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2002

TODAY's CASES:

Chicken Biryani

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Meredith 
  To: phaedrus
  Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 9:19 PM

  Hi. I am looking for a chicken biryani recipe that has at least 
  these ingredients; basmati rice, chicken, potatoes, raisins, 
  carrots, chilies, cilantro, & some kind of nut. The seasonings 
  would be traditional biryani I presume. I can find recipes that 
  use chicken & no vegetables, & other inadequacies, but not one 
  that puts it all together. I'm just a beginner at other cuisines, 
  so I'm guessing most biryanis have saffron. If you have questions, 
  I'll sure answer, because if you could find such a recipe, I'd be 
  most grateful.
  Thank you.
  Meredith

Hello Meredith,

This is very difficult to find. Most chicken biryani recipes do not contain potatoes. I was not able to find any at all that contained carrots. The below recipe is the closest that I could find, but it lacks the carrots and the cilantro. I am sure that if you want to add carrots & a bit of cilantro, you can see how to do it with no problem. The nuts used in this recipe are almonds, but cashews are also used in many biryani recipes.

Phaed

  Chicken Biryani

  Ghee is butter that has been slowly melted, thereby separating the 
  milk solids (which sink to the bottom of the pan) from the golden 
  liquid on the surface. This form of clarified butter is taken a step 
  further by simmering it until all of the moisture evaporates and the 
  milk solids begin to brown, giving the resulting butter a nutty, 
  caramellike flavor and aroma. This extra step also gives ghee a longer 
  life and much higher smoke point than regular clarified butter. Because 
  the smoke point is raised to almost 375°F, ghee is practical for a 
  variety of sautéing and frying uses. Although it originated in India, 
  the best commercially available ghee comes from Holland, followed 
  closely by products from Scandinavia and Australia. It's quite 
  expensive, but can be purchased in Middle Eastern, Indian and some 
  gourmet markets. Whereas ghee was once made only with butter derived 
  from water buffalo milk, today it can be made with any unsalted butter. 
  Making it at home is not a difficult task, and flavored ghees are 
  created by simply adding ingredients such as ginger, peppercorns or 
  cumin at the beginning of the clarifying process. Tightly wrapped 
  ghee can be refrigerated for up to 6 months and frozen up to a year. 
  Makes 6-8 servings.

  3 lb chicken, chopped into bite-size chunks
  2.5 tablespoons ghee or oil
  2 large onions, finely chopped
  5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
  1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
  1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  1 teaspoon ground cumin
  1 teaspoon salt
  2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  2 tablespoons yoghurt
  2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
  1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  2 inch piece cinnamon

  1 lb basmati rice, washed and drained
  2 1/2 tablespoons ghee
  1 large onion, finely chopped
  a good pinch powdered saffron or saffron strands
  5 cardamom pods, bruised
  3 whole cloves
  1 inch piece cinnamon
  1/2 teaspoon powdered aromatic ginger (kencur)
  2 tablespoons rose water
  1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  4 cups strong chicken stock

  4 small potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size chunks, 
    fried until brown
  2 tablespoons blanched almonds, fried until golden
  2 tablespoons sultanas, lightly fried

  Chicken: Heat ghee in a large saucepan and fry onion, garlic and 
  ginger until onion is soft and golden. Add chilli, pepper, turmeric, 
  cumin, salt and tomato. Fry, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add 
  yoghurt, mint, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook over low 
  heat, stirring occasionally until tomato is cooked to a pulp. (It may 
  be necessary to add a little hot water if mixture becomes too dry and 
  starts to stick to pan.) When mixture is thick and smooth, add chicken 
  pieces and stir well to coat them with spice mixture. Cover and cook 
  over very low heat until chicken is tender, approximately 35-45 minutes. 
  There should be only a little very thick gravy left when chicken is 
  cooked. If necessary cook uncovered on high for a few minutes to reduce 
  gravy.
  Rice: Heat ghee and fry onion until golden. Add saffron, cardamom, 
  cloves, cinnamon stick, aromatic ginger and rice. Fry stirring, until 
  rice is coated with the ghee. Add rose water and salt to hot stock, 
  pour over rice mixture and stir well. Add chicken savoury and potatoes 
  and gently mix into rice. Bring to boil. Cover saucepan tightly, turn 
  heat to very low and steam for 20 minutes. Do not lift lid or stir while 
  cooking. Spoon biryani onto a warm serving dish. Garnish with the 
  almonds and sultanas and serve immediately. 

