Goan style shrimp curry

Adapted this recipe for a DELICIOUS and simple curry that i've made several times now. a few comments:

- tastes great with other proteins too, like chicken or tofu

- the spice proportions in this recipe make it INCREDIBLY spicy...you can cut the dry spices in half and it would still taste delicious

- i put in twice as much coconut milk...because it comes in 1/2 cup cans so it's easier to just use up the whole can...plus it tempers the spice...and of course...it's so amazing(ly bad for you, but let's not think about that!)

- i like to put in about twice as many curry leaves too

- tasted delicious with some red wine

eggs, mexican style!

photo progression of huevos rancheros i made a while ago...corn tortillas layered with homemade guacamole (avocado, tomatoes, onions, lime juice, slivers of lettuce), black beans, a poached egg (instructions here) and "ranchero sauce" (quotes because it was totally improvised--just tomatoes and onions cooked with garlic, cumin, corriendar, chili power)...delicious!!! not quite as good as the fresh version at the sunnyvale farmer's market, but it'll do if it's not saturday morning :)

ps, something else i did with the ranchero sauce and avocado and beans...fajita pumpkin crepes...made some simple pumpkin crepes, filled with sauteed onions and bell peppers and cojita cheese, and topped with ranchero sauce and mashed avocado...yum!

Cookie Dough Truffles (vegan!)

My boyfriend LOVES raw cookie dough, but I don't like to eat it, because I am very paranoid about raw and undercooked eggs and poultry. Also, while I like it, its not SO good that it really tempts me to stray from my no-raw egg policy (brownie batter, on the other hand...). Anyway, when I saw this recipe for chocolate cookie dough truffles, I absolutely had to make them. I knew my boyfriend would love them, they're egg-free, and the added chocolate coating made them really exciting to me. They definitely did not disappoint...the recipe made at least 40 truffles and we gobbled them up in...oh, I don't know...three or four days?

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk or soy milk (I used regular skim milk)
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 12-oz package chocolate chips or dark candy coating (for dipping).

Directions:
Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and stir until incorporated. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

Cover and chill dough for 1 hour. (I think I actually omitted this step when I did it...oops)

When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in the fridge and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate candy coating or chips in a double boiler or in microwave (I used the microwave - I zapped about half the chips at a time, for 30 seconds or until glossy and then stirred for awhile until they were completely melted.) Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. (I actually used my hands because the cookie dough kept falling off the fork. Hands was VERY messy, but seemed to work well for the truffles). Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container. MMMMMM so good!

Coconut Chocolate Cookie

I like chocolate. I like coconut. I like cookies. So I combined them, and the result was very well-received. I mostly just modified a standard cookie recipe by adding flaked coconut and chocolate chips. I made some cookies without the chocolate chips because I thought there was too much chocolate, but my roommate's boyfriend convinced me that there's really no such things as too much chocolate. Sorry about the coldness of the picture though; I haven't quite worked out how to take good food pictures with my new camera.

Ingredients
1.25 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup minus 1 Tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.25 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease baking sheet(s).

2. In a small bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until well blended. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well mixed. With a wooden spoon, mix in the coconut and chocolate chips last.

4. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12min. Cool on wire rack.

PIstachio PIneapple cream PIe

I made a couple pi-stachio pi-neapple cream pi-es last weekend for pi day.
As usual the recipe is super simple and quick, and the fun was in the decorating.
I took these to a pi day party and my dance class.

Ingredients (makes 2 pies):
2 ready made crusts (graham or oreo)
1.5 packets of instant pistachio pudding powder (5.1oz)
1 can of unsweetened pineapple chunks (20oz)
2 cups of milk
8oz vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup of chocolate shavings
1/4 cup of very finely chopped almonds
chocolate frosting (optional)

Directions:
Mix the pudding powder, ice cream, and milk and refrigerate for 5 mins to set.
Then mix in the chocolate, almonds, and pineapples.
Pour into crusts. Keep refrigerated or frozen until serving time.
Use frosting to decorate (optional) or top with the chocolate shavings and almonds.

My Mom's Blueberry Crumb Cake

This cake has been a hit with anyone I have ever made it for.

Ingredients:
3/4 C Sugar
1/4 C Soft Shortening (butter ok)
1 egg
1/2 C Milk
2 C Flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C Blueberries (use wild Maine blueberries, because, lets face it...all other blueberries are wannabes)

Topping
1/2 C Sugar
1/3 C Flour
1/4 C Butter (out of refrigerator for awhile but not really soft yet)
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
Blend with pastry blender

Grease and flour a 9x9 or 7x11 pan. Mix sugar, shortening and egg thoroughly. Stir in milk. Blend dry ingredients. Stir in. Carefully blend in blueberries. Spread batter in pan. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Enjoy!!

Avocado Corn Quesadillas

This barely even counts as a recipe, but I love to make quesadillas - they are quick, easy, tasty and involve almost no clean-up. However just using cheese and some kind of meat gets boring quickly. The other day I had some frozen corn and an avocado on hand and I decided to make an avocado-corn quesadilla.

Ingredients:
about 1/3 cup of corn (I used frozen corn but I'm sure fresh would be even yummier)
1 avocado
handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 flour tortilla
olive oil

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Chop up avocado and prepare corn according to package directions. Cook the tortilla until it is brown and crispy on one side. Top half of it with mozzarella cheese. As cheese is starting to melt, add the avocado and corn on top of the cheese. Fold over the half without filling and serve!