This is a stupid, unimaginative name for what is really an Indian shrimp dish. The recipe is in August Living. So here’s my backstory. My friend Monica Bhide is a true genius and writes the blog A Life of Spice and has a wonderful cookbook called Modern Spice (which I gave to my mom for Christmas). Monica is the modern Indian food guru. Recently on her blog she wrote about someone writing to her and asking for help with Indian food since the writer couldn’t find any she liked. This prompted me to also post and tell Monica that I too have a big problem with Indian food. It all started back in Washington, DC when I was a teen on vacation with my parents. DC has some of the best Indian restaurants in the country and my parents took me to one. I have a very sensitive palate (and digestive system) and hot, spicy food does not work for me. At that restaurant, there was not a single item I was able to eat. I couldn’t even eat the naan they brought to the table. Nada. I ended up grabbing a sandwich at a deli on the way back to the hotel.

As an adult, I’ve avoided Indian food. Whenever I’ve tried something, it is invariably too hot for me. A few years ago on a rare date night, Mr. MarthaAndMe went to an Indian restaurant to give it a try. I threw myself on the waiter’s mercy and explained I could not tolerate spicy food. I wanted to order some chicken tandoori which sounded harmless, but the waiter insisted the sauces are what makes Indian food special, so we let him help us choose. It was all too hot. I ate almost nothing and scrambled for mint, Rolaids, and gum in the car ride home.

I can’t help feeling that there has to be Indian food I could eat and enjoy and Monica was kind enough to suggest some dishes for me. When this recipe for shrimp skewers popped up in August Living, I thought I would give it a try. I severely modified the recipe though, cutting back the curry and cumin to just tiny bits, hoping that I could enjoy the flavor without the burning. I also did not leave the shrimp in their shells since I hate trying to peel them at the table. I didn’t bother putting them on skewers and just grilled them individually.

The verdict? These were pretty good. I went super, super light on the curry and cumin, but I could still taste it without setting my mouth on fire. Dude Martha said it had no flavor and had to go get the ketchup bottle. Teen Martha said it was pretty good. Mr. MarthaAndMe said it was good. So I’ve made a foray into Indian food and I didn’t die in the process, so that is a victory for me! Here are Martha’s ingredients:

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp and 1 tsp curry powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp chopped fresh ginger

2 scallions, chopped, white and pale green parts only

2 small garlic cloves

3 tbsp olive oil

20 lg shrimp

Martha says to stick everything but the shrimp in the food processor and cover the shrimp with it. Her recipe says to leave the shells on the shrimp but slit the shells, and stuff the curry underneath the shells and then place them on skewers and grill.

This is a stupid, unimaginative name for what is really an Indian shrimp dish. The recipe is in August Living. So here’s my backstory. My friend Monica Bhide is a true genius and writes the blog A Life of Spice and has a wonderful cookbook called Modern Spice (which I gave to my mom for … Read more →

Martha has a recipe for blackberry pound cake in July/Aug Everyday Food, but notes you can swap blueberries for blackberries, which is what I did. This was easy to whip up – basically a pound cake with blueberry puree swirled through it. I subbed out whole wheat pastry flour for half of the regular flour and I added some cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp) to the blueberry puree. Everyone in my house gobbled this up almost instantly. It was sweet and moist and very good.

1/2 c butter

6 oz berries

1 1/4 c plus 2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 c sour cream

Puree berries with 2 tbsp sugar. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix. Add dry ingredients alternating with sour cream. Put half the batter in a loaf pan and top with 1/2 cup puree. Put in rest of batter and cover with remaining puree. Bake at 350 for  1 hour 15 min.

Note Martha says to only put 1/2 cup puree in the middle of the batter. I think this might be a typo and she meant to say put half of the puree in the middle. I did it as the recipe said and there wasn’t much in the middle and tons on top. I would definitely put half in the middle to even things out.

