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Nectarine Cobbler

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Quarantine diaries –

I’ve been dying to go on a picnic and I’ve been determined not to let the coronavirus stop me. So I figured I’d go on a “Quarantine Picnic” in my living room.

On my picnic, I packed chicken 65 bao, a black-eyed peas salad with a lemon vinaigrette, roohafza lemonade, and the very best nectarine cobbler I’ve ever had. I set up my red and white gingam picnic blanket next to the tv, laid out my tubber ware, pitcher, spoons, napkins, and plates and while wearing my brand new sunglasses for the full effect.

Peach Cobber is the queen of summertime picnic foods – one of my all time favorite desserts. But they’re not in season right now, and actually neither are nectarines but for some reason my dad bought a bunch of them during the grocery battles and I figured they’d be just as good in this recipe.

This is a pretty standard recipe, the one thing I do a little differently is add a little bit of cherry jam. Not enough to call it a cherry-nectarine cobbler, but enough to add a little extra tartness and flavor. Helps especially when your March nectarines are so-so in taste.

The cake batter is buttery and rich, the nectarines are tender without being too mushy and the sweetness is balanced with lemon juice. This nectarine cobbler is the stuff of indoor picnic dreams and tastes even better the next day!

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Nectarine Cobbler

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Nectarines

  • 4 1/2 cups nectarines (sliced); about 5 nectarines
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp cherry or strawberry jam
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • juice of 1 lemon

Batter

  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 small egg use half an egg if jumbo size
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 4 Tbsp white sugar

Instructions

  1. Wash, peel, and slice the nectarines. Add to a pot.

  2. Add 2 Tbsp butter, white sugar, brown sugar (2 Tbsp each), and jam to the pot. Stir on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes until everything is well combined and the nectarines soften slightly.

Batter

  1. In a bowl, melt 2 Tbsp butter. Add egg, milk, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, salt, baking powder, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon. Whisk thoroughly.

  2. In a medium-sized baking dish (8-9 inch pan) add your batter and then your nectarines mixture on top. Smoothen out into an even layer. Note – you can easily double this recipe to fit into a 13-inch dish!

  3. Cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 375 F for about an hour. Or until batter has set into a cake.

Crab Rangoon Pizza

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So this Crab Rangoon pizza is super cool and as much as I’d like to claim credit for such an amazing idea, it’s actually a thing that’s popped up in several different joints across the Midwest.

Unfortunately there’s no pizzeria that has this on their menu in my area (at least not to my knowledge) so I figured I’d give it a shot to try and make it at home.

Plus it’s an excuse to make homemade pizza and test it out in a cast-iron skillet.

The toppings that go on the pizza are pretty self-explanatory and I’m pretty sure it’s similar to what you’ll find in the few restaurants that serve it – we’re taking the classic cream cheese filling of a crab rangoon and spreading it on pizza dough, topping It with some shredded mozzarella, green onions, sweet chili sauce and wonton chips.

I was thinking that this pizza would be ridiculously heavy and knock me out after a slice, but surprisingly it wasn’t (I should also mention that back in my undergrad days I would easily eat 8-9 crab rangoons with my friends during finals week without thinking twice. Shoutout to Umama, Abhiya, Nadia for accompanying me for late-night Cravings).

There’s really not much else for me to say except that this literally is a pizza that tastes exactly like crab rangoon and that next time you want to try making homemade pizza, try this.

And if you don’t want to go through making your own pizza dough, just buy it from the store. This is not one of those recipes you need to fuss over by making everything from scratch. Bring it to your next Friday night get-together with friends, kick-back and enjoy!

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Crab Rangoon Pizza

Servings 2 large pizzas

Ingredients

  • 2 lb pizza dough
  • 2/3 cup imitation crab meat
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 2-3 green onions
  • 1/2 tsp grated ginger
  • 1/2 tsp grated garlic
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp lime juice (or to taste)
  • 2 cups shredded mozarella

Garnish

  • sweet chilli sauce
  • wonton chips optional

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 450 F.

  2. In a bowl combine the softened cream cheese, chopped green onions, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, lime juice. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Set aside.

