Pistachio cardamom cake

This is a dense cake which is reminiscent of Middle Eastern cuisine, but I used it as the sweet end to the Indian inspiration dinner. This cake with its rich buttery pistachio crumb and the underlying warmness of the cardamom is a sure-fire hit. The cake is drizzled with a lemon syrup which makes the flavor nice and light.

If you've never worked with cardamom it tastes a little bit like cinnamon, but with a little more heat. For the longest time, I held off on buying this spice because it's kind of expensive, and I wasn't sure what else I would use it for. Well, the possibilities are many. You can use a 1/2 tsp. or so of cardamom pretty much anywhere you'd use cinnamon: think cinnamon buns, any cake mix, apple pie, pancake/waffle/crepe batter, or even sprinkled on your morning yogurt with fruit.

You can buy cardamom in 2 forms: pod and ground. The ground cardamom is what is used in this recipe it is simply the tiny seeds from the cardamom pod that have been finely ground down. The pods are also handy (though slightly more difficult to find). I usually throw the pods into the rice pot or stew-like dishes to intensify the flavor--4 to 6 are usually plenty.

Pistachio Cardamom Cake (from Moosewood New Classics)

Ingredients
Cake:
1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 c. semolina flour
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsalted pistachios, plus 12 whole pistachios
1/2 c. nonfat plain yogurt

Syrup:
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbs. lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 7X11 inch baking dish
2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
4. Add the vanilla
5. Grind 1/2 c. of the pistachios in a spice grinder (or food processor) to the consistency of a coarse meal.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the semolina, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, and pistachios.
7. In alternating batches, add the yogurt and the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition, to form a smooth batter.
8. Spread the batter inot the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. About 5 minutes before the cake is done, combine the syrup ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for about 2 minutes and then remove from heat and set aside.
10. When the cake is ready, cut it in half lengthwise and then cut it into thirds crosswise to form six square pieces. Cut each square on the diagonal to make 12 triangular pieces.
11. Pour the syrup evenly over the cake and gently press one whole pistachio into the center of each triangle of cake.

Baked Lentil Samosas

These were the perfect start to the Indian inspiration dinner. The great thing about these is that you can do the dough and the filling ahead of time and let them rest in the refrigerator. You can also assemble the samosas and freeze them until when you're ready to bake them. The filling I use here is a thick lentil curry, but any thick curry will do. Serve with a chutney or Greek yogurt spiced up with curry powder. This recipe comes from How to cook everything vegetarian by Mark Bittman.


Baked Lentil Samosas
Ingredients

Filling:
1 c. dried lentils (any kind)
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 small onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 Tbs. minced garlic
2 Tbs. peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 c. vegetable stock or water
2 Tbs. garam masala or curry powder

Dough:
2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 Tbs. cold butter
2 Tbs. yogurt

1. Put the oil in a deep skillet or medium pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, and ginger and keep cooking and stirring until all the vegetables start to wilt and are fragrant, another 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the lentils, stock, and garam masala to the pan with enough water to cover the lentils by about 1/2 inch. Turn the heat to high. When the mixture begins to boil, lower the heat so it bubbles gently.
4. Cover and cook, stirring every so often, until the lentils and vegetables are very soft, about 45 minutes or more. Add stock or water during cooking only if needed to keep the lentils from scorching. The lentils should be fairly stiff and dry when they're done; if not, remove the lid, turn up the heat a bit, and let some of the liquid bubble away. Taste, adjust seasoning and set aside to cool.
5. While the lentils are cooking, combine the flour with a large pinch of salt, the butter, and the yogurt in a food processor; turn on the machine and a few seconds later, add about 1/2 cup of water. Let the machine run, adding a little more water if necessary, until a dough ball forms.
6. Knead the dough for a moment by hand, adding a little more flour if necessary, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets or line them with parchment paper. Sprinkle a work surface with flour , then divide the dough into quarters. Cover 3 of the pieces and divide the fourth into 6 pieces; roll each piece into a round ball. Roll each ball out to a 3-inch diameter. When you have rolled out the first six, put about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of each. Brush the rim with a little water, then fold over and seal.
8. Put the samosas--about 1 inch apart--on the prepared baking sheets. Keep covered with plastic wrap while you repeat with the remaining dough. Bake the samosas until golden brown, turning as needed, about 30 minutes, and serve hot.

Indian inspiration

I was the host of our most recent girls' dinner. I have always loved the flavors and scents of Indian cuisine. I even bought an Indian cookbook several years ago, but was intimidated by the ingredient lists and many components to an Indian dinner, so the cookbook sat fairly untouched on the bookshelf. So, for this dinner I decided to buck up and at least attempt an Indian dinner. The sources for the menu came from Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking by Julie Sahni and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.

So, after I planned my (ambitious) menu I needed to gather some of those specialized ingredients. I found my treasure trove at the Indian Supermarket in Silver Spring, MD. Pictured here are just a sampling of the many spices and legumes that I picked up.
In the next few days, I'll be posting some of the recipes that came from this dinner, but for tonight, here's the recipe for the soup course: Curry-Laced Tomato-Lentil Broth (tomato rasam). Adapted from Sahni. This soup was very fragrant and the flavor of the curry leaves intensified the soup's flavor.

Lessons learned from this dish: I probably should have thinned this out a bit with some water before serving since the soup was quite thick.

Get the recipe here.

Curry-Laced Tomato-Lentil Broth
Ingredients
2 c. tomato puree (I used the canned stuff, but you could use fresh or canned whole tomatoes and rough chop them)
3 c. cooked lentils (I used a mix of French and brown lentils)
1 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 Tbs. minced onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp course salt, or to taste
1 Tbs lemon juice

For the spice perfumed butter:
1 Tbs. ghee (this is basically just browned butter with the milk solids strained off)
1 tsp. black mustard seeds
8 curry leaves or 2 Tbs. fresh cilantro

1. Put the lentils in a a 3- or 4- quart deep pot. Add 1 c. water and whisk for a minute to crush some of the lentils.
2. Add the pureed tomatoes, cumin, coriander, cayenne, onion garlic, and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook at a gentle boil, partially covered for 10 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice and continue cooking for 1 minute.
4. Turn off the heat and keep covered while you make the spice-perfumed butter.
5. Heat the ghee in a small frying pan until very hot.
6. Add the mustard seeds and the curry leaves.
7. Shake the pan. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, turn off the heat.
8. Pour the entire contents of the pan into the soup and stir well.
9. Serve and enjoy!

Welcome to economists in the kitchen!

We are a small group of economists who love to cook. We aspire to try new cuisines and new cooking techniques. Not all of our experiments are successful, but we're enjoying the learning experience.

We'll be posting our kitchen experiments plus our greatest hits here. We hope that you enjoy browsing through this blog and get inspired to experiment in your own kitchen.


-Emily, Julie, Molly and Rebecca