Backyards, Concepts, Sheep Shearing and fun...

A few weeks back I was a little disappointed that I could not attend the press event launching the book - Over the Rainbeau, a lovely coffee table book about Rainbeau Ridge farm written by Lisa Schwartz, Judith Hausman and Karen Sabath, but I knew I was planning to go up to the farm for their annual sheep shearing event, so I figured I would be able to get the book at that time.

The sheep shearing event is a really fund day for the kids to see nature in action, all while the farm is in operation. Other than a very cold day, which did not make the outdoors very conducive, it was a fun thing to do on a Sunday. One of the sheep that the kids watched, decided to kick up a ruckus in the middle of his beauty regiment, this thrilled them to no end.



There were other crafts and fun things for them to do. The highlight of it for them of course, was to decorate a sheep cookie, which entailed licking loads of icing.

The farm is a simple concept that is quite a small social enterprise right in our backyard - a concept of a working farm, that supports itself and its operations. A concept that cannot help but appeal to a business minded, green loving foodie like myself. If you travel around the facility it feels just like you are in someone's backyard - a large, peaceful, lovely backyard, that inspires you to get closer to nature. If you have actually tried their cheese, this is not a difficult thing to do.

Over the Rainbeau is a lovely hardcover volume, that has a little bit of everything for the food lover, memoirs, seasonal ideas and a section of lovely recipes. I have not yet tried any of them, but a "goat goddess dressing" using goat milk and a quiche with sorrel leaves are rather intriguing and shall the first on my list to try.

The book begins with a lovely dedication to, re-discovering the pleasures in our own backyard, somthing that I cannot tout more myself. Vividly illustrated by the third author and Lisa's sister the book has a plethora of natural and stunning pictures. The book tells a lovely story, a story of success and following a dream, the story of the Rainbeau Ridge farm. It would make a lovely gift for the food or nature lover in your life.
The book is currently being offered at a 20% discount on the Rainbeau Ridge website. It is also worth checking out the impressive line-up of book talks and attending one of these.

Back to the kids and the farm today, they also saw the llama's and would like one as a pet. As if the cats are not enough for us. I shall just have to put my foot down on this one, since even if I knew where to get a llama, our backyard is not not quite the farm they would like to think it is.

Well-rooted medley

This recipe is something that I had actually cobbled together last fall. It is made up of turnips and potatoes sauteed together, with some freshly grated ginger, drizzled with a nice dusting of chopped dill and cilantro. It is a perfect example of how wonderfully flavorful a few good flavors can be.

Well Rooted Medley

Prep Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon, freshly grated ginger

4 small turnips, peeled and coarsely diced

3 potatoes, peeled and coarsely diced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 tablespoon chopped dill

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the ginger and saute lightly.

2. Add in the turnips and the potatoes and the salt and red chili powder.

3. Mix well and cover and cook on low for 10- 15 minutes, till the vegetables are soft and golden in spots.

4. Mix in the chopped dill and cilantro.

5. Enjoy!

Homey Satisfying Lentil Stew

So, there are so many variations and definations of good food, one could fill pages with the concepts.

Good food in my world changes and varies with my mood. It is fancy when I have more time and am cooking for several people, good food has a touch of fancy.

Most days however, good food for me is simple, nutritious and comforting. I always think that I am blessed in that I can get a lot of comfort from an everyday chore, something that I have do anyway - cook and feed my family..

Last night, was a friday after a long week, luckily for me I had some interesting fancy rice in the refridgerator, so I need something else to go with it, so here came this stew - yellow moong dal, brocolli, potatoes with a nice spiced drizzle of cumin and lemon.

Homey Satisfying Lentil Stew

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

3/4 cup yellow split moong lentils

3 cups water

2 thinly sliced coins of ginger (taking a ginger root and slicing two pieces)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small potato, peeled and chopped

1 cup of brocolli florrets

1 tomato, chopped

1 -2 green chilies slit

1 teaspoon ghee

1 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 lemon sliced

1-2 teaspoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a cooking pan and dry roast the lentils for about 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the water, ginger, turmeric, salt, potato, brocolli and green chili and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils are soft, almost mushy and thick.

3. Heat the ghee and the olive and grapeseed oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds and cook till the cumin browns nicely and smells smoky and toasty.

4. Pour over the lentils and mix in lightly.

5. Remove the seeds, and squeeze in the lemon juice into the lentils.

6. Garnish with the cilantro and serve with rice or bread.

Valhalla Crossing

In the past more than a decade, I have seen so many versions of a restaurant in the corner of the train station of my little village. It does look like Valhalla Crossing might be here to stay. I had not really checked out the place, until recently but I have to tell you, I definitely love it. Good comfort food, generous portions, warm atmosphere and friendly service.

I had been camera challenged this time when I went there, so unfortunately I could not photograph the food. However, I had ordered the fish and chips sandwich, which they actually let you switch some of the fries for the onion rings. There onion rings are just perfect, crisp and nicely coated and fried to a perfect crisp.

My husband was better than me and ordered a cobb salad, which was very nicely done, simple and fresh. They have a happy hour most days, have themed events around holidays and special occasions and of course a sunday brunch. So, it you are in the area please check it out.

Restaurant Details

Valhalla Crossing

2 Cleveland Street

Valhalla, NY 10595

Intensely Flavorful Mushroom Pulao

I think that a person's reactions to things change with age, at least mine sure does. I used to be very emotional when I was much younger and then when through a more sober phase, and I seem to be back to my old ways.
I seem to gush and cry over everything again. Interestingly enough, both my children have rather different temperaments. So my daughter who is rather pragmatic like her dad, is never quite sure what to make of this, on the other hand my son actually fuels and adds to the drama. In fact, he calls me, "my beautiful mother". Well, I have been orcilating between high and emotions the past week. I have a little project on the way - a cookbook. It is much my kind of a project, being published by a very local boutique publisher, it allows me a lot of creative room to do more than share my recipes. There is some element of fear and nervousness at putting my recipes, "out there" more formally, but then again you have to try something at least once...
So, readers of this blog will be possibly listening to more stories about the book. If you really want to follow the countdown, do stop by the facebook page, The Contemporary Indian Table and become a fan.
Now down to the recipe, this simple pulao, is an ode to cumin and of course lovely lush mushrooms. It is amazing how much flavor a few small ingredients can produce.

Mushroom pulao with cashew nuts

Prep Time: 3-4 minutes
Cook Time: 27 minutes
Serves 4 people

Ingredients

1 tablespoon ghee
1 tablespoon oil
1.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 onion, cut into a dice
1/2 teaspoon powdered cumin
3 pods cardamom
1 cup thickly sliced button mushrooms
1.5 cups of white basmati rice
2 3/4 water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry roasted cashew nuts
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the ghee and the oil and add in the cumin seeds and cook for about 30 seconds till the cumin sizzles becomes very aromatic.
2. Add in the onion and cook for 7-8 minutes, till the onion softens, wilts and begins to turn golden. If you love cumin and onions as much as I do, you will simply do this step just to savor the fragrance of these two ingredients cooking together.
3. Add in the powdered cumin, cardamoms and the mushrooms and cook for another minute.
4. Add in the basmati rice and mix gently.
5. Add in the water and the salt and bring the water to a boil, let it simmer and cover and cook on medium heat for 18 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered for another 5 minutes.
6. If you do not have roasted cashew nuts, place the raw cashew nuts on a skillet and lightly roast them till they turn very lightly golden at spots. This process enhances the flavor of the nuts.
7. Remove the cover and stir in the nuts, sprinkle with red pepper flakes if desired and serve either alone or as a side.