Vegetable Momos

I was so in mood to eat some vegetable momos. Veggie momos are lot lighter and healthier than meat momos.  There are so many types of  veggie momos we can make from but the one available in my fridge was some medium size cabbage. I used my food processor to shred the cabbage, onions and cilantro. The most important thing while making veggie momos is to drain water from the cabbage otherwise the whole fillings may be watery and mushy while packing it in the home made or wanton wrapper.

So to prevent the mushiness i sauteed the shredded cabbage  with salt until all the water drained out and the texture became soft. I added the onion and cilantro to the cabbage and sauteed for 5 more minutes. I added spices to the vegetables at the end. So the filling is ready to be packed in the home made or wanton wrapper and steamed. I hope you guy enjoy it with my home made sesame seed chutney which i am posting it in this post.

Prep time : 1 hour
Cook time :20 minutes

Serving:4

Ingredients:

Fillings
1 medium size cabbage shredded
1 medium size onion shredded
1 bunch of cilantro shredded or finely chopped
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chili powder
2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 store bought wanton wrapper

Sesame seed chutney
1/2 cup sesame seed three roma tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 table spoon lemon juice
2 garlic
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon red chili powder

Directions fillings:

1.  In a pan heat the oil, saute the shredded cabbage with 2 teaspoon of salt for 10 mins at a medium heat. Add onion and cilantro to the pan. Cook for 5 more minutes. Add cayenne powder and cumin powder to it, mix it properly. Put the filling in the bowl and keep it aside until it cools down.  Now it is ready to be used for filling in the wanton wrapper. Read the direction of filling  in the wanton wrapper package. Once it is wrapped put it in the steamer that is coated with oil. Coating oil prevents the momos to stick in the steamer
2. Boil the water and steam it in steamer for 15 minutes. Its ready to be serve with chutney

Directions sesame chutney:

1. In a pan, at medium heat toast the sesame seeds until it becomes slightly brown. To avoid burning the sesame seeds needs to be stir constantly with a spoon. Once it cools down blend it in a blender.
2. At a medium heat, cook a Diced  3 roma tomatoes for 10 minutes, until the water comes out of the tomatoes and start boiling. Once it is ready add the cooked tomatoes in the blender with sesame seed. Blend it until it is purred.
3. Add bunch of cilantro, 2 teaspoon red chili powder, 2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 whole garlic to the blender with tomatoes and sesame seed puree. Blend it until it reaches smooth consistency. Now its ready to be served with momos. I hope you guy enjoy it.

Beef Stew

Winter and rainy day is a good reminder to cook stew. It is such a comfort food. It don’t take lots of work to prepare the stew. So I am cooking today beef stew with lots of vegetables. I prefer big chunk of my vegetables in the stew since I am cooking it with a meat in the stove top at low heat for 3 hours. Guys don’t panic over the time, it is just like throwing vegetables in slow cooker and cooking for many hours. Every things comes out perfectly good. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Preparation time : 15 minutes

Cook time: 3 hours

Serving: 4

Ingredients :

3 pounds of chuck roast cut in cubes

3 big Idaho potatoes cut in big cubes

2 whole carrots cut in big cubes

1big bulb of onions cut in big pieces

1 cup green peas

4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

4 table spoon all-purpose flour

2 tea spoon salt

2 table spoon vegetable oil

1 cup celery

2 cups red wine

32 ounce beef stock (sodium free)

1 can tomato sauce

2 sprigs of rosemary

3 bay leaf

Directions:

1.    Heat a pot in a medium high, pour the oil and cook the meat coated with all purpose flour in medium high until it is brown color for about 8 minutes. Take the meat aside in a plate.
2.  In the same pot, put at all the vegetables and cook it until the onions are wilted for about 10 minutes. Add beef broth and wine in the pot. Add the meat, tomato sauce, salt, rosemary and bay leaf in the pot and cook it in a low heat for three hours. Final steps add some peas, it gives nice fresh color to the stew. Enjoy.

Chicken Fennel Soup

It has been rainy couple of days out here, its the perfect weather for the soup day.  I like all kind of soups but this thin broth soup goes perfect with rice or noodles. The trick is to make your own chicken stock using chicken breast with bone and cook rice or noodle separately so it won't get soggy. Enjoy this light hearty super delicious chicken soup!

Yield :5

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Chicken stock

2 chicken breast with bone

2 celery stalk

1 bulb onions

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

8 cups water

Shredded or diced cooked chicken breast from the chicken stock.

1 cup thinly sliced carrot

1 cup chopped green onion

1 cup chopped fennel

Cooked rice or cooked noodles

Directions:

1. Fill the pot with 8 cups of water, add chicken breast with bone, onion bulb, celery stalk, salt and black pepper. Cook it in medium high for 35 minutes. After it is cooked, separate the prepared stock to the another pot.  Add carrot to the stock and cook for 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken breast, green onion and fennel to the cooked stock, serve it on top of rice or cooked noodles. Enjoy it !!

