Brotherhood Winery - America's Oldest Winery

I am probably as eclectic about my wine pairings as I am about my food. This does not mean I do not end up testing my share of bad wine, but certainly along the way I end up picking up some really nice and unusual varietals.

Brotherhood Winery, yes, in our very own Hudson Valley boasts of being America's Oldest winery. It is quite a fun destination to visit, certainly if you like wine but also if you want to do some offbeat sight-seeing. Late this fall, when my friend was visiting from England, this is one of the destinations that I visited.

Despite all the green, this actually turned out to be quite a cold day!

If you trapeze down the cellar and the wine displays you are led through the various generations that give you a crash course on wine marketing and of course a good sense of how the winery has progressed down the ages. The "Farell era" that was the high tide of the winery, seemed to be quite influential both in marketing the winery in terms of wine parties and well as in terms of some of the more unusual favorites such as the May wine (a pink strawberry wine) and the Holiday wine (a spiced rose) both these wines are high on my list since I do find them rather unusual.

Well, the "new" Brotherhood, is actually owned by someone of a Chillean descent that has expanded the winery to more foreign flavors. It also does have a signature creation called "Marriage" that marries chardonay grapes (25%) with cabernet sav (75%) grapes, producing a unique and very eclectic wine. My friend was happy that she now had an interesting gift to take back home.

Other wines of note, were their Reisling and Honey Wine. Both these wines are really good options with Indian food.

They label their barrels in very clear manner. As you walk through you actually see the entire assembly line, the bottles, how they are filled, dusted and sealed.

The winery has a nice very warm setting and the wine tastings were very generous and descriptive. In fact, just this makes the winery a fun place to visit, if you want to try some good interesting wine and do not want to pay wine bar prices this just might be where you want to go.

The space is really nice and pretty, so a picnic on a nice day would hardly be out of place.

And, as requested by readers, here is the information on the destination,

Brotherhood Winery,

100 Brotherhood Plaza Drive

Washingtonville, NY 10992

845 496 3661

Tastings and Timings

Scallion and CIlantro Pancakes

I had mentioned the journey around the world - A-Z series I had begun a few weeks back, yet another ploy to keep the kids engaged about their food.

Well, I skipped doing anything "real" for B - cooking up some Dal and rice saying that it was Bengali, but from Bangladesh. So C took me to China.

This weekend had a lot going on, Deepta was going to be doing her first public Indian singing performance. Given that I have been teaching her music the stakes are really high here. To make sure that she ensures the tension level and keeps it really strong she woke up on Saturday morning, unable to speak. Yes, she had the mother of colds and sore throats. Well, I had no choice but the roll with the punches. All in all, she did well, when you are six, the world is rather forgiving! It took a little time for her to warm up to the Aalap.

Well, I made some very simple shrimp and mushroom dumplings and made scallion and cilantro pancakes mostly following the recipe from Soma's blog.

I followed her recipe pretty closely, with some small tweaks.

Scallion and Cilantro Pancakes

Makes 6 medium pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup boiling water

Oil for brushing

Extraflour for rolling

1 cup finely chopped scallions

1/2 cup chopped cilanto

minced green chillies optional

1 teaspoon minced ginger

Salt and pepper
Oil for shallow frying

Method of Preparation

1. Place the flours in a bowl and add in the salt and pepper.

2. Gradually add in the water and mix into a dough.

3. Set aside in the refridgerator for 1/2 and hour.

4. Mix the cilantro, scallions, salt, pepper and green chillies if using.

4. Break into small balls, roll out into thin circles with a little extra flour. (note, I found the dough much easier to manage this way).

5. Place cilantro across the pancake and then roll into a tube, (see pictures, the instructions on Soma's blog are very well illustrated as well).

6. Gently scrunch the tube and then roll into a coil.

7. Flatten and gently roll into a circle.

8. Heat a skillet and place the pancake on the skillet. Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil and lightly brown, turn and repeat on the other side.

9. Continue making all the pancakes in this way, cut into wedges and serve with the dipping sauce below.

Dipping sauce for Pancakes

Makes 1/2 cup

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon hot sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

2 tablespoons chopped scallions

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

Method of Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Serve and use as needed.

