Lunar New Year: Taro Cake Recipe

Remember I shared my crab cake recipe as a party food idea for the Super Bowl? Well, I developed a vegetarian version for my husband Lulu as well. I mixed shredded taro roots and rice and added green peas for extra color. Visually, they looked pretty similar to crab cakes, and their texture resembled the "real thing" too. The only difference, which you probably already guessed is the taste. But Lulu doesn't like crab, so that's a good thing!

Check back this entire week for my vegetarian dishes in preparation of Tết, the Asian New Year celebration.

Chocolate Ganache Tart (Halloween Ghost Dessert)

The girls have reached the end of the first quarter, so their school gave them a day off. With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would be fun for all of us to work on ideas for spooky desserts that they'll be able to share with their friends. It didn't take a lot of arm twisting to convince them!

I decided that we should make a simple chocolate tart and decorate it with ghosts. The tart shell is a shortbread crust that I topped with a semi-sweet chocolate ganache. To enhance the flavor of the chocolate, I added a little coffee. I let the girls pipe the top with vanilla buttercream frosting and create faces using chocolate sprinkles. As an added bonus, this dessert is egg and nut-free. We'll make smaller versions at the end of the month for when they share them with friends.

Potato Cutlet Recipe (Indian Snack)

Aloo cutlets are pancake-shaped snacks made of potato (aloo means "potato" in Urdu). Indian cooking rarely uses eggs as a binder so to make sure the patties don't break, soaked bread is added to the potato mixture. It's an easy vegetarian snack that satisfies my family's cravings. To make the cutlets a more complete meal, I added protein-packed chana dal (garbanzo lentils). I flavored these appetizers with a little ginger, turmeric and amchur (mango powder) to balance the flavor of the cutlets.

We often make a huge batch of cutlets on Saturday mornings with the girls. They’ve gotten so good that they pretty much do it on their own. Once they’re done cooking, we usually just serve them with a bowl of sour cream. Yum!

Plum Crumble Recipe (Oatmeal Crisp)

Fruit crumble is my go-to recipe whenever I want to make an eggless dessert. The preparation is quite easy; it consists of mixing flour, sugar and cold butter into crumbs. To add more body to this version of the crumble, I adjusted the quantities and blended oatmeal into the mixture.

As for the fruit, I used black plums. Unfortunately, we already harvested all the plums from the garden a few weeks ago for the hazelnut plum pie. Luckily, I was able to find the same kind of plums at the farmers' market that were just as delicious. I peeled the plums, seared them in butter and sugar and finished them with a dust of flour. The fruit was then covered with the crumble mixture and baked until golden and crisp.

Don't forget to enter our third (and last) giveaway! The first two randomly selected winners are Natalie Fong and Hannah Nguyen. Congrats!

Nuts About Granola Giveaway Entry Form:

Pham Fatale Giveaway Terms and Conditions: No purchase necessary. All prizes are generously donated by the company featured. Winners will be chosen at random, and odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Pham Fatale is not responsible for late, lost, stolen, illegible or incomplete entries which will be disqualified. US Residents only please. Only one entry per person per giveaway. Prizes are not refundable or returnable. Giveaway terms subject to change.

Savory Cheesecake Appetizer Recipe

Lulu's aunt, Nikhat Auntie, sent us a jar of delicious homemade mango chutney. I couldn't resist experimenting with it. From past culinary concoctions, I've found that mango chutney pairs wonderfully with goat cheese. It made sense to mix both flavors in a savory cheesecake.

I dressed them in mini molds and served them as appetizers. I used shortbread cookie for the crust and also added pomegranate to play with the sweet, savory and tart flavors of the cheesecake.

It was a hit! These appetizers can be prepared in advance, plus they don't require any baking time, meaning I'll be making them quite often. That is, if Lulu's aunt sends me some more of her amazing chutney!