Celebrate Father’s Day with a Surprise Cooking Lesson

Father's day is a great opportunity for families to connect and do something special for your Dad. Passion for Spices has some great ideas for you to celebrate the special person in your family.
This year Passion for Spices  has introduced a Family Series providing a platform for families to cook together and learn some classics cooking techniques. This class is designed for children and adults to work, learn, and cook together, and enjoy a family meal together.

Here is the Family Series Cooking Camp Brochure

We have many interesting themes to choose from:

To Register for the camp:

As compliments from Passion for Spices, we are providing a recipe from May Fridel’s new cookbook, Indian Cuisine Diabetes Cookbook published by the American Diabetes Association

Perfect Summer Grilling Recipe
Indian Cuisine Diabetes Cookbook
Chapter: From Elegant and Exotic Dinners

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Grilled Masala Lamb Chops with Pickled Salad

Culinary History:
This is dish is popular in the northern Indian regions and can be done on the tandoor or any outside grill.

Serves: 8
Serving size: 2 oz.

Procedure:

1. Using a paring knife, cut a few 1/4-inch-deep slashes in each lamb chop.

2.  In a large bowl, mix the marinade, the spice masala and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Transfer the lamb chops to the marinade and turn to coat, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Add the oil to the marinade and toss with the lamb chops. Remove the chops from the marinade and let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

4. Light a grill. Season the chops with the remaining tsp of salt and grill over moderately high heat for 8 minutes, turning once, until well browned.

5. Brush both sides of the chops with the ghee and grill for another 2 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Cooks note:
You could use store bought garam masala which has nutmeg, cinnamon, cardomom, mace etc..

Any Curry blend which has a mild flavor.  

Ingredients:

8 lamb rib chops (2 1/2 pounds) (for the marinade)
3/4 cup low fat Greek yogurt
¼ low fat sour cream
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
One 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
2 tsp sunflower oil

(Spice Masala)
1 tablespoon Kashmiri Garam Masala
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoon Keralan Curry
2 tsp  sea salt
1 tsp ghee or Sun flower oil

(Pickled Salad)
2 cups / 300 g julienned radish (skin on)
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
1 green chili, julienned
1/4 tsp / 1.7 g salt
Juice of 1 lemon

To Buy the Book

Memories from Our 2016 Kids Cooking Camp

The Passion for Spices camp provides a unique opportunity that is rare to find elsewhere in the state and even the country!  It not only teaches kids the cultural inspirations of certain foods, but also how the transfer of these cultural foods from place to place attributes to a melting pot society.  In addition to the cultural information, kids are exposed to the health benefits of certain foods; in doing so, they are given a brief glimpse into this new era of dieting that millennials find so attractive.  

It is clearly important to become informed about healthy eating and cooking from a young age, as people of all ages are exposed to allergies, are gluten free, or defining themselves as vegetarians, pescatarians, or vegans.  Passion for Spices not only helps produce food that fulfills each category but also helps to explain the reasoning behind such restrictions.  

Health is a major focus for the Passion for Spices team, as well as a major topic that is explained in depth to the participants of the camp. In fact, Passion for Spices’ own products, the Keralan Curry and Kashmiri Garam Masala, are crafted using quality ingredients, with anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories to help boost the immune system for optimal health.  

And that’s not all! The foods developed at the camp are not only very culturally accurate and healthy but are also made from the recipes of some renowned and respected authors.  Specifically, our Roman recipes are picked from Rachel Roddy, who was able to experience the style of Roman foods and the benefits of incorporating them into everyday diets.  Our French foods are from Claudine Pepin, daughter of culinary master Jacques Pepin.  We incorporate recipes from her work, “Kids Cook French,” which gives incredible insight on French cooking.  

Our team of chefs and counselors help teach the proper techniques of cooking that cannot be found elsewhere.  These are some of the best chefs in the state; our camp gives the kids an opportunity to work hands-on with ingredients and recipes.  This is our 8th year of the camp, and each year it grows exponentially.  We would love your child to take part in this amazing experience, but our camp is filling up quick with few spots remaining, so if you are interested, please visit our Registration Page. 

A Sweet Passover Treat From The Malabar Coast of India

Traces of the Jewish Community in India can be tracked back nearly 3000 years ago when they landed on the pristine Malabar Coast of India. They were  sailors in the fleet of King Solomon sent to purchase spices, animals, and precious metals. 

