RECIPE: Sage Juniper Latte

There was an article in the NYTimes Food Section several weeks ago where they described a general trend towards consumers wanting to connect with nature, and they listed several restaurants which were serving "forest to table" items on their menus.  Their description of the "Smoky Mountain Latte at K Brew in Knoxville, Tenn., with sage and juniper steamed into your milk" made me want to try that!  Not being anywhere close to Tennessee, I made my own.

Using water seemed to extract more flavor from the sage and juniper, so I favor that method.  You could use half milk and half water, but I have not tried that yet....Next week, I will try making a concentrate... 

There are two different varieties of sage growing at our CSA - one is long and thin, the other is short and wide (the cultivar is either Berggarten or Holt's Mammoth).  I had a few leaves of each variety drying on my counter.  When I crushed them, the wide ones had the best aroma so I used them.  The drink was so good I went back the next day and harvested a bagful to use over the winter.  I dry the sage on a rack, then transfer the dried leaves to a glass bail-top jar.  

Please scroll to the bottom for my adventures with using fresh sage and making a concentrate!

Sage leaves drying on a rack

Original article: Food is Taking us Back to the Forest

Sage Juniper Latte

makes one

 INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup water plus 2-4 T. cream OR 1.25 cups whole milk
• 4 large sage leaves including stems, dried and crumbled
• 4 large juniper berries, crushed in a mortar and pestle
  
• 1 T. maple syrup or other sweetener
• 2 T. collagen peptides 
• 2 T. chicory/dandelion "coffee" or espresso

INSTRUCTIONS:

If you're using WATER:

Bring the water to boil.  I use an electric hot water pitcher, you can use a small saucepan.  Add the sage and juniper and let it steep for 5-7 minutes.  

Add the cream to the water and bring back to a simmer (do not boil!).  

Strain into your cup and add the maple syrup, collagen peptides, and chicory-dandelion brew or espresso.

If you're using MILK: 

In a small saucepan (or milk frother) Add the sage and juniper to the milk and let it infuse for 10 minutes.  Bring the milk to a simmer, reduce the heat and let it steep for 10 minutes.

Strain the milk into a coffee cup, stir in the sweetener, collagen and "coffee" and serve!

Inhale deeply as you sip!  

NOTES:

Using fresh sage: We've had several cold nights this month.  Sage is hardy and a few cold nights won't kill it, so I harvested some more yesterday before the hard freeze forecast for last night.  This morning, I made this latte with that sage and it was almost tasteless!  When I crushed a leaf, instead of that wonderful sage aroma I used to enjoy I got a very pine-y odor.   So...I can't say whether early season fresh sage can be used to make this, but I can say that late season sage shouldn't be used either fresh or dried!  

Using commercial dried sage: I am going to attempt this using Burlap and Barrel's Anatolian Sage and will report back.  If you try it using a different brand, please let me know! 

Making a concentrate: I like concentrates because they make mornings much easier.  This morning I crushed 40 juniper berries, crumbled 1/2 cup of dried sage leaves (from before the first freeze) and steeped them in 4 cups of simmering water for 15 minutes.  After straining, the resulting 3 cups of liquid was amber colored and smelled amazing, but it added almost no flavor to my "coffee"!  I added another 1/4 cup of crumbled sage leaves and infused them for 10 minutes.  Again, the strained liquid smelled amazing but added no flavor to my brew!  Suspecting that my taste buds were fatigued, I chilled it and will try again tomorrow morning, but I suspect a concentrate isn't possible, which makes me sad because I sacrificed a lot of my precious dried sage to the experiment!  I also had a difficult time cleaning the pot: there appeared to be pine resin stuck to the side of the pot at the water level.  The only thing that budged it was rubbing alcohol.  I'm not sure making a concentrate is worth it!

RECIPE: Black Garbanzo (chickpea) Hummus

I few months ago I learned there was such a thing as a BLACK garbanzo bean.  After researching several sources I bought 2 pounds from Rancho Gordo.  They're dried, which means they need to be soaked and then simmered before you can use them, so they sat in the cabinet...

As Halloween approached, and I looked for 'dark' foods to serve, I decided to see whether they would make decent hummus.  Rancho gordo sent me a recipe which I used as a starting point.  The resulting hummus was DELICIOUS!  But...what a lot of work!!!  Or, rather, a lot of time.  

After soaking them for 24 hours I did not notice much difference in their size or texture - they were still rock hard.  After SIX HOURS in simmering water they were just barely soft enough that a high powered blender would deal with those tough skins.  If you're willing invest that much time, the recipe is worth it.

