I have always loved food.  All my life I have been especially enamored by the various Asian and Mediterranean cuisines, albeit the Americanized versions I’m sure.  Indian food, though, was one I had to learn to love.  Yet, love it, I do.  Spicy, flavorful Indian food-like this or this-has become one of my very favorite, crave-able meals.  I comb the Internet looking for home cooks who have mastered the Indian recipes I love and through that search I have found so many wonderful food blogs.  Blue Jean Gourmet is one of them-although there are so many delicious recipes there one is hardly confined to the Indian ones.  Not only does Nishta post wonderful recipes, she is also another Houstonian and was even recently named one of Houston’s “Blog Stars” by the Houston Press.

I was so excited when she posted this recipe for kheer, I knew I’d be making it soon.  This cooling and subtly sweet rice pudding has long been my favorite way to round out the spicy flavors of Indian food, and now I can make it at home as well!

Kheer

• 4 cups milk, 2% or whole
• 1/2 cup basmati rice
• 1 tbsp ground cardamom (or 2 cardamom pods)
• 1/4-1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• chopped roasted, salted pistachios

1. Rinse rice.  Meanwhile, heat milk over medium low.
2. Drain rice and add to the milk.  Cook on medium low about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the milk from browning on the bottom.
3. After 30 min check the thickness of your kheer.  I cooked it about 20 more minutes from that point for a thicker, more pudding like kheer than you would get at a restaurant.
4. When your rice is done and it is as thick as you’d like, remove from the heat and stir in cardamom and sweetened condensed milk.
5. Chill or serve warm topped with chopped pistachios.

Thanks for all of your comments on my last post.  I guess there really are people out there who aren’t completely in love with spaghetti.  Crazy.

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I almost didn’t post this.  That is, I don’t think there is anyone left in the world who doesn’t already have a recipe for banana bread.  So why would anyone care about mine?

Then I realized that the reason I have this website is to archive our favorite recipes for friends who are curious or family who wants to reproduce them.  So this recipe is for them, but if you don’t happen to already have a favorite banana bread recipe, then you should try it too.  It is an easy snack-moist and subtly sweet-and a great way to use up your bananas that are getting too soft to eat by hand.

This really isn’t my recipe, although I do like to make each recipe mine in little ways.  My mother’s recipe and my mother-in-law’s recipe are the same, except for the addition of buttermilk (my mom) and spices (his mom).  So I combined them to create the perfect banana bread for my kids: a little bit Granny’s banana bread and a little bit Nana’s banana bread but with one of Mom’s twists.

My touch was to add mace instead of nutmeg.  I discovered mace this past Thanksgiving while making pumpkin pies (which I will share with you in the fall-its wonderful!) and I love it.  Mace is the outer shell of the nutmeg and has a smoother, creamier flavor.  It can be hard to find but you can order it online and those of you in Houston can buy it in bulk at Central Market.  Feel free to use nutmeg in its place.  Also, this recipe makes one loaf but you can double it to make two.

Banana Bread

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter (I use unsalted)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt (increase this to 1 tsp is using unsalted butter)
• pinch cloves
• 1/2 tsp mace or nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mashed banana (about 2-3 bananas)
• (1/2 cup chopped nuts, pecans or walnuts, optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs, flour, salt, and spices, stir to combine.
4. Combine baking soda and buttermilk in a measure cup, stir well then add to batter.
5. Beat until well combined.
6. Stir in mashed banana and nuts if using.
7. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake approximately 50 minutes or until a tester in the center comes out clean.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can quickly make it by combining milk and lemon juice (about 2 tsp) and letting it sit for a few minutes.  You can also omit the buttermilk and use 4 bananas (Nana’s recipe), just stir in the baking soda with the flour and salt.  Also, you can increase the spices or omit them, whichever you like.  I would use this amount in the spring but I’d increase them in the fall-but I’m like that.

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I recently updated my chicken pot pie recipe.  Go check it out. 

