Spicy Chex Mix

My son likes to make spicy chex mix as Christmas gifts for family and friends. He first made it for an assignment for his middle school family & consumer science course. Since it is one of his favorites, my daughter has baked it to send to her brother in a college care package.

Food Timeline

When my son was in 5^th grade, we checked the website http://www.foodtimeline.org/ to get a snack idea for the traditional 5^th grade 50s party. We learned that the chex mix recipe originated in this period and sent in our version as a treat. We used the same site to find a recipe for my daughter’s Brownie Girl Scout decade meal potluck. Since Bisquick appeared in the 1930s, we made cheeseburger pie as our contribution. This helped my daughter earn her Brownie Girl Scouts through the Years Try-It. You can find the recipe at http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-cheeseburger-pie/8c78aa78-c368-40fa-8a88-1654640c7525. Of course, this was before my daughter became a vegetarian.

Our Version

Our recipe is based on one we found in a make your own Christmas gifts book. Be careful. Depending on your peppers, it can be pretty spicy. We usually make two batches at a time since it does not last long in our house.  Sometimes we substitute Wheat Chex and/or Crispix for the Corn and Rice Chex and Cheez-Its for the Goldfish crackers. For a special treat, we replace some or all of the peanuts with cashews. My son adds extra cayenne pepper for a fiery version. For a school fundraiser, our recipe was published in A Taste of Norcross High School: Healthy Lifestyle 2010 Edition.

Ingredients

3	Tbsp	Butter, melted
3	Tbsp	Margarine, melted
2	Tsp	Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning
½	Tsp	Oregano, dried
1	Tsp	Cumin, powdered
½	Tsp	Salt
2	Cloves	Garlic
1/3	Cup	Pickled jalapeño pepper slices, drained
3	Cups	Corn Chex cereal
3	Cups	Rice Chex cereal
3	Cups	Goldfish snack crackers
2	Cups	Peanuts, salted dry roasted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250°.
2.  Place nuts, crackers, and cereal in a large roasting pan.
3. Using a hand-head blender, blend jalapeño pepper slices, garlic, melted butter, melted margarine, and spices.
4. Slowly, pour spice mixture over cereal mixture. Toss gently with rubber spatula until well coated.
5.  Bake 1¼ hours, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. Spread on towels to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Three Ways to Cook Rice

Rice

Since both your dad and I ate a lot of rice when we were growing up, rice is a staple in our kitchen. Your Indian grandparents served your dad rice and dal (e.g., lentils) many times a week. I loved red bean and rice Mondays even when the school cafeteria served it for lunch and Grandma cooked them for dinner. When I went to college at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, rice and brown gravy were available in the school cafeteria every day at lunch and dinner. When your uncle went to the University of Colorado at Boulder, potatoes were more common and rice was served only a couple of times a semester.

We usually have both jasmine and basmati rice at home. We use jasmine as our every day rice and use basmati for biryani, jambalaya, and pilaf. Some of the brands of jasmine rice we use are Super Lucky Elephant, Golden Star, and Three Dragons. I buy jasmine rice at HMart, Sam’s or Costco in large bags of 15 or more pounds and pay less than $1 per pound. I store the extra in a large Tupperware container or empty plastic ice cream buckets. Royal Basmati is one brand of basmati rice we like. I buy basmati rice at either an Indian grocery, Sam’s or Costco.

The key to cooking rice is using the right proportion of water to rice. I find that 1 cup rice to 2 cups water works well for jasmine rice. For basmati, I use 1 cup rice to 2 1/2 cups water. Depending on the rice, you might need to vary these amounts, but I find these ratios work fairly consistently.

When I was growing up, your grandma boiled rice in salted water and drained it in a colander. I prefer to cook it either in a rice cooker, a pot, or pressure cooker. I usually cook 1 ½ - 2 cups of rice at a time for the four of us. This is usually more than enough for a meal, and the extra rice can be used for another dish

Rice Cooker

My first choice for cooking rice is using a rice cooker. I use a vintage Hitachi rice cooker I bought at a thrift store. It is so easy that my son has been making rice since he was eight. You put the rice and water in the cooker and switch it on. When it dings signifying the rice is ready, switch it off and wait at least 5 minutes before serving. Our rice cooker has a keep warm setting, but I prefer not to use it because I find it dries out the rice.