I made 1/2 pound of beans, but knowing how long they took to cook I will probably make 1 pound next time and freeze the extra. 

Original recipe: Valley Bar & Bottle Black Garbanzo Hummus

Blank Garbanzo (Chickpea) Hummus

Makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 pound uncooked black garbanzo beans
• 2 t. himalayan pink salt
• 2-4 T roasted garlic cloves
• 1/4 c. tahini
• 1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
• 2 T. olive oil plus more for serving
  
• 1 t. ground cumin 
• 1 t. espelette or other mild red pepper powder
• Black onion seeds (Kalonji) and lemon zest for garnish 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Soak the garbanzo beans overnight.  DO NOT SKIP THIS PART!

Drain the garbanzos.  Place in a large pot and cover with ample fresh water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a hard simmer.

Cook until the garbanzos are tender.  Test five (yes, five!) beans to insure they are fully cooked.  The skins are very tough, and it's better they are overcooked than undercooked.  Add water as needed to insure they are covered.  I used a total of 10 cups of water and they cooked for 6 hours before the skins were soft enough to puree.

When totally tender, turn off the heat and let the pot cool.  Now is when we salt the beans.  Taste the bean liquid for seasoning - however salty the liquid is, that's how salty the beans will become as they cool in the liquid.  I used 1 t. salt 

Put the cooked and cooled garbanzo beans into your blender or food processor (I used my blender) with some of the cooking liquid (I used 14 T liquid total), the tahini, the roasted garlic, the spices, 1 t. salt, and the lemon juice.  Blend.  Add the olive oil and pulse to combine.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Spoon into a bowl or dish, drizzle a little more olive oil, and sprinkle with the black onion seeds and lemon zest.  I served it with black sesame brown rice crackers.

RECIPE: Sheet-pan Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Halloumi with Honey-EVOO-Gochugaru

I originally posted this recipe in September 2025.  I've made it at least 20 (or more) times since then and I've adjusted the recipe significantly so I decided to create a second post with the changes, in case there are people who are using the original recipe.  The tomatoes we use are MaiTai - a smallish orange tomato, but the recipe will work with any size tomato, including romas.

A few weeks ago, I cut the cheese larger than I normally do and my husband complained.  I had to agree that it wasn't as good when we don't have a piece of cheese in every bite.  

A few days ago, I used fewer tomatoes and then *I* complained because I like tomatoes in every bite! 

When I skimped on the honey (there was only 1 T left in the jar and I didn't want to take the time to open another jar) it wasn't as good!  

So...I've adjusted the recipe to reflect these preferences.  LOTS of tomatoes, tiny cheese cubes, and 3 T. honey!  We also like lost of goghugaru chili flakes. 

While the recipe will work with feta, I now make it only with our farm's halloumi.

Sheet-pan Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Halloumi with Honey-EVOO-Gochugaru

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

• one 28 oz can cooked chickpeas, drained and shaken dry
  
• 5 pints (about 3 pounds) tomatoes, larger ones cored and cut into 3/4" pieces
• 3-4 shallots, thinly sliced (sub 2 cups green onions, including the white parts)
  
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 T. honey - don't skimp on this!
• 2 (6-8oz) packages halloumi sliced into 3/8" cubes
• 2 t. mild chile flakes or to taste (I used gochugaru or silk)
• 1 t. himalayan pink salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

Preheat oven to 400F (375F convection).

 

Halve the tomatoes, core them, and slice into approximately 3/4" pieces.  Our tomatoes are very juicy, so I transfer them to a 2 quart strainer set over a trash bin (you can use a plate or a bowl) and let some of the juices drip out because I have spilled some of the juice while carrying the pan to the oven!  When this strainer is full, I know I have enough tomatoes!

Tomatoes cored, cubed, and draining.

On a sheet pan, combine the chickpeas, tomatoes, shallots, olive oil and  honey.   

 

NOTE: I like a 2:1 ratio of tomatoes to chickpeas - 2/3 of the pan filled with tomatoes, 1/3 filled with chickpeas, and lots of shallots.  

Chickpea:tomato:shallot ratio we prefer.

 

All mixed together- notice the tomato:chickpea ratio.

Spread in an even layer and season with salt (I used about 1 t. salt)

 
Arrange the halloumi among the chickpeas and tomatoes and sprinkle with chile flakes.

 

Add the halloumi and chile flakes

Roast until the feta is brown and the tomatoes are soft, 30 minutes.  There is no need to stir.  Eat right away! 

