The Fall Season Begins in the Kitchen

What been cooking in Carolina this week?

I was food blog hopping, which is a great way to quickly review a lot of blogs and discovered Indira's blog Mahanandi and got inspired made Indian food for dinner. Her recipe that I (kind of) used (well, I didn't have all of the ingredients so like always, I made do) was for Coriander Chutney. The only thing I bought was curry leaves. I started shopping for Murraya koenigii "Curry Leaf" plants and found one in a 2.5" pot for 10.95 plus shipping. If anyone knows of a better deal (in US), please let me know.

So here is what we had for dinner:

Smoked Eggplant with Fresh Herbs {Bharta} from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking
Frozen Spinach with Potatoes {Saag aloo} from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking
Bengal Red Lentils with Spices {Bengali Masar Dal} from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking
Basmati Rice
Coriander Chutney from Mahanandi: Indira's Blog

Yum! I didn't get pictures but there are left overs. If they are picture worthy, I'll add them later.


I had bought some big thick boneless pork chops on sale and were awaiting me to figure out what I wanted to do with them and I remembered how easy it is to bread and grill them. The recipe is on the website Swank Recipes and it is quick and very juicy! We had them with grean beans and white beans cooked with garlic and basil oil. Enjoyed every bite!

We were trying to figure out what would go good with a grits recipe we've been wanting to try and decided on seafood. It's like cornbread, ya know? We think they have a great affininty.

So to the grocery store we went and checked out the seafood. They had a great deal on sea scallops (the cheapest we've have seen in a long time) and shrimp, so we bought them both!



We finally tried the recipe for grits souffle from Magnolia Grill, probably the most celebrated restaurant in NC. Both owners are CIA grads and James Beard award recepients. It is wonderful and we had a version of this at the restaurant and have been thinking about it for awhile. We found the recipe on the net and made our normal modifications (lowering the fat) and added a topping (sauted mushrooms). We served it with Coquilles St Jacque. It was great! The scallops were as tender as could be. Very tasty and airy. For all you non-grits eater who think polenta is a real gourmet treat, this one's for you! I know a French Main dish and a southern side! What is the world coming to?

We're off to the fair for 2 days to judge the wine competition (he-judge, me-volunteer). We'll check back in later!