A Culinary Odyssey!

My new space!

2009-12-03T11:21:00.001-06:00

I have moved my blog from here.Please do visit me at http://thefoodielovers.com

Cannoli - Daring Baker's November Challenge

2009-11-27T22:24:00.006-06:00

When I logged in to check about November's challenge the first thing I read was "no baking",this was disappointing.After going thru the post,I wasn't sure if I would be able to participate coz Cannoli is something that I have neither seen nor heard about.While shopping for some Baking stuffs in Sur La Table I came across these tubes and I was completely thrilled.I think this was the first time I made the challenge well in advance.....am thoroughly impressed.I still have these cute li'l tubes already made,it comes very handy when I have unexpected guests.

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Equipment:
Cannoli forms/tubes - optional, but recommended if making traditional shaped cannoli. Dried cannelloni pasta tubes work just as well!
Deep, heavy saucepan, enough to hold at least 2-3-inches of oil or deep fryer
Deep fat frying thermometer. although the bread cube or bit of dough test will work fine.
Metal tongs
Brass or wire skimmer OR large slotted spoon
Pastry bag with large star or plain tip, but a snipped ziplock bag, butter knife or teaspoon will work fine.
Cooling rack
Paper bags or paper towels
Pastry Brush
Cheesecloth
Sieve or fine wire mesh strainer
Electric Mixer, stand or hand, optional, as mixing the filling with a spoon is fine.
Food Processor or Stand Mixer – also optional, since you can make the dough by hand, although it takes more time.
Rolling pin and/or Pasta roller/machine
Pastry or cutting board
Round cutters - The dough can also be cut into squares and rolled around the cannoli tube prior to frying. If making a stacked cannoli, any shaped cutter is fine, as well as a sharp knife.
Mixing bowl and wooden spoon if mixing filling by hand
Plastic Wrap/Clingfilm
Tea towels or just cloth towels

Required: Must make cannoli dough and shells. If you don’t have or do not want to purchase cannoli forms, which I would never ask of any of you, you could simply cut out circles, squares, or any shapes you want and stack them with the filling of your choice to make stacked cannoli's aka Cannolipoleons (directions below). If desired, you can channel MacGuyver and fashion something heat proof to get traditional shaped cannoli (6-8 inch sawed off lengths of a wooden broom stick or cane, sanded down and oiled, is THE authentic cannoli form!), or non-traditional shapes such as creating a form to make bowls, or even using cream horns if you happen to have them. Mini cannoli would be great too, and I've provided links to retailers of cannoli forms of all sizes.

Also, for those who don't like to cook or bake with alcohol - grape juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, apple juice..any sweet juice of a fruit, especially ones used in or to make wine, can be substituted. Just add a little more vinegar to insure you get enough acid to relax the dough

6-8 inch long by 3/4 to 1 inch circumference cannoli forms aka your basic cannoli form size

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners' sugar

Note - If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note - If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:
1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer's directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Cannoli shell preparation, cutting out the dough circles, sealing the dough around the form, frying the shells, finished shells ready to fill

Pasta Machine method:
1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:
1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 - 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:
1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:
1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

Verdict: As I mentioned earlier,this a super duper recipe...am gona keep making them:)

Alas! I have been bitten by Plagiarism – Please read

2009-11-17T22:04:00.004-06:00

I never thought that I would be a victim of “PLAGIARISM”.It is for one of my post - Bourbon Biscuits. Its very disappointing to see a fellow blogger conveniently copy my work.Am always open to the idea of sharing and over the past few years I have learnt a lot thru the blogging community.The least I expect from someone is an acknowledgement. People think they can be smart by changing the measurement units and get away unnoticed……. I am sorry they are grossly mistaken. I am deeply hurt and alarmed at the lack of basic blogging etiquette. I don’t want to name the person, however I hope the person realizes the mistake and doesn’t repeat.

P.S - I am working on my own website,hence haven't been blogging much,will be back soon with a BANG!

Gulab Jamun for Indian cooking October Challenge

2009-11-15T21:55:00.008-06:00

We are so used to the ready made Gulab Jamun mix,the thought about making this from scratch never occurred to me.Thanks Srivalli for this one...this was indeed a wonderful challenge and i enjoyed making them.I made them twice,played a li'l with the shapes.A must try sweet!!!!

Gulab(less) Jamun from The Yum Blog

Makes: around 25 jamuns

Ingredients

Khova – 11/2 cups/ 1 recipe
Maida – 1 cup
Sugar – 3 cups (if you want excess syrup i.e floating jamuns increase by a cup)
Water – 1 cup (increase if you’re increasing sugar)
Cooking Soda – 3 pinches
Cardamom – 4 pods
Saffron leaves – a few
Oil – 1 cup (for deep frying)

Method

1. Combine sugar and water in a flat bottomed broad pan and simmer on a low heat until sugar dissolves. Add cardamom powder and saffron leaves and remove from fire.
2. Knead khova, maida and soda and quickly shape into balls.
3. Heat oil on a medium flame. Fry the jamuns till golden brown over a low to medium flame, keeping oil temperature uniform. Oil should not smoke.
4. Drain the jamuns and soak in the warm sugar syrup.