Gaufrettes

----- Original Message -----
From: Stephanie
To: phaedrus
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 11:22 PM
Subject: Help need to find recipe

> Hello,
>
> I have a pizzelle maker that came with a little recipe pamphlet 
> that had recipes for pizzelle and another cookie that used 
> basically the same ingredients but you refrigerated this cookie 
> for 15 minutes and I think it was a french cookie it sounded 
> and read (from what I can remember) like "graufette or gaufette".  
> I liked this cookie very much and can not locate the cookie.  
> Do you have any idea of this recipe????? 
>
> Thank you very much for any of your help
>
> Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

The difficulty in searching for this recipe is that there are at least three different foods called "gaufrettes." One is waffles - Belgian waffles are called gaufrettes. Another is waffled french fried potatoes, which are called "pommes gaufrettes". But there is a thin cookie that is cooked on a special waffle iron that is also called a gaufrette. They are sometimes curled and used like an ice cream cone. There's a recipe below, the only one I could find. This particular recipe calls for letting the dough sit at room temperature for two hours instaed of refrigerating for 15 minutes.

You can buy an authentic gaufrette iron and get a recipe with it at:
Baking

Phaed

French Waffle Cookies (Gaufrettes)

Ingredients:
3 large eggs 
1 cup sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm 
4 cups all-purpose flour

1 Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until the mixture turns 
  fluffy and very pale, and forms a ribbon that holds its shape.
2 Add the melted butter and mix well.
3 Sift in the flour, a little at a time, and mix well to form a 
  smooth dough.
4 Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 2 hours 
  at room temperature.
5 With your hands, roll the dough into about 45 balls, 1-1/2 inches 
  in diameter.
6 Bake in a hot waffle iron with the smallest grids until the cookies 
  are golden brown and crisp. Let the cookies cool on a rack and store 
  in airtight containers.

Gluten-Free Donuts

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: dreamweaver 
  To: phaedrus
  Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 4:34 PM
  Subject: soy donuts

  Could you tell me if there is a recipe for soy donuts, my son is allergic 
  to flour that contains wheat. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thankyou

  Hi d.,

I couldn't locate any soy donut recipes, but how about a gluten-free rice flour donut recipe?

Phaed

  Gluten-Free Donuts

  2 cups rice flour
  3/4 cup sugar
  3 teaspoons GF baking powder (Calumet)
  7/8 cup of milk
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  2 eggs, lightly beaten
  1 1/2 teaspoons gf vanilla (McCormick's pure)
  1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
  2 teaspoons cinnamon (McCormick's or Tones)
  1/2 cup of gf oil (olive)- or may use Crisco or butter melted

  Measure and mix all the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. 
  In a large bowl lightly beat eggs, add sugar mix and then add 
  dry ingredients alternately with milk. Batter will be light - 
  May pour or spoon into donut pan.
  For best results lightly grease pans with vegetable shorten-in 
  or a gf non-stick spray. Fill the pan 1/2 to 2/3 full (if too
  full it will be more like a muffin and lose donut shape). Preheat 
  oven to 325 degrees. Makes 48 miniature donuts.
  Bake in oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out 
  clean. Remove from oven and remove from donut tray to cool. Can 
  be eaten plain for dipped in a mixture of equal parts cinnamon and 
  nutmeg and confectionery sugar. For glazed donuts melt 1 cup of gf 
  powdered sugar in 1/2 cup water (more water if too heavy).

Kibbi

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: grace 
  To: phaed
  Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 6:18 PM
  Subject: ever heard of this recipe?

  sir,
  there is a cerian dish {may not be spelled right}called kibbi {spelling 
  could be wrong also} never the less it is made with ground beef,pork,
  veal,and, some kind of imported nuts.
  it is made like meat balls.can you help? thanks a lot.
  

Hi Grace,

Well, "kibbi" or "kibbe" is a popular Middle Eastern dish, particularly in Lebanon and Syria. However, traditional kibbi is not exactly like what you describe. In the Middle East, it's most often made with lamb, although ground beef may be used. Nowhere did I find ground pork or ground veal being used in this dish. The nuts are pine nuts. See below for two recipes.

