Some of you might already be aware, but for those of you who don’t have a clue…..the thing that’s been keeping me busy is THE GOURMET JAR! Yes, I started a small food business of my own 6 months back! It’s a range of gourmet food products that are completely handmade, fresh and preservative-free. The products include jams and preserves, granola and flavoured nuts. But the focus has been on the jams and preserves! Why, you ask? Because they are not your usual jams….they are boozy jams! Yeah, I’ve introduced a line of alcohol-infused jams in India! What I offer is super-fresh jams, preserves and marmalade, that are kicked up a notch in flavour with the addition of alcohol like rum, whiskey, cointreau etc! This is not to say that I don’t have a few flavours without booze….I do! Like Apple Pie Jam, Pear Caramel Jam, Mango Jalapeno Jam etc.

The whole idea behind my venture is to offer healthier, fresh, pure and natural products that are unusual and thus can help you brighten up your eating-at-home-experience! And of course, my aim is to keep the flavours as seasonal as possible, so you have something new to try every few months…..and for me, there’s always room for experimenting!

It’s been an amazing 6 months for me! I’ve already achieved more than I could have ever imagined…..and have learned so much! But there’s still a long way to go! And I’m enjoying every moment of being an entrepreneur.

To learn more about my new venture, please join my Facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/thegourmetjar I promise you it’s a lot of fun out there! And I will strive to blog here more often……am surely not going to have such a long absence again!

I absolutely love salsa. Apart from the fact that’s so easy and quick, I just love the tangy taste and the flavour it can add to many different dishes, even the non-mexican ones! When I saw Avril’s recipe for the salsa which she in turn got from The Pioneer Woman (whom I adore), I knew I had to try it out.

And this one turned out delicious! The addition of sugar and cumin gave it a whole different depth of flavour, I just loved it! I think I added a tad too much of the cilantro, so it was more greenish than red, but it tasted awesome nonetheless. The only change I made was that I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned ones, and used canned jalapenos instead of fresh ones.

Ingredients:

8 whole tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 cup cilantro

1/2 whole lemon, juiced

Directions:

1. Combine the tomatoes, onions, jalapeno pepper, garlic, garlic salt, sugar, cumin, lime juice and cilantro in the bowl of a food processor or blender.

2. PULSE until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like.

3. Test with a tortilla chip for taste/seasoning and adjust as needed.

4. Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour before serving.

5. Serve with your favorite chips or cheese nachos.

My foodie partner was Poorna, a foodie n cook from Calcutta, of the yummy blog Presented By P. I was instantly curious about what Bengali goodies I could expect and what North Indian yummies I should send her. I must say that she was super-quick and I received my package just a week or so after the foodie exchange began! I was rather tardy in comparison, and sent out my package just a few days before the deadline.

I was thrilled to receive such a generous and diverse foodie package from her. Filled with different spice mixes, chutney powder, local namkeen and biscuits, pasta, noodles and finally organic incense sticks to help me relax while cooking!

Out of all the lovely items I got, I was instantly curious about the Sukto mix, something I had never heard of before.  Supposed to cool the body down in the summers, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The other thing that I was thrilled to use in my cooking was the little pouch of Chinese fungus. It was indeed the icing on the cake for me!  Thank you Poorna for such a lovely package and my apologies for the delay in posting.

Though I spent a lot of time browsing through Melissa’s recipes, I knew very early on as to what I would be making. I stumbled upon this recipe for Wild Rice Patties during my first few days on her blog, and I knew this was it. The reason for that being, that I had brought back some wild rice from a trip to the US last year, and I’ve been looking for different things to do with it. The only thing I used it for till now was a Wild Rice Pilaf. Now you don’t get wild rice in India, and I brought back hardly half a kilo, so I’ve really been stingy in using it. For this recipe, I used a mix of red and wild rice. I also substituted the mushrooms with artichokes, as I’m not a big mushroom fan. It was a fairly simple recipe, but the patties did not really hold together very well, and I had to be extremely careful while turning them around. But the taste is so good, that you wouldn’t mind even if they break! The taste of the red and wild rice is so nutty, the texture nice and chewy, and the flavors were just perfect. If you can get your hands on wild rice, or even red rice, this is a must-try!

For 8 patties:

This month, I was assigned Sarah’s blog Fantastical Sharing of Recipes. Her blog gave me a lot to choose from, and in the end I went with a made-from-scratch Pumpkin Pie. This was my first time making a pumpkin pie. I’d never even eaten it before. It’s something so foreign to India, you never really get a chance to have it unless you travel abroad or make it yourself. I have recently discovered my love for pumpkin, so I knew I would surely like a pumpkin pie. And I did. I really really liked it! Thank you Sarah!