Serve the jamuns after half an hour.

Verdict: They are delicious,very soft and easy to make.

Muruku for Indian Cooking September Challenge

2009-09-30T09:04:00.007-05:00

I think all these event's actually force me to blog:).August Challenge was Dhokla,though I've made it "n" number of times something or the other was always wrong.I was thoroughly impressed with the recipe provided by Srivalli.I actually missed the event but tried the recipe later and it was jes PERFECT! I guess it was the best Dhokla I had ever made.The key to any food is the perfect recipe.Similarly the Muruku's recipe was wonderful.I made some Muruku's couple of days back with my own recipe,it was so hard eventually ended up being a disaster.Made them again using Srivalli's method and they were just perfect.Thanks to her for super recipes:)

So here it comes,crispy Murukus for Indian Cooking September challenge.

Preparation Time : 20 - 30 mins
Cooking Time : 20 - 30 mins
Makes : app 250 kg of Muruku
Cuisine: Andhra & Tamil Nadu

Utensils needed:
Muruku /Chakli Press.
Kadai

Ingredients Needed:

Raw Rice - 4 cups
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Water - app 1/2 cup or more

For Seasoning

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tsp
Asafetida/ Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 75 gms

Method to prepare:

Wash and drain the rice. Shade dry the Rice for 1/2 hr. Dry roast the Urad dal to light brown. Allow it to cool.
If you are using more quantity, you can get it ground in rice mil, else use your mixie to grind both Rice and Urad dal.

First grind rice into a fine flour, keep it aside. then grind the urad dal to fine powder.

In a wide vessel, take both the flours along with salt. Mix well. Add cumin, Sesame seeds to the flour, mix well.

Whether you use Asafetida powder or the solid ones, you got to mix it in water, make sure it is dissolved before adding to the flour. If its not dissolved properly, when deep frying the muruku, there are chances for the hing to burst our due to air bubbles.

Mix in the hing to the flour and finally add the butter. Gather everything well and you will get more of a crumbling mixture. Now slowly add water and knead a dough which is little more softer than the puri dough.

Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.

Take the Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls. Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly over the flames or press over a paper and gently slide it down the hot oil. But since the quantity mentioned here is less, you can press it directly over the kadai.

Cook over medium flame, using a slotted spoon, turn it over to other side to ensure both sides turn golden colour. You will know by seeing the colour that its cooked. Remove to a kitchen paper and store it in a air tight container.

Verdict - I don't have words to say...its brilliant!

Vols-au-vent - Daring Baker's September Challenge

2009-09-27T22:07:00.011-05:00

"After one bite we could die and go to heaven" thats what Vols-au-Vent is all about".

I seem to have been regularly irregular.This Summer has kept me really occupied.I will surely get back soon with a "Bang",for now its gona be another Daring Baker's Challenge.I just enjoy being a part of it,the recipes are so perfect and also very challenging.Puff Pastry makes life alot easier,variety of appetizers can be made in a jiffy.I have always wanted to make the pastry dough from scratch.Thanks to Steph for making this happen.These sheets are not available in all the places,atleast am pretty sure its not available in India.So people take out your rolling pins and get ready:)

Never did I realize that it was so easy to make them all by myself.From now on its gona be "No No to ready made Pastry sheets"!!!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' Challenge has been chosen by Steph of a whisk and a spoon. Steph chose Vols-au-Vent, which we are pretty sure in French means, “After one bite we could die and go to heaven!”

She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Puff pastry (aka pâte feuilletée) is something most of us usually buy at the grocery store, but in order to be really daring, we should make our own at least once in awhile, right? Kitchens should be getting cooler in the northern hemisphere, and are hopefully still cool-ish in the sourthern hempisphere, so I’m hoping you will all join me in making homemade puff pastry from Michel Richard’s recipe, as it appears in the book Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. With our homemade puff we’ll be forming vols-au-vent cases to fill with anything we chose.

Puff pastry is in the ‘laminated dough” family, along with Danish dough and croissant dough. (In fact, if you participated in the Danish Braid challenge back in June 2008, then you already know the general procedure for working with laminated dough.) A laminated dough consists of a large block of butter (called the “beurrage”) that is enclosed in dough (called the “détrempe”). This dough/butter packet is called a “paton,” and is rolled and folded repeatedly (a process known as “turning”) to create the crisp, flaky, parallel layers you see when baked. Unlike Danish or croissant however, puff pastry dough contains no yeast in the détrempe, and relies solely aeration to achieve its high rise. The turning process creates hundreds of layers of butter and dough, with air trapped between each one. In the hot oven, water in the dough and the melting butter creates steam, which expands in the trapped air pockets, forcing the pastry to rise.

