Magnificent Appetizer for a Formal Dinner

Birthday Dinner Menu

This past weekend was my son's 47th birthday, and as usual I made a dinner. It was a fancier type of dinner, with a lovely table setting, three kinds of wine and four courses. And a menu, shown here. 

My son loves fine food, as do I, along with loving to make it. It is a true labor of love, at times, to put together this type of meal, but once it is done and we are enjoying, and everything tastes SO GOOD, then it truly doesn't matter how long it took to prepare, or how many backaches went into the mix. We all enjoyed the meal, which thankfully all turned out great.

My idea for the savory cheesecake tarts I made as part of the appetizer were based on the recipe for little individual Savory Brie & Rosemary Cheesecakes. I made the original recipe in mini cheesecake pans, but for our birthday dinner I wanted something a little bigger than "mini," plus I wanted them in a different shape configuration; wider and less tall. I have some 3½-inch diameter metal rings, originally bought for making English muffins, but to date, I still haven't made any that way! I have used the rings to make buns, keeping them in shape while they bake. This time it seemed they would be the ideal size for my appetizer cheesecakes. 

Rosemary, Brie & Goat Cheese Tarts with Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables

One thing I had trouble with was the crust. When I made the original recipe, I used all-purpose flour. This time I wanted to try out a gluten free option and something did not work quite properly. I had to add, and revise as I went along. My suggestion would be to use the original recipe, cut in half.

As for the filling for these savory cheesecakes, I altered the original recipe by using Brie, Chevre and cream cheeses, with some Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. This worked out just amazingly good. To top off these appetizers, I made some Oven Roasted Root Vegetables, making about half the amount, more or less. To make them work with the smaller size of Cheesecake, I cut all the vegetable pieces into ¼-inch cubes. The shallots were cut into chunks about the same size as the golden beet, butternut squash, parsnip, and red bell pepper (not a root veg, but added for color). In keeping with the rosemary theme, I added some rosemary to the original balsamic mixture.

Rosemary, Brie & Goat Cheese Tarts with Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables

Topped off with a rosemary sprig and a large caper berry, these were not only gorgeous, but they tasted as good as they looked. I served a NV Mionetto Prosecco Extra Dry, which paired wonderfully.

The crusts can be made ahead, formed and frozen. The cheesecakes can be made and baked 1 to 2 days ahead with no perceptible deterioration in quality.

Rosemary, Brie & Goat Cheese Tarts

Serves 6

CRUST:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅓ cup almond meal
½ cup +2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary

Cut all ingredients together, form into a ball, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough to slightly under a quarter-inch thickness. Whatever size diameter container you will use for baking the cheesecakes is the size you will need to cut out the tart bases. I used 3½-inch rings with no bottoms, using the ring to cut out the base. Set them onto a parchment lined tray or baking sheet and freeze until quite firm, covered well if leaving for more than an hour.

When ready to bake, set the same rings or the tart shells onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cut pieces of parchment that will line the wall of the ring and extend a bit above the top of the ring. Set the frozen crust inside the parchment. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 12 to 13 minutes, or until set and just starting to turn golden. Set aside to cool slightly. Leave oven on.

CHEESECAKE FILLING:
6 ounces Brie cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces Chevre cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces plain Greek yogurt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 pinches salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary
Pinch Aleppo pepper or other chili flakes, optional
½ teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper

Most small Brie rounds come in 8-ounce packages. I remove much of the outer coating of the Brie, leaving about 6 ounces, after trimming.

Using a hand mixer on low speed, beat together the Brie, Chevre, cream cheese and yogurt, just to combine. Add in the sugar, salt, rosemary Aleppo pepper and black pepper, then add in the eggs and yolks. Again, beat on low speed, for as little time as possible, just to make sure all ingredients are properly distributed.

Scoop equal portions of the Brie mixture into the pre-baked tart shells, lined with the parchment. The parchment will allow for easier removal later. Once filled, rap the baking sheet sharply onto a counter surface to eliminate any air bubbles from the filling. Bake the cheese tarts for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cheesecakes are mostly set, with just a tiny bit of jiggle in their centers. Set aside to cool. Once baked and cooled, they can be covered and refrigerated until needed, 1 to 2 days.

