Rice Crepe with Cheese Filling

Inspired by the Indian Dosa crepe, this recipe is simple and a good divergence from the typical Sunday breakfast. You could substitute rice with wheat flour. The cheese could be replaced with a fruit chutney or sauce,egg or syrup.

Ingredients: serves 2 people

Rice flour 1cup

Cream of wheat 1 tbsp

Vegetable Oil or spray

Cheddar Cheese 1/2 cup grated

Salt: optional

Water 1.5 cups

Cooking Method:

Add water to the cream of wheat and rice flour. Let it sit for half hour. Heat a 8 inch non-stick pan on medium heat, spray oil and spread a tbsp of batter and spread in circular motion while applying light pressure. Lower the flame,and cover for 30 seconds to a minute. Turn over and add some grated cheese. The cheese should melt and the crepe should be crispy and come off the pan easily using a non-stick spatula.

Enjoy!

A tour of the Trenton Farmers Market

So, I met this lady that was producing a show for Princeton T.V. She would interview kids from the Princeton YMCA to get their thoughts on healthy snacks that could be picked up at the local Trenton Farmers market. She asked if my 5-year old, Ved who happened to be a Y camper would like to be part of that production. I agreed because...Hey, I believe in healthy snack and if a T.V. program was going to get Ved excited about substituting cookies for fruit, I'm all for it!



I escorted a shy Ved to the Trenton Farmers market but once he was there and was assigned to his lady friend Y buddy, Mel, he settled down happily into his role.

While Ved was busy doing his shoot, I took some fantastic pictures at the Trenton market. Oooh the fresh Jersey tomatoes, peaches, peppers, eggplant, and the popular local meat store. As I walked around, I talked with farmers about their produce and learned about the great blueberry and peaches this season. I also was excited to share how I am using their golden peaches, roma tomatoes and purple eggplant for the line of condiments that I am developing.

Summer Lunch: Chicken Curry with Peach Ice Tea

When I think of a summer lunch, I am looking for bold flavors with a summery drink to cool things down. Plus, I like to use vegetables grown right in Jersey like local peaches and tomatoes. So, after having the weekend shopping, I decided I wanted to make some soul-satisfying spicy flavors using basic ingredients and some peach ice tea to go with it.

Ingredients: For the Chicken Curry

4 chicken thighs (keeping the bones adds flavor) or breast

2 medium sized tomatoes

1 cup low fat yogurt

1 large onion

1 inch cube ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

salt to taste

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

cilantro to garnish and flavor

Cooking Method:

Grind 1/2 onion, ginger, garlic and tomato in food processor and add the cumin, yogurt and chicken with it in a glass storage bowl and marinade for 3-6 hours in the fridge. When ready to cook, heat oil in a shallow pan and chop 1/2 of the remaining onion  and sautey until light brown, add the marinaded chicken and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, then add cinnamon and simmer until chicken is cooked.  Add chopped cilantro  for flavoring. You could also add some whole or chopped cilantro as a garnish at the end.

Ingredients: For the Peach Ice tea

2 medium sized peaches

your favorite black tea bags

sugar to taste

Cooking Method:

Remove seed from peaches, chop to 1/4 and bring to boil. Simply pour the peach water into a glass jar and soak your tea bags for 5 minutes. Add sugar to taste and chill before serving

My tryst with Food in the Garden State!

I graduated from Wharton, now what? I've wanted to be an entrepreneur, but what would be my bid idea and would I be the right person to execute it? After a lot of soul searching, I have decided that I should pick a profession that I am going to be passionate about, but one which would allow me to justify my 2 years of hibernation (I mean, learning) and a humongous b-school bill!

So, here I am knee deep (actually only tongue-deep) in my food venture! At least I am in a state known for its farms and gardens...the Garden State of course! Launching my venture out of Princeton, NJ has allowed me to explore the Garden State. In my quest to learn what NJ has to offer, I am leading the Foodie lifestyle: organizing and attending food tastings, creating and tweaking  recipes and mostly eating (and drinking!) while I launch my food line. Here are my favorite finds in NJ so far:

Trenton Farmers Market: This market brings together farmers, meat processors, and fine food purveyors from New Jersey. I personally liked Olssons Fine Food Store because of the owners knowledge of the over 200 varieties of cheese form all over the world. He insists on doing a tasting before purchase. I have also bought interesting locally grown veggies here that I am using for my line of chutneys and spreads such as golden peaches, white eggplant, and jersey tomatoes. And, for the first time, I came across a round zucchini and believe me that was a long time coming...the burger sized zucchini ready to be grilled and placed into your favorite burger!

NJ Coast Wineries: I got to sample wines from 5 different wineries in NJ at the East Coast Wine and Food Festival. My personal favorite was the Cape May Cabernet Blanc and Unionville Vineyards' Chambourcin. Hopewell Valley Vineyards even hosts a live band and drinks on Fridays ---a perfectly romantic setup!

River Horse Brewery, Lambertsville: Across the Delaware river from New Hope, PA, this microbrewery does a tour and tasting of their beers: lager, pale ale, and dark harvest ale but my personal favorite is their full-bodied hop.

Small World Cafe: Princeton's very own local but aside from the east coast roast and organic Sumatran,one of my favorites is not their brownies (typical for a cafe) but rather their soup and sandwich combo. This is a place where you could bring your work and hang out for a good part of the day.

More to come later about the Local Food Tasting organized by me to be held at Tre Piani on August 12th...stay tuned!