Once we have our puff pastry dough made and chilled, we are going to roll and form a portion of it into vols-au-vent, which are little puff pastry cases designed to hold a filling. I chose vols-au-vent specifically because I think they do a beautiful job of showing off the hundreds of flaky layers in the homemade puff. They can be made large enough for a full meal, or made small for little one-bite canapés, the choice is yours. Vols-au-vent are typically served hot and filled with a creamy savory filling (often poultry or seafood-based), but cold fillings, such as chicken or tuna salad, work, too. Whipped cream or pastry cream with fresh or stewed fruit often goes into sweet versions. If you are stumped for ideas for your filling(s), a quick on-line search or a glance at a traditional French cookbook will give you plenty of things to consider. I have photos of the ones I made near the bottom of this post.

Mandatory parts of the challenge: You must make Michel Richard’s recipe for puff pastry (as seen below), and form at least part of it into vols-au-vent (instructions below).

Optional parts of the challenge: You may make your vols-au-vent large or small, and may fill them with whatever you choose (savory or sweet).

Equipment:
-food processor (will make mixing dough easy, but I imagine this can be done by hand as well)
-rolling pin
-pastry brush
-metal bench scraper (optional, but recommended)
-plastic wrap
-baking sheet
-parchment paper
-silicone baking mat (optional, but recommended)
-set of round cutters (optional, but recommended)
-sharp chef’s knife
-fork
-oven
-cooling rack

Prep Times:
-about 4-5 hours to prepare the puff pastry dough (much of this time is inactive, while you wait for the dough to chill between turns…it can be stretched out over an even longer period of time if that better suits your schedule)
-about 1.5 hours to shape, chill and bake the vols-au-vent after your puff pastry dough is complete
Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:
-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).
Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Steph’s note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.

There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…I listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.
Steph’s extra tips:

-While this is not included in the original recipe we are using (and I did not do this in my own trials), many puff pastry recipes use a teaspoon or two of white vinegar or lemon juice, added to the ice water, in the détrempe dough. This adds acidity, which relaxes the gluten in the dough by breaking down the proteins, making rolling easier. You are welcome to try this if you wish.

-Keep things cool by using the refrigerator as your friend! If you see any butter starting to leak through the dough during the turning process, rub a little flour on the exposed dough and chill straight away. Although you should certainly chill the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns, if you feel the dough getting to soft or hard to work with at any point, pop in the fridge for a rest.

-Not to sound contradictory, but if you chill your paton longer than the recommended time between turns, the butter can firm up too much. If this seems to be the case, I advise letting it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to give it a chance to soften before proceeding to roll. You don't want the hard butter to separate into chuncks or break through the dough...you want it to roll evenly, in a continuous layer.

-Roll the puff pastry gently but firmly, and don’t roll your pin over the edges, which will prevent them from rising properly. Don't roll your puff thinner than about about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick, or you will not get the rise you are looking for.

-Try to keep “neat” edges and corners during the rolling and turning process, so the layers are properly aligned. Give the edges of the paton a scooch with your rolling pin or a bench scraper to keep straight edges and 90-degree corners.

-Brush off excess flour before turning dough and after rolling.

-Make clean cuts. Don’t drag your knife through the puff or twist your cutters too much, which can inhibit rise.

-When egg washing puff pastry, try not to let extra egg wash drip down the cut edges, which can also inhibit rise.

-Extra puff pastry dough freezes beautifully. It’s best to roll it into a sheet about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick (similar to store-bought puff) and freeze firm on a lined baking sheet. Then you can easily wrap the sheet in plastic, then foil (and if you have a sealable plastic bag big enough, place the wrapped dough inside) and return to the freezer for up to a few months. Defrost in the refrigerator when ready to use.

-You can also freeze well-wrapped, unbaked cut and shaped puff pastry (i.e., unbaked vols-au-vent shells). Bake from frozen, without thawing first.

-Homemade puff pastry is precious stuff, so save any clean scraps. Stack or overlap them, rather than balling them up, to help keep the integrity of the layers. Then give them a singe “turn” and gently re-roll. Scrap puff can be used for applications where a super-high rise is not necessary (such as palmiers, cheese straws, napoleons, or even the bottom bases for your vols-au-vent).

Since I could come up with my own fillings,I made them into different shapes.