Martha has a recipe for blackberry pound cake in July/Aug Everyday Food, but notes you can swap blueberries for blackberries, which is what I did. This was easy to whip up – basically a pound cake with blueberry puree swirled through it. I subbed out whole wheat pastry flour for half of the regular flour … Read more →

It was my turn to pick this week’s project, which is in July/Aug Everyday Food: Peanut Butter Chocolate Semifreddo. Now I must confess something. My favorite thing in the entire world is Perry’s Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream. In high school, I worked at an ice cream parlor and one of the girls I worked with used to make us little hot fudge sundaes on the sly – a tiny scoop of Perry’s PBF in a plastic water dixie  cup topped with a bit of hot fudge. Sometimes I would buy a sundae and eat it in the car on the way home after work. Heaven. Thankfully, Perry’s is a local company and still makes PBF, although they only make it in the summer. The rest of the year I am in PBF crisis mode. It can get pretty ugly. Do not even suggest to me that I should try peanut butter cup ice cream. It is not even close.

So, when I saw the recipe for PBF semifreddo, well, you can imagine my excitement. Semifreddo is not ice cream, but it is  similar. I had semifreddo once before when my mom made it. It was ok, not great. I was willing to try this.

The recipe was a little confusing and involved halving and then halving again a peanut butter and whole milk and sugar mixture, which I found confusing. You whip some cream and mix in some of the PB mixture. You melt chocolate in water (which I think is nasty). Then you fill the pan halfway with the whipped cream/PB mix. Then you put in straight PB mix and choc in the center, cover with the rest of the whipped cream stuff and put PB and choc on top, then you swirl and freeze for 5 hours.

I had way too much for my loaf pan – I ended up dumping some and my loaf pan overflowed in the freezer. It was quite a mess. I also used a silicone loaf pan and then ended up cutting through it with a knife, trying to get this out!

The peanut butter/whipped cream part was pretty good. Semifreddo is not ice cream, but it isn’t bad – cool, creamy, and sweet. I thought the chocolate part was awful – mine was grainy. If I made this again, I would use hot fudge instead.  So, with all of that being said, this wasn’t bad and was kind of fun. And in the winter if I’m desperate for Perry’s PBF, I think this might work as a poor man’s substitute.

I’m feeling tired and lazy this morning so I’m not going to retype the recipe. Those of you who requested it, got it by email. If you’re reading this blog and would like a copy of it, just let me know. As soon as the recipe is up on Martha’s site I’ll come back and stick the link in.

It was my turn to pick this week’s project, which is in July/Aug Everyday Food: Peanut Butter Chocolate Semifreddo. Now I must confess something. My favorite thing in the entire world is Perry’s Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream. In high school, I worked at an ice cream parlor and one of the girls I worked … Read more →

I had heard of Shrimp Remoulade, but never had it, until I ran across it in July Living. Anything that is served cold with a minimum of work is definitely a summer dish I’m interested in! This was incredibly easy – boil and cool some shrimp and mix up the yogurt based dressing which includes ketchup, mustard, capers, garlic, scallion and lemon juice. Add the shrimp, let it sit for half an hour and serve on lettuce. I ended up with more dressing than needed since I left some shrimp plain for Dude Martha, so mine is a bit gloppy looking. It was delicious though. The dressing was cool and creamy but not rich since it is made with Greek yogurt. It had just the right mix of flavors to keep it lively. I loved this and will definitely make it again. It’s a different way to make shrimp, which is always appreciated.

I had heard of Shrimp Remoulade, but never had it, until I ran across it in July Living. Anything that is served cold with a minimum of work is definitely a summer dish I’m interested in! This was incredibly easy – boil and cool some shrimp and mix up the yogurt based dressing which includes … Read more →

As I think I’ve mentioned before, my family likes Greek food a lot. Mr. MarthaAndMe’s ethnic heritage is a bit unclear so we always joke he actually is Greek. Ana at Sweet Almond Tree chose this Greek Salad for today. I remember the episode when Michael Psilakis appeared on the show. I even got his cookbook from the library at one point.

