Speculoos Spread Cookie Tartlet Recipe

I recently received a jar of speculoos spread from a company called Tamarin. I first saw these new speculoos "pâte a tartiner" jars during my last trip to Paris. Our family loves Nutella and peanut butter, so I couldn't wait to develop a new dessert around this product. The thick spread is based on speculoos, which are specialty shortcrust cookies that originally were baked traditionally for consumption on St. Nicholas' Eve. They originated from the North of France and Belgium (also known as "speculaas" in Dutch) and often are shaped with an image stamp depicting the story of St. Nicholas. The main spices for the thin, crunchy, slightly brown cookie are cinnamon, cloves, ground ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and white pepper. The cookies are so delicious that they're available year 'round in France.

I made a cookie dough using the same spices as for speculoos cookies but instead of making shortcrust, I used it as a base and created a cookie tartlet. As soon as the shells come out from the oven, I pressed the center of the cookie to create a cavity so I could insert a creamy spread of speculoos inside. The result was fantastic. I’ll play around with the product more and post additional recipes, so stay tuned. Thanks, Tamarin!

Hoisin-Glazed Roasted Sea Bass Recipe

We hosted a dinner party this evening. I served a surf and turf main dish composed of a steak and sea bass. I really wanted to find a decadent, over the top kind of fish for this special evening. Sea bass seemed like the perfect choice; it's a lean fish with a meaty texture and a rich, buttery taste. I glazed the fish with hoisin and miso. The firm white fish pairs very well with the sweet and salty glaze. I quickly seared the fish on top of the stove to create a caramelized crust around the fish and finished roasting it in the oven.

This dish took me down memory lane, back to when Lulu and I were preparing for our wedding reception. I remember this particular hoisin glaze was one of the options we selected.

Taro Root Korma Recipe

Taro korma is an Indian vegetable curry. The spicy gravy contains fried onion paste and yogurt and is flavored with ginger-garlic paste as well as several Indian spices. Taro pieces are fried till crispy, and then finish cooking in the curry paste. Taro is a very starchy ingredient that makes the gravy a lot thicker and denser when added.

Kormas can be either vegetarian or "non-veg" with any assortment of vegetables, fried cheese such as paneer, or meat such as goat korma. I came up with this dish for a very simple reason: there was a basket full of taro waiting to be cooked!  Taro root usually doesn’t keep for more than a week, and it will turn sour when it's mixed and stored in the freezer. Buy it close to when you’re ready to cook, and enjoy it. It’s definitely worth the effort.

Gougere Recipe (Savory Cream Puff Appetizers)

Gougères are savory choux pastry (pâte à choux salé in French) appetizers made with cheese. For this version, I made a light pastry dough with Parmesan and Triple Cream cheeses, baked them to form hollow puffed balls and filled them with pistachio pesto flavored cream cheese, mushrooms and red bell peppers.

We hosted a dinner party this evening and these cute little bites were perfect finger foods. Next time you host a cocktail party or buffet, you might want to prepare savory cream puffs. They can be prepared in advance and assembled at the last minute. Enjoy!

How to Make Sesame Chutney (Til Chutney Recipe)

Sesame chutney (til chutney in Urdu) is one of many Indian chutneys that we make regularly at home. First, sesame seeds are ground into a fine powder. Then, freshly grated coconut, spices and water are added to create a thick paste. The coconut is what gives the sauce a rich mouth-feel. The condiment can be served with rice dishes, idlis or dosas (enormous, thin, crisp, Indian-style crêpes).

Dosas are my husband Lulu’s favorite Indian food, and the reason I haven't posted a dosa recipe yet is that I haven’t been able to successfully make them on my own. Pali appa (Lulu's aunt), who lives in Oakland, comes to visit us from time to time and makes the best dosas from scratch. She taught us how to grind urad dal and rice and let the mixture ferment. On the several occasions when we've made the recipe with her, the dosas were wonderfully delicious. However, on my own, I've failed miserably so far. Will post a detailed recipe once I succeed. Stay tuned!