Heart shaped ones filled with roasted nuts and sprinkled with Chocolate sauce

Cream Cheese and Jalapenos filling

Larger size with stir fried beans and cheese topping

Stuffed with spicy vegetables

Verdict - As the names says,"After one bite we could die and go to heaven".Its a perfect appetizer/snack for all occasions.It goes well with practically anything.I love it,love it,love it!!!!

Dobos Torta - Daring Baker's August Challenge

2009-08-27T17:11:00.011-05:00

Yet another month for the Daring Baker's Challenge.This time it has been a complete new dessert for me,something that I have never tried,infact never heard of too.I have never tasted a "Dobos Torta" which is actually a Hungarian speciality,infact even the name sounded very new to me.When I went through the challenge,I thought am gona give up this time.But the thought of making something chocolaty kept me motivated.I halved the quantity of each ingredient as this cake was only for the two of us.I must say this was quite a challenge!

This was one of the "not so easy" cakes that I have baked so far,but must admit the end result was awesome.It is actually a five layer sponge cake,sandwiched between chocolate buttercream and surrounded by nuts and topped with caramel....ummmm ain't this sounds delicious????? I believe the Dorbos Torta are circular in shape,since in the challenge the shape wasn't a constraint I ended up with a square one.

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. ,

Equipment

* 2 baking sheets
* 9” Square Cake tin, for templates
* mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
* a sieve
* a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
* a small saucepan
* a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
* metal offset spatula
* sharp knife
* a 7 1/2” cardboard cake square, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin.
* piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times
* Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
* Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
* Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
* Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

Sponge cake layers

* 3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
* 1 cup confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
* pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream

* 2 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1/2(200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
* 2oz (55g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
* 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping

* 1/2 cup (100g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
* 6 tablespoons (90 ml) water
* 4 teaspoons (20 ml) lemon juice
* 1/2 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Finishing touches

* a 7” cardboard square
* Original reciped called for Hazelnuts but I used a mixture of roasted(cashewnut,hazelnut,pecans)

Directions for the sponge layers:

NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin/cake tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle/square on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle/square should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)
3.Beat the egg yolks, 1/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)

4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5.Line one of the baking sheets with a square-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat square. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Lorraine's note: If you're in Winter just now your butter might not soften enough at room temperature, which leads to lumps forming in the buttercream. Make sure the butter is of a very soft texture I.e. running a knife through it will provide little resistance, before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you'll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream!

Directions for the caramel topping:

1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Angela's note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos

1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

Verdict:

Though the process looks elaborate,it was not that difficult.Baking each layer separately is the main thing.My layers were not as thin as I expected them to be.However,the taste was jes perfect.Now am gona look around for this cake here.In three words,"Dorbe Torta rocks"!.

FIC - Express Your Mood - Roundup

2009-08-05T23:26:00.010-05:00

The world must certainly be a happy place to live.Well atleast people look at the brighter side of life,that’s the way I wud bring FIC Express your mood to a conclusion – a happy ending indeed. This was my first experience hosting an event of this nature and at the outset I would like to thanks Harini of Tongueticklers for giving me this opportunity. Now let start going over how people have expressed their moods thru their favorite dishes.

The person who let me host this event Harini of Tongueticklers says "the mood turns happy when the food is Adai" (Rice Lentil Pancakes).

Minoti's refreshing "Aqua Fresca" a Mexican drink,which is made out of Mango.She makes them during hot summer days.

Sadhana of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine made a complete guilt free,low carb,protein packed Coconut Quinoa.Having sometime for herself,after a relaxed Yoga in a calm,quite and a peaceful mood she made this yummy dish,giving Quinoa a complete makeover.

Being happy seeing the greenery around,Arti Agarwal of Breakfast to Dinner decided cook something green and ended up with the beautiful "Green Tikki"

In a happy mood Priya Suresh of Priya's Easy and Tasty recipe made "Oats n Mango Mousse Delight" which is truly a feast and delightful dessert.

EC of Simple Indian Food made Potato Halwa,which reflects her Happy mood.

Jaya Wagle of Jayaspace says nothing better expresses our mood than food,in a very calm and happy mood she created the Srikhand+Aamras-Amrakhand.I liked what she said - If Gods were sitting for a meal,they wud be having Amrakhand as one of their desserts:)

Sadhana of A2Z Vegetarian was thoroughly energized and recharged on a weekend when things went on well scheduled,which made her happy and ended up with a Whole(Multi) Grain Pizza.

Yet another happy mood cooking from Shanthi of Shanthi Krishnakumar's Cookbook who made Kunukku.

Looking for a super easy,healthy,crispy and quick food??? Kalva of Curry in Kadai has the answers to it....yummy looking Whole Wheat Eggless Orange Pancakes,well the name itself depicts her mood in this:)

On a hopeful mood Dhanggit of Dhanggit's Kitchen made these gorgeous looking Apricot Bread for her daughter.