I just made a few changes. Skipped the egg in the crust and used egg replacer powder for the pumpkin filling. I also skipped the cloves (not a fan!) and I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup. The crust was nice and flaky, though I feel I could have rolled it thinner. But overall the pie was delicious. I just couldn’t believe it was pumpkin!

For the pie crust (makes 2 pie crusts):

3 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/2 tsp. salt
5 to 7 tbsp. cold water
1 tsp. vinegar

Directions:

Cut together flour, shortening and salt until it resembles cornmeal. Combine the water and vinegar in a separate bowl. Knead just until a soft dough forms. Divide into 2 parts, wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. When ready, roll it out.

Fit into a pie dish and use with your favorite pie.

For the filling:

1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 2/3 cup sweet condensed milk
2 eggs (I used egg replacer powder)

Directions:

Whisk sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, condensed milk and eggs into the pumpkin puree until smooth. Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie crust. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 325 F and cook for another 45 minutes. Serve as it is or with whipped cream or ice cream.

This is my very first time with The Secret Recipe Club, and I am super-excited about my first reveal!  I was assigned the blog K and K Test Kitchen, run by the mother-daughter duo of Kim and Kelsey. My first thought was about how sweet it was that a mother and daughter were doing something like this together. Then I spent much time browsing through their collection of recipes, being tempted by many, and not being able to decide what to make. Finally I stumbled upon a recipe for Vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcakes that I had to make. Them being vegan was a big draw. And they looked so good. Of course, I made them vegetarian and not vegan.

And the result? I can just say “wow”! They were so moist and fluffy, it was hard to believe they were eggless. I was a little worried when the batter was so thin, but they turned out absolutely fine. I took them to a friend’s birthday and they vanished in no time!

I did make a few changes. Regular milk instead of soy milk. Canola oil instead of vegetable oil. And I did a chocolate ganache frosting with powdered mint in it, instead of doing a chocolate ganache and then mint icing on top of it. I must say that the mint-chocolate frosting was finger-licking good!

For 24 Mint Chocolate Cupcakes:

Cupcake

2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
½ cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
½ cup boiling water

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

400 gms dark chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsps powdered mint

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

For the cupcake batter

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the milk, oil, vanilla and vinegar, mix for 2 min. Stir in the boiling water. Batter will be thin. Pour into cupcake liners (about 3/4 full). Bake for 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the ganache frosting

Chop chocolate and transfer into a bowl. Heat the cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, but don’t let it boil over. Pour the cream over the chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined. Add the powdered mint. Stir until combined. Let cool until at spreading consistency.

Using a pastry bag, pipe the frosting on top of the cupcake (if you don’t have a pastry bag, fill a Ziploc and cut a tip).

Top with your favourite sprinkles and dig in.

© Veggie Wiz | All rights reserved unless otherwise indicated

To celebrate this move, I have something sinful and delicious to share with you. A trio of Cointreau chocolate truffles. I made these as a Valentine’s Day surprise for the husband. And boy, was he thrilled! Truffles are a real delight. They are pretty easy to make and look so elegant. Perfect for special occasions or even as gifts. I used Cointreau to flavour them but you could also use cognac, brandy,  rum, Grand Marnier, or Kahlua to name a few. Or skip the alcohol altogether. Though I wouldn’t recommend it. A dash of alcohol gives truffles a yummy kick!

To coat the truffles you could use a classic like cocoa powder, a tough-to-handle one like tempered (melted)  chocolate, or choose something to give it added texture, like toasted and chopped Nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts), toasted coconut, shaved chocolate, or even cookie crumbs. I did a trio of cocoa powder, roasted almonds, and vanilla cookie crumbs.

For 25-30 truffles:

250 grams semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces (I used 40%)

120 ml heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons Cointreau

For the coatings -

Chopped almonds (roasted)

Cocoa powder

Vanilla cookies (crumbled)

Bring the whipping cream to a simmer in a small, heavy saucepan. Keep stirring.

Stir the Cointreau into the cream.

Place the chocolate in a separate bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate, and allow to stand for a few minutes then stir until smooth, thus making the ganache.

Allow to cool, then place in the refrigerator for two hours.

Remove and with a teaspoon roll out balls of the ganache. Roll in your hands quickly and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

Roll the ganache balls in the desired toppings and serve, or place back in the refrigerator until needed.

© Veggie Wiz | All rights reserved unless otherwise indicated

I used a recipe from my friend Deeba’s blog, Passionate about baking. I skipped the garam masala and just used cinnamon and nutmeg to spice my cake. This recipes makes 2 cakes, so you could halve it if you want just one. Though, I suggest making 2, as it’s so good that it’ll be gone sooner than you can imagine! I made one using a loaf pan and the other using a round baking pan.

1 kg mincemeat (soaked dried fruits from here, strained)

Preheat oven to 150C.