Garam Masala

It's been awhile since I've discussed a favorite product. And since I'm going to be featuring Indian food over the next few posts, I thought talking a little bit about garam masala was essential. Wikipedia discusses this combination of spices as follows:

Garam masala from Hindi garam ("hot") and masala ("mixture") is a basic blend of ground spices common in Indian and other South Asian cuisines. It is used alone or with other seasonings. The word garam refers to spice intensity, not heat; garam masala is pungent, but not "hot" in the same way as a chili pepper.

In short, garam masala  makes cooking Indian food a snap (this is me talking now, not Wikipedia). You can, of course, make your own blend, but I do not. Different brands have different combinations of spices. Typical spices include cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg and coriander (along with various colors of ground pepper). I have found that prices for the same brand vary widely; the bottle of McCormick featured in the photo is about $11 at the grocery store closest to my house, and about half that at the local WalMart. My friend Laura recently scouted the newly opened Indian store in our community (Bollywood on University Avenue for those of you who are local) and got a remarkable quantity of the stuff for about $4. It appeared to be a somewhat different mix of spices, but smelled great. And that's one of the things you'll like best about this blend--the way it makes your house smell when you cook with it.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Can you take one more spinach salad recipe? This one is truly a gem. I made it out of desperation one night when I needed to use up both spinach and strawberries. The dressing is unusual but very refreshing. It gets oohs and ahhs.

The original recipe calls for sliced almonds, which I think would be delicious. However, on the same day that I had spinach and strawberries to spare, I was fresh out of almonds but had plenty of pecans. I sugared them (put a cup of them in a sauce pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar; cook on medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the nuts are coated. Then cool on a sheet of wax paper or foil until cooled).

Strawberry Spinach Salad
1 cup candied pecans
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 medium cucumber, sliced and quartered
1/4 small red onion, sliced into thin wedges
3-4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
6 to 8 cups baby spinach

Combine salad ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Then toss with the dressing:

Dressing
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a lid; shake until well mixed. Pour over salad and toss well.

Serve immediately after adding the dressing.

Peanut Butter Fingers

I found this delicious little recipe on In My Kitchen. The author of that blog recounts her childhood memories of having this as part of a Utah school lunch. I am a native Utahn, and don't remember having them for lunch in elementary school (although I do remember some incredible peanut butter cookies, the only peanut cookies I would eat at that point in my life). But they are awfully good.

Warning: this recipe makes a lot of cookie bars. It's baked in a jelly roll pan, which we call a cookie sheet at our house. It's something like 16 x 9. So either make it when you're going to a very large gathering, or plan on having it around for a few days. I made it on Monday of this week (which was spring break), and we still had lingering leftovers by Thursday. It holds up well over time, though, and the kids were in heaven with readily available snacks all week.

Peanut Butter Fingers

3/4 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

Cream these ingredients together and then add:

3/4 cup peanut butter, cream until smooth

Note: We used creamy peanut butter because we had a surplus of it and because the kids prefer chunky on their sandwiches. But I think chunky PB would work great, and would add a little nuttiness to the mix.

Add:

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons vnilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups flour

Mix together and pat down into a jellyroll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Let the cookie substance cool a little, but while it is still warm, spread a think layer of peanut butter over the top. After it has cooled quite a bit, add the frosting on top:

Frosting

6 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa

1/4 cup milk

Blend frosting until smooth and spread over cookies.