Cooking Kappa Puzhakka made Jisha of Kerala Recipes very happy and enthusiastic.

Food can do wonders don't they? Yasmeen of Health Nut made Bisi Bele Bhath for the first time in a very anxious and worried mood which ended up comforting her.

"The warm earthy browns of this dish leave me feeling uplifted and light-hearted on a heavy gray monsoon day" says Deepika of Less Sugar,Please,making a perfect comfort food Rasam Vada.

Soma's happy,vibrant and energetic mood is pretty evident in the "Strawberry Preserve" that she made.

Another one from Kalva of Curry in Kadai - who wudn't want to start their morning in a healthy way? Do look out for her post - A Simple sumptuous delight, Blueberry Almond Yogurt Smoothie.

Gloomy and dull weather can make anyone lethargic,feeling the same way Pooja of My Experience with Cooking made the beautiful and comforting Carrot Mushroom Soup.

Being happy with the rains,Sudha of Malaysian Delicasies made these interesting Red Bean Jelly.

Yet another happy mood person,Ramya of Simple Vegetarian Recipes made the traditional Puli Pongal and Spicy Fried Green Beans,a perfect chinese delicacy.

Happy-go-lucky and optimistic Shaista Tabrez of Mixcalculations in a happy mood created the comforting Tahiri.

Celebrating her husband's success and happiness,Indrani of Appyayan made Moong Dal Paratha for Dinner.

In the pink of health,rosy red our newbie food blogger Shwetha of Cookie Shutter made Dalimbe Hesarubele Kosambri

Excited and Enthusiastic Preethi of Preethi's Online Cookbook baked Hyderabadi Biryani

After a tiring week,Muskaan of A2Z Vegetarian in a lousy mood made Tuver Ni Dal Dhokli(Wheat Bread Strips in Lentil Soup) which was comforting enough;)

Brown always sets in a warm and inviting atmosphere.Feeling warm and pleasant,Preeti Kashyap of Relishing Recipes made the gorgeous looking Cheese and Mushroom Rosti

In full festive mood,Preeti of Khaugiri made "Hayagreeva".This is something totally new to me.

Updated - I missed Lubna's refreshing post earlier.Apologies Lubna.In a super fresh mood our very own Lubna of Kitchen Flavours made Vitamin rich Fresh Musambi Juice.

Last but not the least,another happy person made these Crispy Onion Rings.Wondering who????? Its me....am happy too:)

Thanks all for your entries:)

Kerala Puttu and Kadala Curry

2009-07-31T16:59:00.006-05:00

Vineela Siva,Sreevidya and EC have passed on the “Creative Blogger”award.This award is pretty unique as it has certain rules attached to it:)

1.You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2.Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3.Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4.Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5.Nominate 7 other Kreative Bloggers.
6.Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7.Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

I thank Vineela Siva,Sreevidya and EC for this lovely award.

I have been tagged earlier with similar rules and am jes copying what I had mentioned earlier.So here are few things about me......

1.Kitchen is my exclusive paradise, an area where I pursue my culinary endeavors , no one gets to cook..It’s MY SPACE!

2.I am a cleanliness freak, particularly Kitchen & Bathroom.Utensils lying in the sink is a good enough reason for me to lose my temper.P bares the brunt most times.

3.I drink gallons of water,so I use the loo a lot:-P My friends always take a dig at me for this!

4.I believe,am not only good in making friends but keeping them too,still in touch with folks I’ve known since I was 5yrs old.Touchwood!

5.As a kid I’ve been told” books are like god”,if your feet happens to touch it,take it immediately and hold it close to your eyes (actually its like saying sorry god).Just for fun,my Dad and bro torture me by actually taking a newspaper,touch it to my feet,hide it & make me run around the entire house,I would be relieved only when I find it. Its quite funny but I still believe in this.

6.I don’t claim to be a Master neither a geek,but certainly good at excel and numbers, after all that’s been my bread & butter for long.

7.I drool over Death by Chocolate & Tiramisu,the latter being my fav one.Am crazy to the extent of naming P’s number on my mobile phone as “Tiramisu”

I am passing this on to - Varsha,Prathiba,Vijitha,Supriya,Mahimaa,Vidya and Lubna.

Now coming to the post,of all the Kerala food that I've had,Puttu always remains close to my heart.This is one such food that I simple can't resist.Typical Puttu is made using the Puttu Maker.I had picked one such during my India trip this year,however had to drop it due to weight constraints.So I am sticking to my own way of making it using a cooker.