Pot with Lid

I use a 3 quart Revere Ware stainless steel pot with a lid to cook 1 ½ - 2 cups rice. Put the rice and water in pot, bring to a boil. When boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 11 minutes. Turn off heat and wait 5 minutes before serving.

FYI, I just found out that you can order Revere Ware replacement parts at www.reverewareparts.com

Pressure Cooker

A pressure cooker is good for cooking rice if you want it to stay warm for a while before eating it. Put bottom steam tray in cooker, add water to cover steam tray, put pan with rice and water in cooker. If desired, you can add a second pan on top of the rice pan to heat beans or vegetables while your rice cooks. Put lid and weight on cooker. Heat on high until reaching pressure when cooker whistles and weight rocks. Reduce heat to medium high and cook for 5 minutes. Allow pressure cooker to cool before opening.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

This is one of my family’s favorite birthday treats. My son loves this cake. I made it as his birthday treat for his class from kindergarten through high school. I usually send in 1½ cakes for his class of 24 students. This is enough for a nice serving for everybody and some extra for the teacher.  I also made it to celebrate my daughter’s first birthday and recently made it for her 18^th.

I copied the original recipe for “Monster Cookies” from a magazine, possibly Southern Living, when I was in college. You can omit the nuts and increase the chocolate chips to 2 cups.  For variety, substitute white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips, and use different nuts. White chocolate chips with pecans works well.

For a home party, you can serve the cake directly from the pizza pan, using a serrated bread knife to cut it. If you need remove the cake from the pizza pan, I recommend cutting a round piece of parchment paper the size of the pan. Put this parchment on top of the greased and floured pan bottom and grease and flour it also. When the cake is taken out of the oven, run a knife around the edge to loosen it. When cool, carefully invert cake onto flat surface (e.g., cookie sheet.). When sending the cake to school, I put the cake on a piece cardboard covered with aluminum foil. I then like to put this into a flat cardboard box from Sam’s or Costco. When the cake is finished, the cardboard can be thrown away. I send a large plastic serrated knife to cut the cake. 

Ingredients

½	cup	butter or margarine, softened
1	cup	brown sugar, packed
½	cup	sugar
2		eggs
2 ¼	cup	all purpose flour
1	tsp.	baking soda
½	tsp.	salt
1	tsp.	vanilla
1 ½	cup	semi sweet chocolate chips
¾	cup	nuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 14-inch deep-dish pizza pan. If not planning to serve the cake from the pizza pan, cover bottom with parchment circle and grease and flour it also.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream butter in an electric mixer.  Gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until blended.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts by hand.
5. Spoon batter into pizza pan. The dough is sticky so flour the top and press with your hands until the pizza pan bottom is evenly covered.  Alternatively use a floured pastry roller (small hand held rolling pin) to spread the batter (i.e., this works really well). Bake 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pan. Then loosen edges and carefully remove. Brush extra flour off cake using a pastry brush. Decorate with frosting

Cuban Vegetarian Black Beans Using Pressure Cooker

Beans

Since my kids are vegetarians, we eat lots of beans. Some of our favorites are these black beans, New Orleans red beans, lentils, and chickpeas. I use a pressure cooker for the basic bean cooking and then finish the dish in a large pot.

Pressure Cooking

Your dad introduced me to pressure cookers. They are widely used in India because they cook foods fast, saving fuel costs. Besides beans, I use ours to cook potatoes, rice, and heat leftovers. They are great for cooking artichokes. Since the artichoke is ready after 5 minutes at pressure instead of the 45 minutes it takes to boil them.

Many people are afraid of pressure cookers because they fear the cookers will explode. I have not had this problem. However, I did melt an aluminum pressure cooker onto an electric stove element. Luckily, your dad was around and was able to replace the element. The melting occurred because I let the pressure cooker run out of water. Before I noticed the problem, I smelled rubber burning. Now, I make sure to use enough water, check the gasket is in good condition, watch and listen for steam escaping, and pay attention to smells while I cook. I have not had a problem with either my second aluminum cooker or a new stainless steel one.

My Bean Method

Sort, wash and soak one pound of dried beans (approximately 2 cups) in water over night or for 6-8 hours. If you are in a hurry, you can boil the beans for 10 minutes in a large pot and leave them to sit for 10 minutes before proceeding. Make sure to sort the beans looking for rocks, dirt, and bad beans. Because of their size, I find more rocks and/or dirt clumps with black beans than other beans.