 
Leftovers reheat beautifully.

 

 

RECIPE: Chicory and Dandelion Root Latte or "Coffee"

Years ago, I enjoyed Cafe du Monde New Orleans-style coffee with chicory, but I'm trying to give up coffee so I thought I would try the chicory without the coffee.  Researching for a product to buy I noticed that many brands combined it with dandelion root.  I decided to combine them myself (so I could control the percentages).  I ordered roasted dandelion root from Starwest Botanicals, and roasted chicory from Frontier.

My first attempt was to make one cup.  I boiled 1 T chicory and 1 T. dandelion root in 1 cup water for 5 minutes.  I turned off the heat and let it steep for another 5 minutes and then strained it.  I combined this liquid with 1 T. maple syrup and 1/4 cup heavy cream.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!  But, it was a lot of work for 1 cup of beverage.  In addition to steeping the grounds and straining them, I had to boil water to heat the cup.  I needed a simpler version.

My second attempt was to make a concentrate.  I boiled 3 T. chicory and 3 T. dandelion root in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes, steeped it off-heat for 10 minutes, then strained it. I ended up with 1.75 cups of concentrate.  To eliminate heating the cup, I heated 1 cup milk in my milk frother and combined it with 2 T. concentrate and 1 T. maple syrup. It was very good but the milk overpowered the concentrate!  

My third attempt was the winner FOR ME.  The recipe is below, but if you prefer less bitterness, or more bitterness you can adjust the proportions to suit your palate!

Chicory and Dandelion Root Latte or "Coffee"

'Coffee" is on the left, concentrate in the middle, and latte on the right.

Makes 1.5 cups of concentrate, or 6 cups of "coffee" 

INGREDIENTS:

• Concentrate (see note at end):
• 2 cups water
• 3 T. roasted chicory granules
• 3 T. roasted dandelion root granules
• "Coffee":
• 1 cup boiling water or warm milk
  
• 1/4 cup concentrate
• 2 T. heavy cream 
• 1 T. maple syrup (optional)
• 1 scoop collagen peptides (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Make the concentrate: Combine the water and both granules in a small pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer with the lid on for 5 minutes.  Cut the heat and steep for 10 minutes.  Strain, pressing lightly on the grounds.  You won't get all the water out of the grounds!  Keep the concentrate in the fridge.

Make the "coffee": Pour 1 cup boiling water into your mug and add 1/4 cup concentrate.  Even if your concentrate is cold, the beverage will be drinkable.

Add 1 T. maple syrup, 1 scoop collagen peptides if you use them, and heavy cream to taste.  Stir and enjoy! One tablespoon cream will let the bitterness rule, two tablespoons will mute it.

For a latte: you will need to warm your cup first.  I let boiling water sit in my cup while I heat the milk.  Pour the water out before adding the milk.

Pour 1 cup warm milk into the heated cup, add the concentrate, 1 T. maple syrup, and 1 scoop collagen peptides.  Stir and enjoy.

NOTE: to make a larger amount of concentrate, use 5 cups of water and 1 cup each of chicory and dandelion.  After straining, return the strained liquid to the pot and simmer until reduced to 2 cups.  Using only 1 T of this concentrate for each cup of "coffee" will give you a month's worth of brews!  I call this "root brew" or BROOT!

RECIPE: Honey Boat Delicata Stuffed with Chorizo, Spinach and Cheese

There was a new variety of delicata in the farm store last week, Honey Boat Delicata, so I took a few to try them. 

Honey Boat delicata are sweeter and denser than regular delicata, and their skin is a little thicker.

I needed a quick recipe so I decided to use chorizo ,which I had home canned last year, and frozen spinach from the year before.  

I tested the recipe with 3 small delicata, and ate one half un-stuffed to determine the difference between Honey Boat and regular Delicata (which is why there are only 5 halves in the photo below!).

Honey Boat Delicata Stuffed with Chorizo, Spinach and Cheese

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 small delicata
• 2 T melted ghee
• salt and pepper
• 1.5 cups cooked chorizo
• 6 oz frozen spinach, shopped and squeezed dry
• 6 oz grated jack or other Mexican cheese 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400F.  I used our toaster oven.

Wash the delicata.  Even if you don't plan to eat the skin, if there is dirt on the outside your knife will carry it onto the flesh when you cut it in half.  Cut a thin slice off the ends of each squash and then halve them horizontally.  Scoop out the seeds and discard them.

