Well - quite the fattie weekend (defined as a weekend almost wholely devoted to food). Sure, I spent wonderful times with friends on the farm, and had a great day at the farmer's market, but really...the FOOD!!!
Saturday morning, my favorite happy meat farmer brought me a ham!!! I adore ham, but it is quite hard to find humanely raised pork which has been processed into ham - he had one done as a spiral sliced ham, no less. Oh happy day, kaloo kalay, she chortled in her joy!!
Saturday afternoon we had a little event at the farm which involved some of my favorite people bringing amazing food to my house, resulting in my scurrying about and stashing it away so they could not take it home with them when they left. Aside from the incredible smoked salmon and brisket my husband made, there was tender Korean style BBQ beef, and samosas (two of which are sitting on a plate right now waiting for me),
and a new dish for me - yogurt rice, and some crazy-good fried rice with lots and lots of veggies, and an incredible Indian sweet called Besan Barfi.
Our friends brought their mother Lalita with them - I think there must be some way I can legally kidnap her and make her live with me for a few months!!!!!
And of course, I continue my chai obsession and now that Lalita has given it her blessing, I feel like a boss!! An Indian Boss!! I think maybe I might be a Hindi Wannabee....
I am not completely sure if I can make my own ghee, but these are so going into my recipe arsenal.
Besan Barfi - Chickpea Flour Fudge Diamonds
Ingredients
1-1/4 coarsely ground chickpea flour (sold as ladoo besan in Indian stores)
¾ cup clarified butter (ghee)
¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
In a heavy bottomed skillet, dry roast the besan for about 15 minutes, stirring to ensure even roasting and keeping the flour from burning. At the end of this process the mixture should be fragrant and a few shades darker.
Stir in the ghee, and keep stirring to ensure that it melts and the mixture is lump free.
Stir in the powdered sugar and mix well until it melts.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is thick and smooth.
Pour onto a greased plate and let the mixture cool for about an hour, at this point it is quite firm. Cut the mixture into squares and or diamonds and serve.