  3. Using a hand-toss method, rolling pin, or whatever technique you prefer roll out the dough to whatever thickness and size you like. I used an 8 inch cast iron skillet and was able to make 4 smaller pizzas, equivalent to 2 large ones.

  4. If using a cast-iron skillet, make sure to brush the pan with plenty of oil. Press the dough into the pan.

  5. Add the cream cheese mixture to the dough and spread evenly.

  6. Add the shredded mozzarella. Brush the outer crust lightly with oil and set in oven.

  7. Once top has melted and the cheese is lightly caramelized, remove from oven. Using a spatula check to see if the bottom is finished cooking. If it is still pale in color (which will likely occur if you made a thicker crust), then simply finish it off on the stove-top for a few minutes.

    (If using a pizza stone, then simply place pizza onto stone using peel and remove when crust is a golden brown.)

  8. Once pizza is ready, garnish with sweet chili sauce, wonton chips, and extra green onions.

Butter Chicken Pot Pie

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butter chicken pot pie ingredients

This past Sunday, I spent all afternoon on two different pot pie recipes, a chicken one and a vegetarian version.  Due to popular demand, I’m posting the butter chicken one but I’ll probably post the veggie one sometime in the near future (FYI – it’s filled with vegetables cooked in pav bhaji masala!)

I didn’t want to just make a butter chicken curry and top it with puff pastry – although you could certainly do that and it would be delicious – I wanted this to be first and foremost a pot pie – so I made sure to really cook down the chicken until nearly shreddable and stew-like, added some peas and carrots and flour to thicken.

I really like this recipe because it’s probably the only time I’ll ever actually make butter chicken. Growing up in a South Indian household, this is just not something my mom ever made and I’ve only eaten it a few times here and there at weddings and restaurants To be honest, I like butter chicken but I don’t love it.

BUT

I love a butter chicken pot pie. I think the creamy richness works wonders in a dish like this that is already meant to be indulgent and cozy and that’s why it’s a perfect match.

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Butter Chicken Pot Pie

An Indian version of chicken pot pie, made with a butter chicken curry filling

Servings 2 personal pies

Ingredients

  • 2 lb boneless chicken thighs and or/breasts
  • 2.5 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp oil or more to taste
  • 1/2 cup onion (diced)
  • 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 3 Tbsp yogurt
  • 1.5-2 tsp salt to taste
  • 3/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 Tbsp chilli powder or to taste
  • 1.5 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 2 tsp kasuri methi
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 large tomato (pureed)
  • 1/3 cup carrots (diced)
  • 1/4 cup peas
  • 1/2 cup half-and-half
  • 1.5 Tbsp flour dissolved in water
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice or to taste
  • 1/2 packet of puff pastry

Instructions

  1. Start off by marinating chicken. Combine salt, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, and chilli powder with the chicken. May set aside in fridge overnight (Don't have time? No worries, not a necessary step, you can get straight to the cooking!)

  2. Start by adding your oil and butter to a wide skillet.

  3. Now add in your chicken and let it cook for a few minutes, turning brown light brown on all sides.

  4. Now add in your diced onion. Cook for a few minutes.

  5. Now add in all the remaining spices – cumin, coriander, nutmeg, garam masala, kasuri methi. Cook for a minute or so and add in your yogurt.

  6. Now add in your tomato puree (I just whiz the tomato up in a blender with a little bit of water)

  7. Add in a cup or more of water. And turn the stovetop to medium-low heat. Allow chicken to simmer for a while. The chicken should eventually become nice and tender, almost shreddable in texture.

  8. Once most of the water has evaporated, add in your peas and carrots, half-and-half, and kasuri methi. Squeeze lemon juice and garnish with cilantro. Taste and adjust for seasonings. The butter chicken filling should not be soupy nor should it be dry. It should be the consistency of a stew. You can thicken it by adding in the flour dissolved in water.

  9. Pre-heat your oven to 375 F. In two individual pot pie dishes or in one large casserole dish or pie dish, add your pot pie filling. Roll out thawed puff pastry dough and form a pie crust. (Do not roll it out too thin, you want this crust to be real thick.)

  10. Remove from oven once golden brown. Serve hot and enjoy.