The oldest known Jewish Colony is Bene Israel on the Malabar Coast. According to historical evidence,  this colony was formed by survivors of a ship wreck in the second century B.C..

A second group of  Jewish People are believed to have migrated to India around 70 A.D. after the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem.  This group came to be known as the Cochin Jews, as they landed in the Port of  Cranganore,  an ancient port near Cochin.

While religious practice  remained the same,  other customs merged with those of local traditions. Indo-Jewish flavorings give a glimpse  into this merge with dishes such as  molagachi (mahogany chicken and black pepper),  ellegal fish (spice rubbed fish with herb salsa) and coconut based deserts. The families strictly followed the Sabbath, its customs, and Kosher Laws. The men wore mundu (malabari sarong), while the women wore flowing silk saris with sparkling jewelry.

Traditional Indo-Jewish Sweet Delicacy From the Malabar Coast

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Spiced Coconut Rice Pudding

Makes 6 Servings

Procedure:

1. Pour coconut milk into a medium-sized heavy bottom saucepan. 

2. Rinse the rice and add it to the coconut milk, simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

3. In a small pan, add the ghee, dried fruit, almonds, and cashews. Toast for 10 minutes on medium heat. 

4.  Now add the garam masala and the vanilla extract to the rice mixture. Stir well until it thickens.

5. Stir in the toasted nuts & the dried fruits.  Reserving some for the garnish.

6. Serve the coconut rice pudding in small cups or bowls and garnish with the nuts and the dried fruits.

Ingredients:

2 cups SoDelicious CoconutMilk Lite
1/3 cup basmati rice
1/2 tsp Kashmiri Garam Masala
1/4 cup dried cranberries and golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup chopped cashews
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbs ghee for toasting the nuts and the dried
fruits

All About Eggs: Our Second Explorer "Post" Experience

The theme was all about eggs and learning about the art and science of cooking methodology. Chef Kadko explained to our young enthusiastic students basic methods of cooking eggs. Like boiled, half-boiled, and poached.

Then we learned about a special dish, a one pot meal a family can make for a brunch or that can be made in a college dorm room as breakfast.

This is a dish named "Shakshuka" of Middle Eastern origin. It was one of the kids favorite, it tasted as good as it looks, and it was quite easy to make once Chef showed them how to make the base of the shakshuka and how to poach the egg on it.

They also learned how to make frittata with seasonal vegetables, like squash and zucchini, spring onions, green onions, etc. topped with your favorite cheese. Another one pot meal kids can make, great for a bunch, dorm cooking, and family meals.. 

Finally the kids learned how to make the dessert part, where the kids learned how to make a chocolate souffle from scratch, using the finest chocolate.

At the end of the class, everyone enjoyed the dishes they made and their knowledge of how to use eggs was definitely enhanced for the participants.

Our next session will be on nutrition and smart shopping where we will learn about shopping for food ingredients, focused on quality, labeling, nutrition, and seasonal. Taking place at the Whole Foods market in Madison on March 23rd. 

You still have time to signup, and we have a lot more sessions coming up in our program.

To Register Contact: 
Charlean Mahon
C: 973.524.4459
charlean.mahon@scouting.org 
Or Info@PassionforSpices.com
C: 908.380.0644

We can't wait for the next session and we hope to see you there!

Our First Explorer Culinary Experience With Authentic Mexican Food & Culture

Chef Kadko, our culinary educator, started off with a description of the whole menu.

The kids learned how to make authentic tacos from scratch using Masa Harina flour.

They learned how to roast poblano peppers using an indoor smoke-less infrared grill.

And then learned how to make authentic guacamole using the roasted poblanos..

Like the peppers, the chicken was grilled using the smoke-less indoor infrared grill. The addition of the citrus marinade (made with kerala curry spice and toasted cumin) brought out the and enhanced the flavor of the chicken. 

The Chef demonstrated how make the pippian verde sauce by sautéing chayote, onions, and pumpkin seeds in a tasty green sauce that when poured over the chicken made us feel like we were in Mexico. 

One of the participants was a vegan, and we were able to grill the chayote with the spices and served that instead of the chicken. 

At the end of the class, we enjoyed the spread of Mexican delicacies. We are hoping that this was an inspiration for them to cook at home. These recipes are simple and authentic. The next class starts February 23 at the Summit Elks Lodge.

We can't wait for the next session and we hope to see you there!