Phaed

  Stuffed Kibbe 

  Stuffed Meatballs

  The recipe consists of two parts, the filling, which is quite easy to do, 
  and the shell, which is a pain. Actually, making it is not a big deal if 
  you have a food processor - but if you don't, you have to mix it by hand, 
  which can take hours (using a hand mixer or a blender is not advised. They 
  can burn out from trying to mix meat with them). 

  This recipe calls for using ground bulgur. If you can't find it, tabouleh 
  salad pre-mix (which includes bulgur as well as seasonings), can be used 
  in a pinch. 

  Serve this dish, as most other koftas, with a mint-yogurt or 
  cucumber-yogurt dip. 
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  Kibbi
  Stuffed Meatballs 
  Ingredients 

  For the filling 

  1 lb. ground beef or lamb 
  2 large yellow onions, chopped 
  1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped 
  3 tbsp. parsley, chopped 
  1/2 tsp. mint leaves, chopped 
  1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted and chopped 
  1 tsp. paprika 
  1/2 tsp. salt 
  1/2 tsp. black pepper 
  1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 
  1/2 tsp. dried basil 
  For the shell 

  1 1/2 lbs. ground lamb or beef
  3/4 cup fine bulgur 
  1 yellow onion, chopped 
  1 tbsp. parsley, chopped 
  salt and pepper to taste 
  For cooking 

  2 qts. chicken stock 
  Instructions 

  Prepare the filling by browning the ground meat until browned. Add the 
  onions and cook together for 1/2 hour. Add green peppers and parsley 
  and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients 
  and stir. Cool. 

  Prepare the shell (keyma) by mixing all the ingredients together. Put 
  the mixture into a food processor and blend until light and fluffy; 
  depending on the size of your food processor you may have to do this 
  on several batches. 

  Take a little bit of the mixture and flatten in your hand. Fill the 
  center with the filling mixture and cover up with the shell until you 
  have a ball. Repeat until all the meatballs are made. 

  Heat the chicken stock until boiling. Place the kofta in the stock and 
  cook until they rise to the top, about 10 minutes. Serve. 
  ---------------------------------
  Kibbe Kros
  
  1 1/4 lb. ground beef
  1 1/4 cup #2 bulghur
  1 onion (grated)
  1 tsp. salt
  black pepper
  cinnamon
  paprika

  Wash and drain bulghur, let sit for 35 minutes. Mix ingredients together. 
  Work with hands and rub together until bulghur is soft. Set aside.

  Filling for Kibbe
  1/4 cup pine nuts
  1 lb. ground beef
  1 small onion (chopped)
  salt and pepper
  cinnamon
  paprika
  clarified butter

  Brown pine nuts in clarified butter. Remove pine nuts. Brown ground beef, 
  add onion and spices. Saute until onion is soft and beef is cooked.
  Assembly:
  Wet hands - form patty of bulghur mixture about 3 across. Form a second 
  one then spoon a little beef mixture in center. Top with other patty, 
  seal edges. Make sure no grease from filling gets on edges or kibbe will 
  not seal.

  Kibbe Saniyeh (in pan):
  Follow recipe to assembly. Grease edged pan with 2 tbs. oil. Spread 
  1/2 bulghur mixture in bottom. Add filling, spread evenly. Cover with 
  remaining bulghur mixture. Cut through Saniyeh in blocks. Edge along sides. 
  Bake 35 - 40 minutes @ 375. Brush with melted butter.

Marblehead Pudding

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: dhornung 
  To: phaedrus
  Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 4:24 PM
  Subject: recipe for marble head pudding

  we need the recipe and instructions on how to
  make marble head pudding. It's a social studies
  project for my 5th grader. 

Hi d., This is an old colonial dish. I could only locate one recipe with this name. I hope it's the right one. Phaed

  Marblehead Pudding

  3 sour apples
  1 c. molasses
  1 tsp. baking soda
  2 1/2 c. flour
  pinch of salt
  1/2 c. warm water

  Chop apples fine. Combine molasses and baking soda, and
  mix with flour and salt. Add water and chopped apples. Put in
  pudding pail and steam 2 hours. Serves 6. This is to roast
  pork, chicken or turkey dinner what Yorkshire Pudding is to
  roast beef.

""


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