First Time for Curry

I decided to try my hand at a few new recipes, and I found several curries that looked good. I chose a Chickpea Curry with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes, adapted from an Epicurious recipe here.

It needed a few changes, so I have added them here. I made homemade Naan for serving, which I may need to tweak the recipe for someday, but I have so much in the freezer, I don't need to do it again for a while. You can also serve this with Udon noodles or rice.

Also, it should be noted, that grill pans have a learning curve! Make sure not to drip your butter (Naan recipe) outside the pan or you get a nice small burst of flames....yeesh.

Chickpea Curry with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes, adapted from an Epicurious recipe here.

• 1/2 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets and stems
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2" piece of peeled ginger, minced
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 14.5 oz. (can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Course salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon curry powder (I used yellow curry, but the choice is yours)
• 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 375F. Toss cauliflower with olive oil and arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, season with salt and pepper (optional). Roast for 15 minutes. Toss tomatoes with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add to baking sheet. Roast until cauliflower is slightly browned and tomatoes are soft, about 10 more minutes. Tomatoes should be slightly bursting.

In a medium pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high. cook onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly translucent. Add garlic, ginger, Garam Masala, and curry powder and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add chickpeas and 1 1/2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. (For a thinner curry, add another 1/2 cup water and cover to retain moisture). Stir in cauliflower, add spinach to top and cover, let simmer about 2 minutes, until spinach is wilted, and fold spinach into chickpeas.

Stir in cilantro, and any salt or other seasonings to taste.

Serve in bowls, adding tomatoes as garnish (to prevent becoming mushed in the sauce), add additional cilantro if desired.

I loved this recipe with traditional "store-bought" curry so much, I purchased a few ounces each of Lemon Curry and Muchi Curry to try the next time from Sunrise Natural Foods. I have also been roasting more veggies; I like how they turn out, especially tomatoes. Cauliflower is especially nice because it is usually rather bland...roasted gives it a nice flavor and eases the texture up a bit.

Wine Grapes- A Fall Project Revisited

So in the fall, I made grape syrup...from Smith Vineyard & Winery Merlot grapes. They were gracious enough to let me come by the vineyard during harvest, and box up some grapes. They are so beautiful, and smell so nice.

To start, I had to remove stems and leaves. This is a long, sticky process, so I put a movie on and got to work. I picked them right into the strainer and washed them in batches, Then I moved them into bowls. They look so pretty!

That was really the hardest part. I found that gloves help, because there are also spiders and other bugs in the grape stems. After a few crawl across your bare hand....eeek, gloves!

The next part is pretty basic, just like canning any other jam or preserve. They go into a pot, seeds and all, and I poured enough sugar to just cover the grapes. I found that proportion seems to work well, but if you want more jam consistency instead of syrup, you can add more....but it will need to be a lot more, wine grapes do NOT set up like other fruits, even with pectin.

On the stove, medium simmer, covered, for a long time. I usually go several hours on low, to get as soft as possible. While the grapes are cooking, I kept squishing them with a fork to break the skins, and push the fruit and seeds out. This is really important because you cannot eat those seeds, they don't get any softer.

I didn't take a picture of the next part because it was messy, and difficult to stop, but it made all the difference. I strained the grapes in batches through a mesh strainer, rather fine, and squished as much juice out of the skins as possible. Then I poured them into my hot canning jars and put on the lids. When my water bath canner was ready, I placed the jars in, boiled them about 15 minutes, and voila! Completed jars. I made about 24 jars of syrup, and it is dark, rich, and beautiful on ice cream, pancakes, or as a base for a sweet glaze.