Now I must admit I cheated a bit with this salad. I don’t care for iceberg lettuce, so I used Boston. I don’t like onions in my salad so I left those out. And I do not care for fennel at all, so that was out too. Oh, I skipped the olives as well since I’m not a fan of those either. All right, so maybe I changed it a lot! It was still good though. What I loved about this salad were the fresh herbs that were mixed into the salad. I never think to do that, and always add herbs to my dressings, but having the fresh parsley, dill, and oregano (and it was fresh – from pots on my deck!) added so much flavor to this. It was just fantastic. I also really like the scallions in the salad. This was a delicious salad!

As I think I’ve mentioned before, my family likes Greek food a lot. Mr. MarthaAndMe’s ethnic heritage is a bit unclear so we always joke he actually is Greek. Ana at Sweet Almond Tree chose this Greek Salad for today. I remember the episode when Michael Psilakis appeared on the show. I even got his … Read more →

Confession: I generally don’t like coconut, but I have learned I don’t hate it like I used to. My kids like it, so I made this coconut cream tart for them, chosen by Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen.  It was simple to make – make the crust, toast the coconut then make the cream which is just milk, eggs, cornstarch, and salt.  No brain science needed for this one. It looked pretty and the kids liked it. I tasted it and thought it was good (for something made with coconut!).  This is a nice recipe and definitely looks more complicated than it was.

Confession: I generally don’t like coconut, but I have learned I don’t hate it like I used to. My kids like it, so I made this coconut cream tart for them, chosen by Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen.  It was simple to make – make the crust, toast the coconut then make the cream which … Read more →

This is part of my ongoing series where you ask for it and I make. I’m calling it Martha on Demand and the idea is that I’ll be your guinea pig and try any Martha recipe you suggest so you can see if it’s worth making (if you have a request, leave a comment!). Almost Slowfood suggested I make Mrs. Kostyra’s Meatloaf. Mrs. Kostyra was Martha’s mom (Big Martha, as she called her) and often appeared on her show to make her recipes, and so far every one I have tried has been very good. I hadn’t tried her meatloaf though, so this was a fun experiment for me. I don’t make a lot of meatloaf. In fact, I hardly ever make it. And when I do I have two recipes. One is a turkey and rice meatloaf that I stick some veggies in and serve with a cheese sauce. The other is meatloaf the way my mom taught me, which is just a lot of dumping – ground beef, breadcrumbs, ketchup, onion, herbs, cheese, Worchestershire with mozzarella on top.

Martha’s meatloaf is truly fantastic. I think I like it more than the way my mom taught me. It comes out dense and moist. It’s even better cold the next day for lunch. I cut the recipe in half and it made enough for 4 people. It was pretty easy to make, even if it involves chopping some veggies (carrots, celery, onion, garlic). I think that using some real bread instead of breadcrumbs really adds to the flavor and texture as well. The only thing missing in my opinion is cheese. I missed the mozzarella on top and so if I make this again, I will probably add that to it, but otherwise I thought it was truly fantastic.

This is part of my ongoing series where you ask for it and I make. I’m calling it Martha on Demand and the idea is that I’ll be your guinea pig and try any Martha recipe you suggest so you can see if it’s worth making (if you have a request, leave a comment!). Almost … Read more →

As part of my new Martha on Demand initiative, I recently asked readers of this blog to tell me what Martha recipes they would like me to test out for them. There was an overwhelming number of people who asked for veggie burgers. Stephanie in particular requested the veggie burgers in the July issue of Everyday Food and others chimed in saying any veggie burger recipe would be great.  Thanks to all of you who requested it, I gave this recipe a try.

Things did not start off well in the grocery store! I could not find bulgur. I ended up buying a tabbouleh mix, which has bulgur and then spices in an envelope inside. You start by soaking 1/2 cup bulgur in 1 cup boiling water for 30 min. Then you drain it. Coarsely chop 1 can of drained and rinsed pinto beans and add to the bulgur. Shred 2 carrots and add that and an egg. Also add 1 thinly sliced scallion and salt and pepper and 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese.