Arrange the squash cut side down on your baking tray and brush the outside with melted ghee.  Turn them over and brush the tops. Season with salt and pepper.  Bake until a sharp knife slides easily into the flesh, about 20-30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan on medium heat, mix the chorizo with the spinach.  Heat until hot.  Turn heat to low to keep warm until the delicata are cooked. 

When the delicata are cooked, reduce the oven heat to 350F and remove the tray from the oven.  Mix 2/3 of the cheese into the filling and fill each half.  Depending on the size of your delicata you may have some left over.  Sprinkle cheese over the filling.

Bake the filled delicata for 5 minutes at 350F until the cheese has melted. 

Eat right away, or keep them in the fridge to have as a snack!

How to store herbs and vegetables to extend their lives.

This has been such a season of learning for me!  Just this year I learned the best way to store raw herbs and vegetables to extend their lives.

HERBS:

Some herbs - lemon balm, lovage, mint and basil (with long stems) - seem to do best in a small glass container on the counter.  I fill the container about half full, remove the leaves from the stems in the water, and top up the water every morning:

Others - chives, dill, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and sage - seem to do better in the fridge.  I wrap them in a damp (damp, not wet) paper towel, then store them in a plastic bag with the end open.

Basil trimmings are best stored in a paper bag at room temperature.  Even then, they will only last a few days.  In the fridge, they will turn black in a day or two.

Here's a photo of some herbs on my counter.  The sage, obviously, should be stored differently!  But the lemon balm, rosemary, mint and parsley kept well for a few days.  The celery didn't survive, unfortunately.

VEGETABLES:

Carrots: storage carrots, harvested on a root day, will keep for A YEAR in an open end plastic bag in the fridge.  It is now early September and we are eating carrots that were harvested LAST OCTOBER.  Do not wash them.  Thicker carrots will store longer.  I store 5-6 in one bag. 

Cucumbers: these do well wrapped in a damp paper towel (damp, not wet) and then stored in a paper bag in the fridge.  They may dehydrate a little but they won't rot.

Eggplant: similar to green beans, these keep well in a shallow bowl lined with a thin cotton dish cloth.  Keep the eggplant separate from each other. 

Green Beans: these do best in a SHALLOW bowl lined with a thin cotton dish cloth, and stored in a cool basement.  Cover them with a second dish cloth to protect from dust.  I stored one small bowl with a waffle weave dishcloth and they did not fare as well - the waffle weave absorbed moisture but did not release it.  

Peppers: these do well wrapped individually in paper towels (dry, not damp) and then stored in a paper bag in the fridge.  They may dehydrate a little but they won't rot.  I keep the jalapenos and poblanos this way until I have enough to process them.

RECIPE: Chilled Cucumber Soup or Dip

The first time I made this recipe, I was hoping to serve it as an appetizer in tiny cucumber cups.  When I fashioned a cup from a small cucumber, I realized there was no way to make it a 'one bite size', and with liquid soup inside it HAD to be one bite size.  

Back at the drawing board I made adjustments to thicken the soup and to ramp up the herbal flavors which were missing in the first version.  A friend made the brilliant suggestion to use curry powder as a garnish! The soup is now a slightly spicy, slightly sweet, slightly creamy and thoroughly delicious summer soup!  I've abandoned my quest to serve it in cucumber cups. I've included instructions on how to make it a dip but I have not tried them yet!

Yes, I realize the cucumbers are done for this season, now that it's September, but I had stored a few wrapped first in damp paper towels, and then placed in a paper bag inside the fridge, and they all survived!   The herbs I either store wrapped in damp paper towels inside an open plastic bag in the fridge, or they live in small glass jars on my counter.  Please see this post on how to make produce last longer .

(FARM MEMBERS: there is lemon balm growing in the flower bed by the door to the creamery, the other herbs are growing in the PYO raised beds next to the field adjacent to the cow's loafing shed.)   

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Curry Lemon Cream

Makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 t. curry powder
• 1 t. lemon juice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream  
• 1 t. himalayan pink salt, divided 
• 1 pound cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 cup yogurt (or quark*)
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
• 2 anchovy fillets (optional)
• 2 small whole scallions, trimmed
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup mixed fresh herbs - lemon basil, lemon balm, parsley and apple mint
• 1.5 t. honey  
• OPTIONAL Garnish:
• 1/2 ear of fresh corn, shucked and kernels sliced off

*Using yogurt will give you a thinner soup-like consistency.  Using Quark should give you a thicker dip-like consistency suitable for serving in small cucumber cups, but I have not made this with quark yet!