7. Flatten lightly and then

Around the world

Well, the kids have recently been show how to use the globe. Deepta gets it and Aadi sort of, kind of gets it! Well if you make a child a foodie, you have to be prepared, everything will be about food, you shall tell him about a country, he shall try to spell, when he tries to spell it, he shall ask you all about it and when he asks you about it, you shall tell him about the food, and when you tell him about the food he might want to heat it and chances are he shall ask you to cook it - if you make a child a foodie..

Well that was my attempt at the if you give a moose a muffin series, but we have decided to try to do an A-z series of food. It has so far been going well (we are upto "C" but there is always a lag in blogging, so A was Algeria.

I came across this blog - that is called Algerian Creole Cuisine and I made the egg tangine recipe which essentially is a nice baked egg stata - hard to go wrong with eggs, the kids ate the eggplants, this recipe essentially layers one ingredient on top of another and bakes them till done.

Egg tangine - Baked egg casserole

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour (mostly baking)

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1 chopped green pepper

3-4 egg plant slices

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic

1 cup sliced mushrooms

6 eggs

1 cup half and half

Salt to taste

Lots of black pepper

2-3 tablespoons cheese

Cilantro to sprinke

4 slices, sliced baguette

Method of Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease and line a casserole dish.

3. Line the baking dish with tomatoes.

4. Add in the peppers.

5. Cook the eggplant in oil until brown and cover the tomatoes.

6. Cook the garlic and onions and mushrooms until soft.

7. Cover the tomatoes with this mixtures.

8. Beat the eggs and the half and halt with salt, pepper and the cilantro.

9. Cover the layered vegetables with this mixture.

10. Add the bread slices and bake for 1 hour until set.

The kids loved it and it makes a great plan ahead brunch recipe!

Gongura Chicken - Chicken cooked in sorrel leaves!

There is always this quandry, particularly if you like to take food pictures between what looks good and tastes good...

Now in winter, I am doing what most people who conserved during summer do - I am reclaiming my refridgerator! Lots of frozen herbs, frozen chopped tomatoes, frozen tomato paste and such. The tomatoes are an interesting story, we probably had beginers luck this year, but Anshul had to do a lot of work to make sure we did not waste this years bounty! So the debate of the year (well, we still have 6 months to resolve this, is whether to plant fewer plants this year!). So among everything were these sorrel leaves called Gogura leaves - lovely bold lemony leaves. I guess I had picked them up and frozen some.

This is what I made, a nicely spiced chicken recipe that we enjoyed over saffron rice.

Gongura Chicken - Spicy Chicken in sorrel leaves

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cornish hen, skinned and jointed (1.5 lbs)

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red chili powder

3-4 tablespoons oil

1 onion, very thinly sliced

1-2 cloved garlic, chopped

2-3 pods cardamom

1 stick cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 cup chopped gongura or sorrell leaves

Chopped cilantro leaves to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Rub the chicken with the salt, turmeric and chili powder and set aside.

2. Heat the oil and add the onion and cook for about 5-7 minutes, the onions, wilt soften and then turn golden brown.

3. Add the chicken, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and coriander powder and cook stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes, until the chicken is fairly soft.

5. Add in the gongura leaves, cover and cook on low for 10 minutes, until the chicken is soft and dry and covered with cooked gongura leaves.

6. Serve with rice or chapatis!

Cauliflower Lentils and Turkey Chops

I had a really nice thanksgiving. Exhausting but just perfect, I woke up in the morning and cooked till I practically dropped, the myriad flavors washing away some of the annoyance that I have been feeling over the past few days - the flavors and colors quietly healing my senses. I had woken up in the morning wondering whether I could give thanks with the usual gusto and gradually as I basted the turkey, mashed the potatoes, chopped the zucchini, seasoned the stuffing a pure feeling of comfort emerged. I looked at the simple peace of my household - Dad and the two children running around and was deeply overwhelmed with gratitude. This grew and filled me with pure joy as our friends arrived. Everyone ate, talked and drank. I had a large constituency staying overnight who wanted Indian food before they left - so this is where some of the leftover turkey was used. We had this with rice and creamy lentils with cauliflower.