Puttu

Prep Time - 10 mins
Start to Finish - 20mins
Servings - 2 to 3

Ingredients:

Store bought Puttu powder/Rice flour – 2 cups
Salt – a pinch
Fresh shredded Coconut – 1 cup

Method:

If using rice flour,heat a pan and sauté the flour until raw smell disappears.In a big bowl mix the flour,salt and li’l water until you end up with a crumbled texture.Do not add a lot of water,as we don’t need a dough like consistency.For best results,sprinkle water li’l by li’l and gently mix the flour.Add coconut and mix well.Place the mixture in a wide vessel and steam it for about 8-9mins in a pressure cooker.You may use an idly stand or jes a plain wide vessel.Serve hot along with Kadala curry(recipe follows).

Infact,if you have a sweet tooth,you may add sugar and cardamom powder to the steamed mixture and have it along with riped bananas,a typical way of relishing them.While sauting the flour,ensure not to burn them.I generally use a 2:1 ratio for the flour and the coconut,you may choose to lessen the quantity of coconut.These days Puttu powders are easily available in any Indian Grocers which comes very handy,I've used Ragi Puttu Powder, which is very high in proteins.I came across an interesting way of making them in Divya Vikram’s blog,you may check that out too.

Kadala Curry

Prep Time – 10min
Start to Finish – 45 min(excluding soaking time)
Serves – 2 to 3

Ingredients:

Black Chana/Konda Kadala/Black or Brown chickpeas – 2 cups (soaked overnight and cooked with salt until soft)
Tomato – 2 (pureed)
Onion – 1 small (finely chopped)

For the masala(to be grinded):

Coconut – ½ cup
Onion – 1 small (roughly chopped)
Ginger – an inch
Garlic pods – 3 nos
Coriander and Cumin seeds – 2 tbsp each dry roasted (optional)
Coriander cumin powder – 1 tbsp
Garam Masala – 1 tbsp
Green chillies – 2 nos
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tbsp

Seasoning -

Mustard seeds – 1/ tsp
Curry leaves – a few
Coconut Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

1.In a wok/skillet,heat oil and add mustard and curry leaves.Add Onions and sauté until translucent.
2.Add the grinded masala paste,sauté for few minutes.Add the tomato puree and cook until the raw smell disappears.
3.Add salt(salt has been already added while cooking the chickpeas,hence be careful while adding it the second time).
4.Add the boiled/cooked chickpeas to this gravy.Add a cup of water and allow it to cook until it thickens.Serve hot with Puttu.

I mentioned that the coriander and cumin seeds is optional,I add them because it brings an extra flavor when grinded fresh and also brings in a nice aroma when blended with coconut.

Verdict:

Puttu and Kadala Curry is the best combo that I can think of.Though it tasted very well,i somehow feel that the ones made with rice flour tastes the BEST!

Sending Kadala Curry to MLLA 13 hosted by Harini of Tongueticklers,which is the brainchild of Susan of Well Seasoned Cook

Crispy Onion Rings and FIC reminder!

2009-07-29T12:56:00.012-05:00

Two more days to go for FIC – Express your Mood.I have been wondering now for a while about the nature of the event, was it complex?.My apologies to my fellow bloggers if they have found it a li’l complex,however that wasn’t my intention.I really wanted to kindle the creative instincts in each one of us.In any case, I thank the people who have shown interest and I must say am indeed impressed with your innovation.Am looking forward to more entries for the event.

Have you seen “What about Bob”? or its remake the tamil movie “Tenali”.Its about this main character who fears about anything and everything,be it crossing the road,heights,water basically he is someone with multiple phobias. I feel embarrassed to admit but I do,I have some too,though I feel phobias is a very big a word to use,I would say am scared of certain things be it darkness,heights or water.Two weeks back we had been to Wisconsin Dells which is the “Waterpark Capital of the World”.The name says it all,it was water rides and dry rides everywhere.Me not being a ride person,wasn’t too keen on this trip.But P wanted to visit this place and hence the plan was made.We tagged along with our eight other friends and it was surely a fun filled trip.I was ready for any group activities/group rides but nothing alone,I am not all that brave and daring.sigh! I was scared even of Go Karting…can you beat that??? Huh! That’s me.

I thoroughly fell in love with the Dippin’ dots Icecream which i tried there - they are icecream snacks , very tiny beads of icecream,shaved ice and yogurt.I took this pic from the net,this is how they look.

They come in different flavors chocolate,cookie dough,vanilla,banana split and bubble gum to name a few.The craze for this continued even after I got back from the trip.I looked for this icecream on the net,found the nearest location,with few other friends I ended up going and to my surprise it was not a shop but jes an vending machine inside a movie theatre.What amused me was the fact that the details of a small vending machine was available on the net.Wow!!!!

Onion rings are my all time fav appetizer.I have had them in “n” number of places but the best one would always be in Applebees.Tried this out at home, keeping the taste in mind and I was very excited,it was jes perfect!