Chicken Teriyaki

Well  recently i have been cooking chicken teriyaki a lot,its easy to make, kids friendly and simply delicious. Here is the recipe i made with chicken wings,don't forget to cook it in wok or iron skillet.

Yield :4
Time:30 minutes

Ingredients:

Two pounds chicken wings split in two pieces
3 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger paste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame seed

Directions:

1. Heat the iron skillet in high temperature, pour some oil and immediately put chicken wings, stir fry it approximately 6 minutes until the outer layer of chicken is evenly brown in color.

2. Add salt,soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, ginger paste, sugar and lemon. Turn the heat down to medium, Cover the pan withe lid stirring the chicken wings occasionally. Cook it for 15 minutes. At end sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve it in a plate with rice.... I hope you guys enjoy it ..

Egg Rolls

Well staying at home in this cold winter, expecting winter icy storm can be boring. Instead of making warm soup, i ended up making this simple egg rolls filled with ground chicken, cabbage and carrots. It's very easy and very delicious.

Yield : 12 spring rolls
Time:30 mins

Ingredients :

1 chicken breast finely chopped or ground
3 cups thinly sliced cabbage
2 cups shredded carrots
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 package egg roll wrap

1 qt vegetable oil for frying

Direction:

1.  In a pan, cook the chicken with 2 table spoon of oil in a medium heat for about five minutes. Add the shredded cabbage and carrots in the pan. Make sure to cook until the vegetable is tender or water in the vegetable dries up. Add salt, soy sauce, ginger  and garlic salt to the mixture and let it aside to cool.

2. Fill the egg roll wrap with the mixture, the direction is shown in the package. Deep fry the egg roll in hot oil and serve it with soy sauce...

Ham,Potatoes and Broccoli soup

Christmas left over are always good to create new recipes.So for me ham was the perfect choice to make perfect soup with potatoes and broccoli. What is wonderful about this dish is, for a person that is not fond of ham like me, this recipe can make you like ham instantly.It is simple,creamy and very delicious.

Time 30 minutes

Yield: 6 people

Ingredients:

1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery
3 cups diced potatoes
3 cups diced ham
1 cup broccoli
4 cups of water
2 table spoon butter
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 table spoon butter
6 table spoon all purpose bleach flour
2 cups milk

Direction:

1. In a medium pot, melt 2 table spoon of butter in medium heat. Saute onions, celery, potatoes and broccoli for a minute. Add 4 cups of water, ham,broccoli, salt and pepper to the pot and cook for 15 minutes.

2. In a separate pan, in a medium heat, melt 6 table spoon of butter and add 6 tablespoon of flour to the pan. whisk and stir it for 2 minutes.Add 2 cups of milk slowly to the pan. Stir it all the time to avoid clump and  the final consistency should be very thick.

3. Add the stirred milk mixture to the pot and cook the soup until heated. Now you can serve it!

Shrimp Gumbo

Okay this is the food i cooked yesterday. I have never cooked gumbo before but some how i felt like the food i eat all the time," rice" and some curry looking food. Surprisingly it was very different in every way as it didn't use the normal spices i am used too, and its the first time i heard "file" powder, the key ingredients for the dish. It is the herb powder which is used to thicken the texture of the dish while cooking or before serving the food. I google some ingredients, and finally came up  with my own.After all cooking don't need to be exactly like it is written. My friend was asking the recipe, so now writing for her. .

Yield : 6 people

Time: 3 hours.

Ingredients:

Roux
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour

1 pound kielbasa sausage (diced)
1 chicken breast (diced)
1 pound shrimp
1 finely chopped medium size onion
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped bell peppers
2 tablespoon file powder
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon salt
8 cups water

Directions:

1. In the medium heat, cook the sausage in iron skillet until it turns brown. Remove the sausage in a bowl. In the same pan cook the chicken breast until it turns golden brown. After that remove it from the pan.

2. In the same pan prepare the roux by pouring the oil, pour the flour and whisk it constantly. Make sure the heat is in medium low in order to avoid burn. It should be constantly stirred until it reach dark brown. It takes around 30 minutes.

3. When the roux is dark brown enough, add chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery. Cook the vegetables until it becomes tender.

4.Meanwhile in a large pot boil 8 cups of water, pour the roux with vegetables to the pot. Add tomato sauce, file powder,black pepper and salt to the pot. Cook it in a medium heat for 15 minutes. Add chicken and sausage to the pot. Cook it for 30 minutes. At last add shrimp and cook it for 15 minutes. By the end the consistency of the gumbo should be thick.  Serve it with rice.Enjoy!