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix the curry powder with the lemon juice in a small bowl and let it bloom for a minute or two.  Whisk in the cream and 1/4 t. salt and let it thicken while you prepare the soup.

Combine the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 3/4 t. salt, but excluding the optional garnish, in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth - *a food processor will work better if you're using quark.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

You now have several options:

My favorite: Stir a little bit of the soup into the curry-lemon-cream to lighten it, then mix the curry-lemon-cream into the soup and serve it without the corn garnish. It makes two generous bowls of soup this way.  Served with toast points it's a wonderful meal on a hot day.

To serve as a soup appetizer: pour into espresso cups, drizzle 1-2 T. of cream on the top, sprinkle 5-6 corn kernels over the cream, and serve with a small spoon.  It serves 6-12 this way, depending on the size of your espresso cups.  You can put a small pinch of curry powder on top if you want.

OR... Serve it with the curry cream stirred in, and garnished with  lemon balm flower::

 

To serve as an appetizer, cut a thin cucumber into 1" pieces and scoop out the center with a melon baller.  Fill the depression with the dip and top with a bit of the curry cream and a pinch of flake salt. (*DISCLAIMER: I have not made this with quark yet!  LMK if it works.)

RECIPE: Beef Curry Stuffed Orange Peppers

Our farm store this year had both yellow and orange peppers for the first time ever!  When the green and yellow peppers arrived a few weeks ago, I wrapped them in paper towels, and then stored them in the fridge inside a paper bag.  When I pulled them out today they were like new!  So...for this recipe I'm using a mix of yellow, orange, red, and green, all from our farm store!! 

The last time I posted a stuffed pepper recipe, the stuffing was made from red rice and adzuki beans.  Now that we're eating low carb, I could have just replaced the rice with ground meat, but I decided to make a keema curry.  I kept the beans - they add some texture.

There are two keema recipes on this blog:

North Indian Keema and South Indian Keema.  They are similar, but the spice mixtures are different.  Use whichever one appeals to you most! 

Beef Curry Stuffed Orange Peppers

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 7-8 medium size bell peppers, preferably orange or yellow
• One recipe keema made with 1.5 pounds of beef 
• OPTIONAL: 1/3 - 1/2 of a 15oz can adzuki beans, drained
• 6oz blanched spinach or kale, minced 
• For the Tomato Cream Sauce: 
• 1 T. ghee 
• 2 t. cumin
• 2 t. garlic powder
• 2-3 t. MILD kashmiri chili powder depending on your heat tolerance
• 1 jar (approx 20 oz) tomato passata or puree
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 t. himalayan pink salt 
• 8oz mozarella* cheese, grated  

*If you don't have mozarella, you can use oaxaca, but don't add it until you take the pan out of the oven.  Sprinkle it on the cooked peppers, cover the pan for 5 minutes, then uncover and let the whole dish cool.  The residual heat in the peppers will melt the cheese as the rest of the dish cools.

INSTRUCTIONS:

I make these in a Le Creuset casserole, because it has a tight fitting lid.  You can also use a baking pan and cover it with parchment-lined foil (please don't let the foil tough your food!). 

Choose your baking vessel and make sure your peppers will fit snugly in it.  If they aren't snug, they will fall over as they bake. Remove the peppers, cut 1" off the tops, and remove the seeds from the insides.  Don't toss the tops.  Put the empty peppers back in the pan and set them aside.  

Make the tomato cream sauce:  

From the pepper tops you removed, cut away all the pepper flesh from around the stems and mince it. 

Over medium heat, melt 1 T ghee and sweat the minced peppers until soft.  Add the cumin, garlic and pepper powders and stir for a minute or two.  Add the tomato puree and the tomato paste and stir to combine.  If your tomato puree is chunky, transfer the sauce to a tall container and use an immersion blander to smooth it out.

Stir in the cream and the salt.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  I like the tomato sauce to be spicier than the keema, but you should adjust to your heat tolerance.  The sauce should be quite thick, because the cheese and the peppers will both exude some liquid.

Make the keema adding the aduki beans and spinach.  This can be made the day before, and refrigerated overnight, but heat it up the next day before filling the peppers. Taste and adjust seasoning.  The keema should be seasoned to account for the peppers.

Preheat the oven to 400F (375F convection) and set a rack in the middle of the oven.

Put 2 T sauce into the bottom of each pepper.

Fill the peppers 3/4 full with keema.  Depending on the size of your peppers you may have keema left over.