Chicken pot pie has always been my go to pantry recipe.  It consists almost entirely of things I keep on hand so it is perfect for stretching the days between trips to the grocery store.  I keep pie crusts, vegetables, and usually some form of cooked or uncooked chicken in the freezer.  If you don’t have or can’t make the pie crusts you can serve this delicious chicken gravy over rice or noodles or make it into a soup, or top it with with biscuits or dumplings.

The key to any good pantry challenge recipe is to be able to use what’s on hand.  Pretty much the only ingredients you must have for this are flour, milk, and chicken broth or the ability to make chicken broth (i.e. chicken bones, meat, or bouillon cubes).  The rest is whatever bits of meat and veggies you have on hand.  Serve with a starch-rice, bread, potatoes, noodles, etc-and you have one of my favorite comfort foods.

Chicken pot pie also freezes wonderfully both before or after baking-you don’t even have to thaw it just put it right in the oven frozen.  You can also freeze the filling separately if you aren’t sure how you want to serve it.

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And so begins my official Thanksgiving recipe countdown.  First up is our favorite holiday side dish. I don’t know why we only serve this at holidays, probably because it makes a ton and everyone loves it.  A creamy concoction of tender broccoli, rice, and crusty cheese-what’s not to love?

I really like to hear about different family traditions at Thanksgiving.  I think it is interesting to see what the must have dishes are with each family.  What’s your must have Thanksgiving dish?  With both our families there is always a version of this casserole.

Broccoli Rice Cheese Casserole

• 1 pound broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 4 cups cooked white rice (2 cups uncooked)
• 2-3 cups shredded Colby cheese (or whatever)
• 2 cans cream of soup whatever flavor (mushroom, chicken, and/or celery work best)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 3 quart casserole dish with a lid.
2. Saute onion, celery and fresh broccoli if using (you don’t have to saute frozen broccoli since it is usually parboiled) until soft.
3. In the casserole dish, stir together veggies, rice, 1 to 2 cups of cheese and soup.
4. Cover with remaining cheese and bake, covered, for about 45 minutes or until hot.
5. Remove the cover to brown cheese.

The nice thing about casseroles like this is that they can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until ready to cook.  Be sure to give the dish adequate time to defrost/warm-up or anticipate a longer baking time.  It can really vary depending on how cold it is going into the oven, how many other dishes you are baking at the same time, etc… but it is also very forgiving.

Actually, the whole casserole is really forgiving.  You can use any flavor or combination of cream soups you like or it is especially delicious with the real cream soup.  I have also made it without bothering to use the onions and celery-and so skipped the entire cooking step and it tastes just fine.  We have even mixed it together with uncooked instant rice and baked it that way, letting the rice cook in the casserole while it is baking.  I prefer the fully cooked version only because I know it will be edible at any point even if I screw up the baking time.

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I try not to be a snob about food.  I try to be open minded and maintain an anything in moderation attitude about food.  My biggest problem with convenience foods and packaged foods is cost.  When they taste great I try not to think about the sodium or unpronounceable ingredients.  The greatest crime for processed food, however, the most unforgivable crime, is when they don’t even taste good.  I just can’t justify over-paying for food that is bad for me and tastes bad.  Condensed cream of mushroom soup is gross.  Yeah, I said it.  That doesn’t mean I don’t use it occasionally, but if I have the time-5 or10 minutes-I much prefer to make this quick cream sauce.  It works great as a substitute for the canned stuff and-dare I say-tastes great too.

Cream of Soup Substitute

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 small mushrooms, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add minced mushrooms and cook until softened. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms and use a whisk to combine.
4. Cook the four, whisking often, until golden brown.
5. Add milk and broth and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
6. Once boiling and thickened continue to whisk and cook until thickened to your liking.
7. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

This is great for those watching their sodium intake or their budget.  You can flavor it any way you like.  Substitute chicken bits and chicken base or celery and celery salt if you don’t want cream of mushroom soup.  You can substitute water or veggie broth if you want to make it vegetarian.  It also doubles just fine if you need two cans worth.

Above photo is prep for my Broccoli Cheese and Rice Casserole.

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