The recipe says to measure 1/2 cup of the mix as one burger and smush it with a spatula to the right thickness. It was supposed to make 4 burgers, but I ended up with 5. You cook them in a pan with a little olive oil. My mix was really kind of mushy and didn’t hold together too well. The recipe says to cook 3 min per side. Mine took about 20 min before they were cooked through, but I had them all in one large pan so the heat was not very direct. I did successfully transfer most of it to buns. The recipe says to put avocado and bean sprouts on the bun. I used Miracle Whip and avocado.

They looked pretty decent – nicely browned. They tasted really bland though. There’s nothing in them to give them any flavor. It just tasted like plain beans. At the very least this needed onion or garlic and some other seasonings – herbs of some kind. I don’t think I would make this again. It was a lot of work with not much taste, unfortunately! A big disappointment. My kids hated it, but they aren’t veggie burger fans in general. I love Gardenburgers, but this didn’t measure up at all.

I’ll be making some of the other Martha on Demand requests made on the other thread in my continuing Martha on Demand series, but if you have any requests, go ahead and post them here. I’m always open to suggestions and it’s great when people post specific Martha recipes they want me to try.

As part of my new Martha on Demand initiative, I recently asked readers of this blog to tell me what Martha recipes they would like me to test out for them. There was an overwhelming number of people who asked for veggie burgers. Stephanie in particular requested the veggie burgers in the July issue of … Read more →

Strawberry cupcakes! What a thought. This is a perfect pick for June. I’ve made strawberry muffins before, but not strawberry cupcakes. This recipe is from Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and is the June selection for the MSC Cupcake Club.

The cupcake batter was lovely and wonderful tasting – I could have eaten a bowl just of that. Sigh. They baked up nicely. I was hesitant about the frosting – strawberry buttercream. I tend not to do well with Martha’s frostings, but I went for it. It’s a basic buttercream with pureed strawberries added at the end. I took my time and it turned out well I thought. I didn’t get out the cake decorating tips – ugh. Instead I just sort of free-form glopped frosting on top of these. They looked cute I thought. They tasted pretty good too. They got a thumbs up from everyone, except Teen Martha, who wouldn’t even try one because “I don’t like fruit in my cupcakes.” My only complaint was that they weren’t chocolate! They were moist and did taste like strawberry. Now I have a refrigerator full of cupcakes which I am quickly going to give away so they don’t end up on my hips!

Strawberry cupcakes! What a thought. This is a perfect pick for June. I’ve made strawberry muffins before, but not strawberry cupcakes. This recipe is from Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and is the June selection for the MSC Cupcake Club. The cupcake batter was lovely and wonderful tasting – I could have eaten a bowl just … Read more →

Going into the oven

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Hannah at City Interludes. Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (from June Everyday Food) sounded terrific. I once made something similar from Martha (years ago) and it was fantastic, so I had high hopes. Let me just say, this did not meet them!

I am still scratching my head at this recipe.  It has almost nothing in it. 1/2 c flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp poppyseeds. Wet ingredients include only 1 tbsp veg oil, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp lemon zest. The recipe does say the dough will be dry, but it didn’t mention it would be a bowl of sand. I could not get this to stay together. As you can see, what I sent into the oven did not resemble cookies. I tried to use a spoon, a cookie dough scoop and my hands to get this to stick together, but it just would not.

It came out of the oven looking about the same, just browner. Although it was a total disaster in terms of appearance, they did taste quite good, so it’s a shame they wouldn’t act like cookies! I’ll be interested to hear if anyone else had success – maybe I’m just a loser who couldn’t make this one work!

End result

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Hannah at City Interludes. Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (from June Everyday Food) sounded terrific. I once made something similar from Martha (years ago) and it was fantastic, so I had high hopes. Let me just say, this did not meet them! I am still scratching my head at this … Read more →