Recipes

From J.

She calls it pumpkin - it's butternut squash (long story on J.'s blog)

Ma's Curried Pumpkin
1 tblsp (approx) vegetable or olive oil
1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, minced
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped fine (this is a pain - I never cut mine as fine as Ma does)
1/8 tsp or less cayenne pepper - remember, you can always add more, but you can't take it out.
1 tblsp regular sugar
1 tsp good curry powder

Heat oil over medium-low heat in a pan. I use a wide bottomed pan, not a very deep one. Add cumin seeds, garlic, and onion. Sautee until onion browns. Don't rush.

Add remaining ingredients, mix well, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until squah is soft. Smash ingredients together with a fork or a potato masher. Simmer until ready to eat. Serve warm.

We like to eat this with rice, Roti (Naan), daal, and curried lamb. If you're a vegetarian, omit the lamb, and serve more of the veggies. Boy, it's yummy. Good luck.

And from Autumn's Meadow

Turkish Spinach

Yield: 1 casserole
1 1/4 lb Ground beef
2/3 Stick butter
1 c Diced onions
4 10 oz. boxes of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 cn 28 oz. Progresso Crushed Tomatoes with added puree (or sauce or Rotel's okay)
1 tsp (rounded) salt
1/2 c Water
1/2 c Rice
1/4 c Water

Start by putting the 1/2 cup of rice in the 1/4 cup of water. In a one cup measure, this should bring it up to the 3/4 cup mark.

In a large spaghetti pot, brown the meat in its own fat. Remove the meat and pour off the fat. In that same pot, melt the butter and lightly brown the onions. When done, add the cooked meat.

Add the spinach. Add the tomato sauce, salt, water, and the water and rice that has been soaking. Mix thoroughly, and then cover and let simmer on a low flame for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. If needed, keep juicy by adding a little water or tomato juice.

Serve with yogurt or sour cream and some French bread. As with other casseroles, it tastes better on the second day.


Thanks to both of you.