I cook the beans in two batches in a 1 ½ pan inside my 4 quart cooker on top of the steam tray. I prefer this method because I had problems with bean scum clogging the vent holes and making a mess when cooking beans directly in the cooker. If I had a larger pan and cooker, I could probably cook the beans in one batch. The 1 ½ pan I use is a pot that lost its handle, although it looks like a straight sided dog food dish.

When you are ready to cook, drain the soaking water and rinse beans again. First, put the steam tray (e.g., cooking rack with holes) in the bottom of the cooker. Add water in cooker until it slightly covers the steam tray. Put ½ of the beans in the pan, generously cover with water, and place the pan in pressure cooker on top of tray. Put on cooker lid and weight. Cook on high until it comes to pressure, steam escaping and weight rattling. Reduce heat to medium high and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, and let sit until cool. After the beans cool, I drain the bean liquid and use this liquid to cook a second batch.

Cuban Black Beans

When your dad finds a recipe he likes, he writes it out by hand. We liked the black bean recipe he found, and this version is based on it. The original recipe called for Mojo criollo; I use red wine vinegar or lime juice instead. I also added fresh hot peppers and dried cayenne pepper to the original recipe.

Ingredients

1	Lb.	Black beans, dried
2-3	Medium-Large	Yellow onions, chopped
1	Large	Bell pepper
2-3		Hot peppers, serrano or jalapeño, finely chopped
4-5	Cloves	Garlic, peeled and smashed in garlic press
2-3	Tbsp	Mojo criollo, red wine vinegar, or lime juice
2	Tsp	Cumin, ground
2	Tbsp	Olive oil
1	Tbsp	Salt
¼-½	Tsp	Cayenne pepper, ground
2		Bay Leaves

2

Tbsp

Cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions

1. Cook beans as described above or using your favorite method. 
2. Heat oil in large pan. Add onions and bell pepper and fry until onions are translucent.
3. Add garlic and hot peppers and fry 30 seconds.
4. Add beans and cooking liquid. Bring to a boil.
5. Add cumin, cayenne, bay leaves, and salt. Reduce heat to simmer and cook about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
6. Optional to make beans thick and creamy, using a hand held immersion blender, blend a small amount of the beans.
7. Before serving, discard bay leaves and top with chopped cilantro leaves.

Public Service Banana Bread

Public Service

Paw-Paw worked for over 30 years for New Orleans Public Service, NOPSI, a division of Middle South Utilities System, now Entergy. When I was young, my dermatologist was located in a building near the NOPSI office. Grandma would drop me off at the medical offices, and Paw-Paw would meet me and take me to the doctor. After my appointment, Paw-Paw and I would walk back to NOPSI office on Baronne Street. I would sit in the lobby until he finished his work day. In the lobby, I watched people pay their utility bills and browsed through the rack of recipes provided by the extension service.

When I rented my first apartment as a graduate student, I asked Dad to pick up a set of NOPSI recipes for me. I assembled the 75+ sheets he picked up for me into a binder as my first cookbook.  The banana recipe sheet had about 15 recipes including banana bread, banana pudding, banana cake, and bananas foster

My Variations

To keep cost down, I use ½ stick of butter and ½ stick of margarine. Additionally, I use half white and half wheat flour. This is a great way to use up ripe bananas that you can buy inexpensively by the bag. I like pecans in this recipe, and your dad prefers walnuts. You like it when I substitute chocolate chips for the nuts or add ½ cup of chocolate chips.

Ingredients

¼	Cup	Butter (½ stick or 4 Tbsp)
¼	Cup	Margarine (½ stick or 4 Tbsp)
1	Cups	Sugar
1	Cups	Mashed ripe bananas (2 large or 3 small)
1	Tsp	Lemon juice
1	Tsp	Baking soda
2	Tbsp	Boiling water
2		Eggs, slightly beaten
½	Cup	Chopped nuts
½	Cup	Chocolate chips, optional
1	Cup	Wheat flour
1	Cup	White flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a loaf pan. (I use a Pyrex bread pan.)
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add bananas and lemon juice and blend well.
3. In a tea cup, add boiling water to soda. Add to creamed mixture. Mix well.
4.  Add eggs and mix well.
5.  Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing well.
6.  Add nuts or chocolate chips, if desired. Mix well with a spatula by hand.
7.  Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour until toothpick inserted in bread comes out clean. If not done, bake for an additional 5 minutes and check again. Repeat until done.
8. Cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan. (I run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing the bread or use a spatula to loosen the bread before removing.)

