Tandoori Spice: What Is It and How Do I Use It?

A popular spice used to flavor such Indian dishes as Tandoori Chicken, Tandoori Shrimp, Tandoori Fish, Chicken Tikka, Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Kebabs and Seekh Kebabs, tandoori spice is actually a combination of spices.  The mix varies, depending on who made it, but it most likely includes cardamom, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, garlic powder, ginger, paprika, turmeric and perhaps a pinch of saffron.  It is dark orange in color and packs quite a taste wallop.  But it’s not burning to the tongue unless it’s overloaded with cayenne pepper.

 If you like your food richly flavored,

Finding a Vegetarian Main Dish Everyone Likes

Some mealtimes I welcome the opportunity to make a vegetarian dish the whole family will eat and not cry out, “Where’s the meat?”  Other times I seem to develop brain freeze and can’t think beyond Greek Salad.

That was my state of mind yesterday, and then I remembered lentils.  “We all like lentils,” I said to myself while hunting for the lentil and potato dish recipe my friend Gloria once served us.  Eventually it turned up as a marker in one of my cookbooks—in the two-page lentil section.  Luckily I had all the ingredients.

How Many Ways Are There to Eat Chocolate?

Too many.  The easiest, of course, are chocolate bars and handfuls of chocolate chips, but that generally won’t work if you’re serving anyone but yourself.  Fudge can be a good choice, but that often involves a candy thermometer.  I have had numerous disasters with this “helpful” kitchen tool.

Then I discovered Fudge Pie.

Mom Money-Saving Tip 98

Here’s how to recycle leftover mashed potatoes:

* Add them to soup as a thickener

* Use them as an ingredient in Clover Leaf Potato Rolls  - click for recipe!

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Question for Mom

Someone told me that if you use a glass pie pan instead of a metal one, you have to lower the oven temperature when you’re baking a pie. Is that true? –Shannon K.

Yes, it’s a good idea to bake the pie at a slightly lower temperature.  Glass conducts heat more evenly and stays hot once it has reached oven temperature.  So keeping the oven 25 degrees lower than the recipe calls for is a good idea. But if you forget to adjust the temperature, your pie will most likely come out fine.  Just keep an eye on it during the last few minutes of baking so that the crust doesn’t get too brown.

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How Much Meat Is Too Much?

I remember the rare occasions when my family would eat out.  If we were traveling, my father would always pull up to a Howard Johnson’s and order Veal Parmesan.  It was almost like he was a taste-tester, going from restaurant to restaurant, making sure the food was identical.

When we were at home, though, he switched his eating-out preference to Roast Prime Rib of Beef. That’s a cut of meat we all loved, and on those rare occasions when we ate out that’s what we all ordered. 

Looking back, I can’t believe how much meat arrived on my plate and how little remained when the wait staff took my plate away.  Today 1 slice of prime rib would probably serve 4 people at my house.

Peas in a Summer Salad?

Salads often feature the color green, be it lettuce, cucumber, arugula, kale, fresh spinach or bell pepper.  Here’s another green vegetable to add: peas. 

I toss frozen peas into numerous rice dishes, mostly for a bit of color.  But I never considered them to be the basis for a salad until my neighbor Mary brought her Summer Pea Salad over for a recent barbecue.

Mom Cooking Tip 150

Here’s a new use for Boursin, the soft, flavored cheese that people love to spread on crackers.  I had about 1-2 tablespoons left from a dinner party.  Instead of gobbling it down, I mixed the leftover Boursin into a pasta sauce, where it provided extra creaminess and a delicate flavor.
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Seriously Chocolate Brownies

I love going to potluck brunches because there’s always a chance I will discover something new and delicious. That’s how I came across a brownie recipe that has a deeper chocolate flavor than any I’ve tasted before.  My friend Rhea brought the whole pan of brownies to share, and she took very few of them home with her.