Top the keema with additional 2-3 T. sauce.  Pour the remaining sauce around the sides of the peppers. 

Top each pepper with grated cheese.   Cover the pan, either with the lid or a sheet of parchment-backed foil.

Bake 20 minutes with the cover on.  If you don't cover the pan, it will take much longer to cook and the cheese will burn. 

Remove the cover and cook an additional 10 minutes, until the peppers are cooked through and the cheese is lightly browned.  

Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest 10-30 minutes.  Be careful when you eat this - the center will be very HOT!!! 

To serve, transfer one pepper to a soup plate, cut it in half, and spread some sauce over the cut sides.

 

 

Did you know that different color bell peppers contain different nutrients?  I learned this just recently:

Very roughly, the color differences are:

• Orange: particularly notable for zeaxanthin,  β-cryptoxanthin (vitamin A) and β-carotene
• Red: especially rich in capsanthin and capsorubin, also high in vitamin C 
• Yellow: more lutein and zeaxanthin in many cultivars, both of particular interest for eye health
• Green: immature fruit, with much more chlorophyll and generally lower concentrations of the carotenoids that accumulate as peppers ripen, but can have decent amounts of lutein

Carotenoids are fat-soluble. The ghee in the keema and cream in the tomato sauce should improve absorption of the carotenoids. Heat will reduce some vitamin C, but cooking also makes some carotenoids more bioavailable.

 

RECIPE: Keralan Keema Curry, Beef or Lamb

There is another keema recipe on this blog, from Northern India.  

This recipe is from Southern India, from Curried Favors by Maya Kaimal.  While there are some similarities, this recipe has a very different spice mixture.  We enjoy both recipes.

I've made this version many times, and every time I think to myself "that's a LOT of coriander!"  but the result is delicious!  I always eliminate the potatoes, because I don't eat them.  I have substituted carrots, parsnips, spinach or kale.  You could use celeriac, turnips, or garbanzos if you prefer, or you can leave the potatoes and peas out altogether and reduce the spices by 1/3.  

I'll add a photo next time I make it. 

Keralan Keema Curry made with Ground Beef or Lamb  

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:  

• 1.5 pounds lean ground beef or lamb 
• 1/4 cup ghee
• 2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions 
• 3 t. minced garlic
• 3 t. minced ginger
• SPICE MIXTURE:
• 8 t. ground coriander
• 1.5 t. ground cumin
• 3/4 t. ground red pepper (I use kashmiri, you can use paprika if you don't tolerate heat)
• 3/4 t. ground black pepper
• 1/4 t. turmeric
• 1/4 t. ground Ceylon cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ground cloves 
• 1 or 2 fresh chilies split lengthwise (serrano, or jalapeno)
• 2 t. salt
• 2 cups chopped potatoes OR carrots OR parsnips OR celeriac OR turnips OR or garbanzos 
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned, peeled and drained
• 1 cup frozen peas OR 8 oz blanched spinach, minced
• 1 cup water
• 1 t. fresh lemon juice 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Mix the spice mixture in a small bowl and set aside.

If you're using root vegetables, pare them and chop into 1/2" pieces. 

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, fry the onion in the ghee until the edges are nicely browned.  

Add garlic and ginger and stir 2 minutes or until the onion turns medium brown.   

Add ground meat and fry until it browns, stirring to completely break up lumps.   

Stir in the spice mixture, chilies, and salt.  Add the roots, if you're using them, the tomatoes and water, bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, and stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until the roots are tender.

Add the peas or spinach and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.  Mixture should be neither dry nor watery.

Sir in lemon juice and remove from heat.  Taste and adjust the salt. 

 

MENU: My favorite Indian Recipes

When we have friends over for Indian Food, this is the menu I generally prepare, because it includes all my favorite Indian recipes.  Many of the dishes can be made in advance, leaving only the rice, dal, and frying the paneer for the last minute.  I may substitute a ground lamb curry (keema) for the lamb with turnips.  

 

BEVERAGE:

Spiced Mango Lassi with optional Saffron Gin

 

STARTERS:

Tamarind Chutney and Quark Dip

Coriander Chutney Yogurt Dip

Fenugreek Crackers (Methi Mathri)

 

DINNER:

Lamb Curry with Turnips

Palak Paneer (Spinach with Paneer Cheese)

Cauliflower with Cumin, Fennel and Black Mustard

Basmati Rice

Cucumber Raita 

 

DESSERT:

Saffron and Cardamom Phirni (Rice Pudding) with pistachio garnish