Prep time – 5 min
Start to finish – 15mins
Servings - 2 to 3 (as an appetizer)

Ingredients:

White Sweet Onion – 1 large sliced into ½” thick pieces and separated into individual rings.
Buttermilk – 1 ½ Cups
All Purpose Flour/Maida – 1 ½ cups
Breadcrumbs – ½ cup
Black Pepper powder – ¼ tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Oil – for frying
Salt – as per taste

Method:

Soak the Onion rings in buttermilk for about 20 – 30mins. Mix all the dry ingredients together except for the bread crumbs which has to be kept in a wide plate separately. Heat oil in a wok/skillet.Take one ring at a time,coat them with the flour,dip it again onto the buttermilk and coat it back with the flour,immediately drop them onto the breadcrumbs,coat it well and drop them in hot oil and fry until golden crown. Don’t crowd them in the fryer.Use paper towel to drain off the excess oil.Serve hot with any sauce.

Note: Soaking the rings in buttermilk for long might end with sour onion rings,so be careful.Adding breadcrumbs surely makes a difference in the taste,however this can be avoided.As the flour by itself will make the rings crispy,but adding crumbs might help it stay crispier for a li’l long than usual. Dropping them one by one for frying might be a li’l time consuming,instead keep about 5 to 6 rings ready and fry them at once,in the meanwhile keep the next batch ready.

Verdict : Its simple awesome....i have no other words to say:)

Sending this to CLICK Allium hosted by Jugalbandhi,FIC Express your mood hosted by me and to WYF - Fried Snack hosted by EC.

Chocolate covered Marshmallow Cookies - Daring Baker's Challenge July 2009

2009-07-27T23:10:00.011-05:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole of Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This is my first experience at the Daring Baker's Challenge and am looking forward to more of it.

Mallow experience -

I was very fascinated with the entire process.Though the time mentioned in the original recipe was very reasonable but it took a li'l long for me.I have never used marshmallows in my baking and this was the first time.I had some store bought ones which came handy.I had halved the quantity of the ingredients which means I should have ended up with 24 cookies but I ended up with 36 of them!

Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies) Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Prep Time: 15 min (cookies only)
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hours or up to 3 days (cookies only)
Cook Time: 10 min (cookies only)
Serves: 36 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
¼ cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 eggs, whisked together
Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows(However I used the store bought ones)
Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1.In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.

2.On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.

3.Add the eggs and mix until combine.

4.Form the dough into a disk, wrap with cling film or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

5.When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

6.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7.Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.

8.Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

9.Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

10.Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

11.One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

12.Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note:If you don’t want to make your own marshmallows,you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base.Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly,it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Prep Time: 5 min (marshmallows only)
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours (marshmallows only)
Cook Time: 10-20 min (marshmallows only, includes cooking sugar & whipping marshmallow)
Serves: About 4 dozen cookies at 1 - 1.5 inch
Homemade marshmallows:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 egg whites,room temperature
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.In a saucepan,combine the water,corn syrup,and sugar,bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage,or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.

2.Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

3.Remove the syrup from the heat,add the gelatin,and mix.

4.Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.

5.Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.

6.Transfer to a pastry bag.

Prep Time: 5 min (glaze only)
Inactive Prep Time: N/A
Cook Time: 5-7 min (glaze only)
Serves: Enough to dip about 4 doz. cookies at 1 - 1.5 inch

Chocolate glaze:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1.Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Verdict –

The cookies even without the chocolate glaze tasted very well.I didn’t use a cookie cutter hence my cookies were quite big in size and the marshmallow on top looked too small.End of the day,I am satisfied with my experience with the mallows.It was tasty and very chocolaty.Since I had used store bought marshmallows,I had to bake it for few mintues.Guess I had left it for a longer time and they turned completely flat.Had to redo it.

I love the Peperridge farm Milano Cookies,was too keen on making them.However due to time constraint I had to choose between the Mallows and the Milano cookies.Chocolate always comes first,hence I decided on the Mallows.Will need to plan ahead of time in the future.Am eagerly looking forward to the other Baker's post.

Whole Wheat Berry Pancakes

2009-07-21T12:54:00.009-05:00

Okie am back again.After my long 2.5months India vacation,I thought I wudnt take a break again,but realized the break wasn’t enough.Now I blame it to the beautiful weather which has been terrific.Winter was more like a “Staycation” meaning a stay at home vacation.Hence,we want to make the best use of Summer.I haven’t been able to blog much,this is an old draft which am posting now.

There was a time when I envied my freedom of getting up in the morning and plan my day.It was only work,work and work that kept me occupied.Now I have all the time in the world and also the weather in favor, nothing stops me.We’ve been busy travelling and visiting a lot of new places,some new adventures,exciting vacations etc.