Yellow Potatoes/ Potato Bhaji/Indian Ginger Potatoes

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Since my kids were little, this has been one of their favorites. I usually refer to the dish as yellow potatoes, but their dad calls it potato bhaji. He uses bhaji to mean an Indian vegetable.

This is the first Indian dish I learned to cook. My in-laws, my kids' Aji and Azobar (i.e., Indian grandmother and grandfather) taught me how to make it when they visited from India in 1988. Since it was the only Indian dish I cooked then, I used to bring these potatoes when my husband and I went to the Research Triangle Park Maharastra Mandal's functions.

UGA Taste of Home 201

In the summer of 2011, my son learned to cook this dish and typed up the included recipe. I entered the recipe in UGA's Taste of Home competition. Selected entries are made in the university's dining halls. Our winning recipe was served at dinner in Snelling Commons on December 1, 2011, taste-of-home/snelling-2011. Unfortunately due to a schedule conflict, my son did not get to try the school’s Indian Ginger Potatoes. I wonder how UGA’s version compares to ours. We enjoyed receiving a commemorative plate and copy of UGA’s recipe that makes 8600 serving as a prize.

Boil Potatoes

Potatoes are a staple in our house. You should be able to buy potatoes for 50¢ a pound. If you watch sales or shop at Aldi, you can get them for 30¢ a pound.

Select potatoes that are similar in size, so they will be ready at the same time. Wash them in water and scrub with a vegetable brush. Place them in a pot and cover with salted water, about 1 Tbsp in a 4 quart pot. Boil covered for 25-40 minutes until they feel tender when pricked with a fork. I drain them by carefully holding the pot and lid and pouring the water down the sink. Then I let the potatoes cool uncovered in the pot. If you want peeled potatoes, it is easier to peel them while they are still warm.

I usually cook as many potatoes as will fit in a single layer in the pot at a time. Extras can be used for other meals or eaten as a snack.

Ingredients

2	Tbsps	Vegetable oil
1	Medium	Onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 - 1		Hot green pepper, finely chopped
	1-inch	Piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/4	Tsp	Turmeric
1/8	Tsp	Asafoetida, optional
4	Medium	Potatoes, (adult fist sized), boiled, peeled, and cut into 1 inch cubes
1-1 1/2	Tsps	Salt
1/4	Tsp	Ground red or cayenne pepper
1/8	Cup	Water
2	Tbsps	Cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil on high. Add onions, hot pepper, and ginger; and cook about 3 minutes until onions start to brown.
2. Add turmeric and asafoetida to pan, and cook 1 minute.
3. Turn heat to medium low. Add potatoes, salt, red pepper, and water. Cover and cook about 10 minutes until potatoes are hot. Check after 5 minutes. Add more water, if needed, to prevent sticking.
4. Serve topped with chopped cilantro leaves.

Hi kids

This blog is for you. Ten years ago as a wedding present for your aunt, I collected some of our favorite recipes in a Kelkar Family cookbook. I included family memories and tips as well as recipes. I planned to give you an expanded version when you went off to college or rented your own apartments. Instead I am posting our recipes here, so you can access them wherever you are and share them with friends. Relatives and others are welcome to read and cook along. Since you both will be away at college next year, I am going to miss cooking for you.

I have tried to check the recipes to make sure they are clear. If you have any problems, please let me know so I can update them as needed.

About me

My name is Erin Kelkar. I have a son who will graduate from UGA with an accounting degree in May and start work on a masters in the fall. My daughter graduates from high school this year and is waiting to hear from a few schools before deciding where to enroll this fall.

I grew up in New Orleans and met my Indian husband while we were both studying computer science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. I have enjoyed learning to cook Indian dishes during our twenty-five years marriage.

I am an avid cook. It is not unusual for me to spend Sunday cooking a big breakfast, a hot lunch, and dinner. Many family photos show me in my favorite spot, standing in the kitchen between the stove and sink.

Since both my kids are vegetarian, I cook lots of beans, grains, and veggies. I enjoy making bread and cook mostly from scratch. We grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs in our home garden. I try to keep food costs down by shopping grocery sales, using in season items, and growing our own food.

Blog name

The blog is named after the pretend restaurant my daughter set up in our kitchen, complete with sign and menus, many years ago.