the ISKCON Temple in Naperville during their vegetarian food festival, and have been wanting to make them ever since.

I adapted a recipe from the Bhusanur Cooking YouTube channel.

  • 1 c raw chickpeas
  • 1/2 c uncooked rice (we used brown Basmati)
  • 1 t Fenugreek
  • 1/2 t Asofoetida
  • 3/4 t salt

Rinse the chickpeas and rice a few times, then soak for at least 8 hours.

Drain, and place in Vitamix with 1 c water and the other ingredients, and mix until batter consistency.

Let mixture rest and ferment in a bowl at least 8 hours. After this, add a few tablespoons of water at a time and mix by hand until it’s pancake batter consistency.

I added probably 6 T of water total, and think I could have used more.

The first time I made these, I used a crêpe pan to cook, and had issues with sticking and trouble getting the thickness correct, so I opted for a cast iron skillet this time. I got the best results on medium/high heat using olive oil spray.

Add a dollop of batter to the hot pan and use the back of the ladle to spread it thin in a circular motion. Cover the pan with a lid and set a timer for 1 minute. At that point, the dosa is nearly done, it just needs to be flipped for a few seconds to toast the other side a bit before adding the filling.

I used a sauté of onions, bell peppers and celery, with savory seasonings and just a bit of the Fenugreek and Asofoetida. We also added some freshly shredded Swiss Cheese. After spooning that on half of the dosa, fold the top over and let things get hot and gooey.

This recipe made six nice size dosas, and they were delicious and surprisingly filling. Definitely a keeper.

Thank you, India.

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Sunday Brunch

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8 July 2018

This week we enjoyed a lovely Sunday Brunch. Claudia made a ham and asparagus strata and bacon wrapped tots. Mom baked sourdough raisin sweet rolls and Aunt Pat brought a nice fresh berry salad.

Also, Mimosas!

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St. Patrick’s Day Weekend

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Sunday Brunch and Dinner – 18 March 2018

Green Flowers

Aunt Pat’s Lovely Bouquet

We had the folks and Aunt Pat over early this Sunday so we could work in a late breakfast as well as dinner. Claudia was up before 7 AM putting together her white chocolate and raspberry scones, which involved a very labor intensive process of grating frozen butter into the dry ingredients mixture. We tried using a food processor for this bit, but that didn’t work out, so she went back to the box grater, painstakingly dispensing two pounds of Irish butter. Once the dough was resting in the fridge, she headed out to Yoga while I started preparing a huge pot of veggies and corned beef.

We had Pandora’s St. Patrick’s Day station streaming as the family arrived, and Claudia baked the scones. I had some sausages and Potatoes O’Brien ready, and a fresh pot of coffee on. Claudia, Pat and Mom added a wee nip o’ Tullamore Dew to their mugs. Aunt Pat brought a lovely, festive bouquet.

Claudia had also made Shamrock Bark on Saturday evening as an additional treat.

After breakfast, the folks and Pat settled in for some games of cribbage while dinner continued to simmer. In past years, we had always cooked the corned beef in a crock pot, but this year I decided to try a recipe we’d seen in Sunset Magazine for Patrick’s Corned Beef and Cabbage. I honestly don’t know how we survived before we got a 12 quart stock pot, and toward the end of the cook, it was almost too small.

We used two point cut briskets, over seven pounds together, along with five medium onions, 2 pounds of carrots, 2 1/2 pounds of red potatoes and two full heads of cabbage. The addition of malt vinegar, Guinness and lots of whole spices to the pot added something special, but what was most notable about the recipe was that the cabbage was cooked perfectly. Instead of the limp, slimy mess that usually comes out of the crock, this still had a little firmness to it, since it was added late in the cooking.

I also tried a new soda bread recipe from BTE this year. The other recipe I’ve always used includes caraway seeds and raisins, and is a little sweeter, almost like a thick scone. This one turned out to be a much better compliment to the meal, with a dense, fluffy crumb and nice crunchy crust.

Claudia also served three varieties of Irish cheeses with the meal. The wine was a very nice Matt Iaconis Cabernet Sauvignon from 2015. Some Guinness Stout, Smithwick’s Red Ale and Tullamore Dew were also consumed, and after dinner one round of Grasshoppers with mint chocolate ice cream for dessert. 🙂

Sláinte Mhaith!

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Ham-Wrapped Asparagus Batons

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Ham-Wrapped Asparagus Batons

For Sunday Brunch this morning, I grilled some asparagus wrapped in ham.

I put the asparagus on a perforated Weber grill pan, hit it with some olive oil spray and sprinkled with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Grilled it for five minutes or so that way (flipping the asparagus over once) and then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese before wrapping in the ham. Then it all went back on the grill for just a few more minutes to finish.

We served it with a drizzle of Dijon mustard and honey as a condiment, along with some toast and fresh fruit.

Simple and delicious.

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