Turkey Chops or Cutlets

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Makes 25 medium sized cutlets

Ingredients

2-3 medium sized russet potatoes boiled and peeled
2 cups leftover turkey meat (no skin)
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon amchur powder
2-3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup water
Plain breadcrumbs
Oil for frying

Method of Preparation

1. Mash the potatoes in a bowl and set aside
2. Pulse the turkey in a food processor.
3. Mix the turkey with the potatoes, green chillies, red chili powder, salt, amchur powder, cilantro into a smooth mixture.
4. Shape into medium sized balls and flatten slightly.
5. Mix the flour with the water into a thick paste.
6. Dip the balls into the flour paste and then coat with breadcrumbs.
7. After you have completed coating all the balls, place in a freezer for 5-10 minutes.
8. Heat the oil and fry the cutlets till golden brown.


Moong Lentils with cauliflower

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 -30 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 cup yellow moong dal
1 teaspoon turmeric
1teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups water
1 cup cauliflower floretts
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils, turmeric, salt and sugar and the water in a pressure cooker.
2. Add in the onion and cook for 10 minutes under pressure.

3. Cool and whip till smooth.

4. Add in the cauliflower and milk and simmer for another 10 minutes.

5. Mix in the butter and cilantro and enjoy with rice.

Just realized that Deepta has essentially started teaching herself piano, she plays the ode to joy pretty well, OMG- time for another activity!

Egg Masala with mushrooms!

Still savoring the remains of fall, the past few weeks have been rather stressful at work - feeling the sharp impact of the times. I have been trying hard not to let the impact get me down just before thanksgiving.

Well, a few nights back, I made a very simple curried egg version. Actually, much simpler than the Dimer Dalna, that some people liked a lot. It is different but nice as well. It would make for a good brunch dish, or really anytime of the day!
We actually had it for dinner over rice.
Egg masala with mushrooms

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4 people

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
6-8 shallots, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2-3 pods of garlic, minced
4-6 minced green chillies
8-10 curry leaves
1 teaspoon curry powder
3-4 tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon salt
6-8 boiled eggs halved
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds.
2. When the mustard begins to pop, add in the shallots, ginger and garlic and cook lightly till soft and transluscent. This takes about 5-6 minutes.
3. Add in the chillies, curry leaves, curry powder, tomatoes and salt cook till the tomatoes are soft and a light gravy is formed.
4. Lightly fold in the eggs and stir in the vinegar.
5. Heat the butter and saute the mushrooms until the mushrooms are soft, this takes 3-4 minutes.
6. Stir in the mushrooms and cilantro and serve immediately!

What makes a restaurant complete? - Silver Tips!

One of my favorite places to visit is the Silver Tips Tea Room -in Tarrytown. This was a chance discovery several years back, and the place reminds me of home. If you have Indian roots like me you are fussy about your tea. Actually, make that eastern indian roots, we bengalis like our tea brewed not boiled.
Probably more attactive than the quaint victorian set-up and great tea selection is the charming and lovely Anupa who owns the tea room. Anupa's passion for tea and her her deep knowledge permieates anytime you visit making you feel special, living up to the tea room's logo - Every visit is a treat!


Well, after being closed for a while the tea room has opened to a nice and expanded state of affairs! The set-up is more modern, the above is a view out of the window on a cold rainy fall evening, just the perfect setting for a good warm cup of tea!

I had gone in with the crew - Anshul, Deepta and Aadi. The kids love their smoked salmon sandwiches! I tried the Nilgiri frost and Anshul had their black currant tisane. I also came home with the citrus blend. This is another special feature about this place, I am yet to run out of new teas to try out! I do have my favorites - my morning starts with their Makaibari Darjeeling tea!

After taking in their nice spacious decor and biting into their delicate and light textured cheesecake I realized that Anupa was missing! Here is what is interesting, the menu remains the same since it is mostly catered and the tea is just as nice but the presence is what makes the restaurant complete. This is unfortunately my second visit without her leaving me to wonder whether I want to visit again - this is how strong a person impact can be.