When serving, preheat oven to 350, uncover the cheesecakes and set the baking sheet in the oven to warm for about 10 minutes or less. If using the rings with no bottoms, use a spatula to lift the entire cheesecake with its ring onto a plate for serving, then lift off the ring and peel away and discard the parchment, leaving a clean outer edge. Top with any garnish desired, although the little cubed vegetables baked in the Balsamic mixture paired heavenly well.

Oven Roasted Root Vegetables

Makes 4.5 to 6 cups, depending on vegetable amounts.

Oven Roasted Root Vegetables

2 to 4 shallots, 3/4 to 1 cup depending on size, cut into small chunks
1¼ cups butternut squash, in ¼-inch dice
1 large parsnip, peeled, cut in ¼-inch dice
1 medium to large golden beet, cut in ¼-inch dice
1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice

DRESSING:
⅓ cup Balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, minced finely
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon Zahtar, optional
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Mix all dressing ingredients in a small saucepan to melt and meld flavors. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and add in all the prepped vegetables, then pour in the dressing. Stir well to coat, then bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until they can be easily pierced with the tip pf a knife. These can be made ahead and reheated just before using.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

And Yet Another Chutney to Add to the List

Nariyal Chutney or Coconut Chutney

Okay, technically this one isn't new in the sense that I already have one called Nariyal Chutney or Coconut Chutney. There is never only one way to make a dish!

At the time I first attempted making a coconut chutney, I was living in South Dakota. Having an Indian Grocery store (or even an Indian restaurant) was only a fond wish, the closest being in Sioux Falls, 3½ hours away. Yes, the local grocery did have "fresh" coconuts. Heaven only knew how fresh that may have been. I also had no desire to make a huge mess trying to open up a coconut and work at scraping the "meat" out. And so it happened that when I finally decided to give Coconut Chutney a try, I opted to use grated, dry, unsweetened coconut. 

To be clear, to date, I had not ever even LIKED coconut chutney. No matter where I had tried it, no matter how many times, it was always just bland and blah. And this is just ridiculous, because I LOVE coconut! 

I plowed ahead with making a chutney from the dry coconut, soaking it first in an effort to bring it back to some semblance of fresh. Not. Didn't happen. I read countless coconut chutney recipes before even starting to cobble together my own recipe, and while most said to use fresh coconut for best results, they also stated that dried could be used. 

My resulting chutney was okay. Maybe better than the ones I'd eaten in Indian restaurants, but still not something great. I figured that since at least it tasted better than anything I had eaten to date, that it was good enough to post in my blog. But. I hadn't gone back to try it again. It was uninspiring. I think, if ever I did go back and use dried coconut, I might alter a couple of things. For example, I only had a jalapeno pepper in the fridge at the time so that went in. And the chutney was greenish. Not an awful thing, for sure, though not at all like all the pretty photos of pristine white chutney I had seen online. Later on I read that using a thinner fleshed green chili pepper is wiser, as it adds less green color.

Nariyal (Coconut) Chutney II

Altogether, while that chutney was okay in a pinch, now, with an Indian grocery far more accessible, and with fresh grated coconut in the frozen section, I figured I might just have to rethink the whole idea.

Not too many changes . . .

Truly, once I got down to looking at the recipe I had originally created, and despite re-reading probably 15 or more different blogs on coconut chutney, I couldn't come up with much to change. The biggest change was fresh (albeit frozen) coconut. That alone would make a huge difference. The use of a small Serrano chili instead of a big, fleshy Jalapeno  also made a huge difference. Other changes were small, such as using a little more tamarind concentrate than previously. 

The one, possibly biggest difference was the use of shallot. While most coconut chutney recipes online use no onion or garlic, apparently the Keralan people generally do use onion, and sometimes garlic as well. They do use it raw, however, and raw onion is generally not so good for my stomach. I opted to saute the onion only until softened, about 5 minutes. This was just enough. 

These small changes, along with the main one of using frozen fresh coconut, made such a huge difference in the outcome of this coconut chutney. It was magnificent. Here were the flavors I was wishing for. This one is finally worth making. If you have access to fresh, or frozen fresh coconut, I highly suggest this recipe!

