10th Meeting

We welcomed Hetal to this exchange and said goodbye to Vaishali Shah. VS has a lot on her plate (you like that?! Haha) and decided her time and attention was much needed to her graduate studies. We totally understand. Maybe one day, when life slows down (ha!) she can join us again.

The theme to this month’s exchange was Southern Cooking. And boy would we have made Paula Dean proud. We had Chicken pot pie, Fired chicken, veggie crab cakes, veggie chili, and a pecan pie. And yes, we ate everything. The two vegetarians (from now on will be knows as Chicks - Parul and Jalpa – for liking chicks not eating them) skipped the two chicken dishes. Everything was either deep fried or involved lots of cream or butter.

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9th Meeting

We had our last gathering at Miya’s Sushi house in New Haven. Vaishali D. and I had joked that reading the menu was like reading a book. The menu was so long that it felt a little intimidating. It was my first real sushi experience; I’ve had vegetarian sushi before but I always felt like I was cheating. It would be like going to an Indian restaurant and asking them for a spoon for your curry. You have your hands, duh! Okay- that’s a stretch but you get the idea. Back to the story…  Vaishali Shah has had almost every type of sushi available. Nishal and Vaishali D. have had the more popular kinds. Parul and Jalpa, our group vegetarian have had vegetable sushi. Thank god we made reservations because that place is bumpin’. There was barely any room to stand. A good sign of a good restaurant is where the restaurant is so full that you have to wait outside because there is no bar you can wait at. We asked our waiter to help us with the non-veg sushi. He made his recommendation and we ordered some sushi.

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Mojito

Ingredients
Ice 6 ounces
 light rum
12 mint sprigs,
8 roughly broken apart
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 tablespoons of sugar syrup
Club soda
4 slices lime

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Broccoli & Cheddar Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 cup carrots (julienned)
1/2 pound fresh broccolli
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

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Asian Lettuce Wraps

Asian Lettuce Wraps:
The only thing missing from this recipe was a topping of crunchy noodles or peanuts. You can also ditch the lettuce and serve over rice for a more filling meal.

Ingredients
•16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves (any lettuce works)
•1 pound lean ground beef*
•1 tablespoon cooking oil
•1 large onion, chopped
•2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
•1 tablespoon soy sauce
•1/4 cup hoisin sauce (Less for vegetarian version)
•2 teaspoons minced pickled ginger
•1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
•Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)- sriracha sauce is great! Add as much or as little as you like.
•1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
•1 bunch green onions, chopped
•2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
•4 scrambled eggs (optional)

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8th Meeting

September 25, 2011

Our 8th exchange was at Nishal's house in Trumbull, CT.. the theme was Soups and Salads! While Nishal's house isn't tucked away, this town sure is tucked away in Connecticut. Similar to Jalpa's house, the drive for couple of the girls was certainly adventurous to say the least. With drives like these, you get a nice glimpse New England. The lovely host had yummy mojitos prepared for us when we arrived. These were definitely needed today - we were all expecting rain per the weather people. Turned out to be a warm-mostly cloudy day... perfect for our lunch outside on Nishal's deck. Since the theme was soups and salads, all of the girls decided to pick something they'd never made before...which can be a daunting task, especially when us girls tend to reach for the same-ole-same-old when it comes to soups and salads. Parul made delicious "lettuce wraps"; Jalpa made a tangy-spicy "Tom Yum" soup; Vaishali made a soulful "brocolli chedder" soup; and Nishal hosted with delicious mojitos, crispy-flaky bread, and perfectly-moist chocolate cake! Amisha and Vaishali Shah couldn't make the exchange today - we missed you! Amisha just gave birth to the cutest little gem, Veer Anand - so she had to host some people at her. Vaishali Shah had a birthday party come up that she had to attend.

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Tom Yum soup (Thai hot and sour soup)

If you love tangy, spicy, hot goodness in a soup, you'll love this soup! Especially on a cold day.

Ingredients:
- 1/4 yellow or white onion chopped into thin rings
- 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1-2 inches of galangal (Thai ginger), cut into thin "match sticks", grated, or minced
- 3-4 basil leaves roughly chopped
- 4 green chillies halved
- 2-3 tablespoons red pepper flakes [ground red pepper (1-2 teaspoons) works just as well]
- olive oil
- diced tomatoes (3-4 big tomatoes)
- chopped broccoli
- sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 - 1 cup small cubes of firm tofu
- vegetable stock (4-6 cups)
- 4-5 kaffir leaves
- salt to taste
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1-2 lemongrass stalks (size of 1 popsicle stick)
- 8-10 spoons of lemon or lime juice
- 4-5 sprigs cilantro roughly chopped

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