A Note on Tamarind

I do use tamarind in this chutney. Some recipes call for it, and some do not. Some prefer to use lemon or lime juice as a souring agent instead, but I am a big tamarind fan! I am finding that with store bought tamarind, the viscosity of each brand varies widely. I had been using "Swad" brand Tamarind concentrate, with a viscosity similar to what I make if starting out with fresh tamarind pods, soaking and working from there. Recently I bought a different brand at this huge Patel's grocery, and upon opening this "Ashoka" brand, it was very markedly thicker. Not as thick as the "Tamicon" brand paste (that is difficult to even dissolve, it is so pasty), but possibly double the thickness of the "Swad" brand. I used two teaspoons of this thicker "Ashoka" brand in this recipe. All three of these brands term the product to be "Tamarind Concentrate." 

Nariyal Chutney II

(Using Frozen Fresh Grated Coconut)

Nariyal or Coconut Chutney II

Makes about 1¼ cups

¾ cup fresh grated coconut, or frozen (thawed) fresh grated coconut
⅔ to ¾ cup warm water
1 Serrano or Thai chili (remove seeds for less heat)
2 - 3 thin slices fresh, peeled ginger
2 teaspoons tamarind puree/concentrate
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
2 teaspoons chana dal/Desi Chickpeas
1 very small shallot, or about 1 tablespoon, chopped

TEMPERING:
1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
⅛ teaspoon asafetida
2 dried red chilies, whole
8 - 10 fresh (or frozen fresh) curry leaves

Measure out the fresh grated coconut or the frozen and thawed fresh grated coconut and place in a blender container. Add in the warm water, starting with the smaller amount first, only adding more once your preferred consistency is determined, at end of mixing. Add in the chili, lightly chopped, whether without seeds, ginger slices, tamarind puree/concentrate and salt. Set aside.

Heat a small skillet and add in the oil to heat, then add the chana dal. Stirring constantly, toast the dal to a golden color, then add these to the blender container. In the same pan (adding more oil only if needed) saute the shallot for about 5 minutes, stirring, so as not to brown, and cook only until translucent and softened. Add the shallot to the blender and blend the mixture smooth. Pour into a bowl for serving.

For the Tempering, use the same small skillet and the tablespoon of neutral oil. Add in the mustard seeds and, stirring, once these begin to pop and splutter, add in the asafetida and stir for a few seconds until the lovely onion-like aroma is present. Add the dried whole red chilies and toss until they begin to puff and change color, then add the curry leaves and toss until their lovely aroma is apparent. Immediately pour this mixture over top of the chutney and serve. This chutney is great with any south Indian dish, and an absolute must with Idli or Dosa.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

A Couple of Chutnies

A couple of months or so ago, I made some Indian chutnies that were new; at least new to me. One, made with tomatoes, was one I had tried in a restaurant, though I was not impressed with its flavor. The other was a new style totally, being a savory mango chutney made with green mangoes. 

Here in the U.S., most grocery stores will not be carrying mangoes as green as what this mango chutney calls for, as the hope would be for the large pit to not yet have become hardened. I had to make do with mangoes that were green enough to be mostly hard, but nowhere near the greenness that would have made this chutney more authentic. Still, it was good enough. Can't complain.

And then the holidays hit.

Idli with Sambar and Chutnies

I completely forgot about these chutnies and they were sort of lost in the shuffle of things during that time of guests and frantic cooking activity. I had some of those two chutnies left, in the fridge, but I had yet to post the recipes here. And then I made Idli, to share with a visiting friend. These Idli, despite this being the very first time that the batter actually fermented and doubled overnight (which had me so ecstatic I had to run and share this event with my husband!) for some unknown reason just did not work well making the Idli. Instead of lovely little puffy pillows, the first batch came out flat and mostly melted into the steaming water! So I went from ecstasy to agony in less than half an hour. Eventually I got some to come out, though not my best efforts, to date!

It was with the Idli that I wanted to serve little bowls of different chutnies, and both these two chutnies were on the plate (shown in the photo above) - just not yet here on my blog. 

The Tomato Chutney, or Tamatar ki Chatni, is pretty simple to make. It has a few ingredients not in everyone's household, so be warned. Particularly now, with access to a great Indian grocery, I have the ability to keep things in stock. Things such as Urad Dal, Chana Dal, curry leaves, asafetida or even tamarind concentrate. I have been using Swad's brand of tamarind concentrate with great success (it can be found on Amazon, here). Tomatoes and shallots, the bulk of the recipe, are available in most any U.S. grocery. The Indian chili powder can be substituted with cayenne, as per your preference. 

Tamatar ki Chatni or Tomato Chutney

Tamatar ki Chatni

Tamatar ki Chatni or Tomato Chutney

(or Tomato Chutney)

Makes about 3 cups

1.5 lb tomatoes (600 grams)
12 oz shallots (342 grams)
2 - 3 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon cooking oil
½ teaspoon chana dal (Desi chickpeas)
½ teaspoon urad dal
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or use cayenne to your heat preference)
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate

TEMPERING:
1 tablespoon cooking oil
½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 dried red chili, whole
8 to 10 curry leaves
¼ teaspoon asafetida

Prepare the tomatoes: wash, then cut into chunks. Place them into a bowl and set aside. There should be about 3 cups of chopped tomatoes. Prepare the shallots and garlic: Chop the shallots and garlic and set aside separately from the tomatoes.

Prep vegetables  -  measure the urad and chana dal and fenugreek  -  toast the dals and seeds

Heat a large skillet and add in the first tablespoon of cooking oil. Once hot, add in the chana dal and urad dal and toast, stirring constantly, until deep golden in color, then add in the fenugreek seeds for a few seconds more. Add in all the shallots and garlic and saute until the shallots are tender, but not browned. 

shallots raw then cooked - tomatoes raw then cooked

Tempering Ingredients

Add to the skillet the chopped tomatoes with the Kashmiri chili powder (or a pinch or two of cayenne), the sugar and tamarind concentrate. Lower heat slightly and cover, cooking until the tomatoes have completely broken down, about 12 minutes. Once cooked down, pour the contents of the skillet into a blender container and blend smooth. Pour into a bowl for serving.

Now prepare the "tempering" ingredients (tempering is nothing more than flavoring ingredients added in last, and whole): Heat a small skillet to very hot. Add in the tablespoon of cooking oil, then the mustard seeds. Cook until the seeds begin to pop, then add in the remaining ingredients all at once, stirring quickly, just until fragrant. Pour the tempering ingredients over top of the chutney to serve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On to the Mangoes

For the Mango recipe, firstly, the recipe is Tamil and this is technically called a "pickle." I have yet to truly understand what the difference is between a chutney and a pickle, in most cases. This South Indian recipe is termed "pickle" or Thokku.

Green Mango Thokku or Pickle

The fact that my mangoes were green and hard did not mean that it translated to green inside, so my "pickle" is still bright mango colored. It is strange to eat, as it is likely sweeter than it should be, were it truly made with green mangoes, but is not sweetened. I like the flavor. The recipe does have just a little heat. More can be added, to taste, or left out, as needed.

Green Mango Thokku

Green Mango Thokku or Green Mango Pickle

(or Green Mango Pickle)

Makes almost 2 cups

2 green, unripe mangoes
2 - 3 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder, to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon brown sugar 

TEMPERING:
1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
6 curry leaves, lightly chopped
½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- pinch asafetida

Peel the mangoes and grate finely, then set aside.

Heat the tablespoon of oil in a skillet and cook the mustard and fenugreek until the seeds begin to splutter. Turn out into a mortar and crush the seeds. Set aside. 

In the same skillet, adding more oil if needed, pour in the grated mango, chili powder and salt. Stir in the pounded seeds and the sugar. Stir well and cook for just a few minutes until the mixture loses some moisture and thickens. Turn out to a bowl for serving. 


Tempering: In a separate skillet, heat the 2nd tablespoon of oil and add in the curry leaves, brown mustard seeds and asafetida. Cook, stirring, until the seeds begin to splutter, then pour over the mango mixture and serve. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.