This month has been quite busy,started with an adventurous Houseboat trip – my first houseboat experience! Weekend in the water – that’s how I spent my July 4th long weekend.Well I have no words to describe.Here lakes are as huge as a Sea. Imagine you are in the water in a houseboat, jes given a Map for navigation,lake surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of islands,wudnt one get lost???? Which direction would one travel? Except for the radio base which cud be reached for help,there is nothing else other than water!Its a mini home kinda set up inside the houseboat with stove top,refrigerator,Oven,Bunk beds accommodating eight people,bathroom,dining table etc…wat more can one ask for?We docked the boat in different locations - at times in secluded places,once at the beach to feel the cold water.Too amused by our Vegas trip,we wanted to try our hands in the casino,so docked our boat at the casino too.We were abt 100miles away from Canada,that was exciting too.Am looking forward to more such trips in the future.Well this is how the houseboat looked.

Coming to the post,making a pancake always makes me happy.I ran out of whipped cream,but this tasted good even without it.

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat flour – 1 ½ cup
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Sugar – 2 tsp
Egg – 1
Milk – ½ cup
Blueberries/Strawberries - ½ cup(only strawberries to be chopped)
Water – as required
Cooking Spray/Canola oil – for cooking.

Method:

Whisk egg and sugar together.Mix all the dry ingredients together.Add the wet ingredients to this and mix well.Add water,just enough to get a thin batter.Heat a pan,spray with cooking spray(you may use oil too),pour ¼ cup of the batter on the pan and cook on both sides just like Dosas.

Serve hot along with any syrup(maple syrup or any fruit syrup will do good).

Verdict – Its utterly delicious one.Soft and gui gui(with the syrup).Perfect for breakfast or Dinner.

Looking forward to more entries for FIC-Express your Mood.

Food in Colors(FIC)- Express your Mood

2009-07-02T12:08:00.009-05:00

First of all thanks to Harini for letting me host this event.

I believe our nature or personality traits or moods influences our creations .It could be as complex as an abstract painting or a brilliant piece of musical composition or as simple as the regular food we make on a day to day basis.Life in itself is so colorful,right from the the dresses we wear,the cars we drive,the walls around us,etc. Mother Nature too has blessed us with so much of color around us,be it the vast blue sea, dense green forest,dark brown mountains or the golden sand.Being in Midwest,how can I forget the white Snow?

Scientific studies have shown that there is a a strong link between Human Nature and their choice of Colors.On the same lines I thought,to host this event that brings about the dimension of color in the food based on our every day mood.For instance,if you are a vibrant and happy fellow,you may chose to cook something YELLOW;calm and quiet,you may choose WHITE;excited,enthusiastic and strange choose ORANGE;angry and stressed choose RED and so on.

So how are you feeling today?

It would be a fun exercise if you specify your current mood when you
send in the entries,to prove if there is indeed a scientific link between the mood and choice of colors!

Here are the rules for FIC:

1. Cook and post any food with emphasis on the theme "Express your Mood" in the finished product.

2.Please note that raw vegetables are allowed only in soups or salads. Also, do not re-post earlier posts for this event. It is fun when we get new entries.

3.Only vegetarian food allowed,no eggs too.

4.You MUST link your post to Sunshinemom's rules page and this post.Entries not linked to both these post will not be included in the final round up.

5.If your recipe is inspired or taken from a blog or site, please link by name instead of using a link with "here", to acknowledge the person and not the thing!

6.Send an e-mail to me at aculinaryodyssey@gmail.com with the following details:

Your name:
The name of your blog:
URL of your blog:
Title of the dish:
URL of the post:
Your mood:
A 300px width image of your dish

It would be nice if you could use the logo in your submission.

6.If you do not have a blog and would like to participate, please e-mail your recipe and a 300px wide picture at my id aculinaryodyssey@gmail.com

7.Multiple entries allowed,last date for submission is July 31,2009

Looking forward to all bloggers participation and make this event a great success.

Fruity Stacks

2009-06-22T15:54:00.008-05:00

Sunday was eventful.Weekend in the wild,lovely..…..hmm before anyone gets me wrong,I was talking about my visit to the Zoo.Its been quite some time since I visited one. I was all the more excited when P mentioned that this place was more of a wild life sanctuary. He was indeed right and I was happy to see animals in vast open spaces amidst thick vegetation. I believe it’s cruel to put animals in cage and not giving them freedom to move around. It was a good five hour walk thru the vast area.I was able to spot the majestic Tiger,its agile cousin the leopard,fast and furious Puma,marathon winner Ostrich,wild wolf to name a few.It was also a treat to watch cute li’l kids feed to Giraffes. The trip would have been memorable if I had spotted my fav animal the mighty Elephant.The highlight of the trip was the Monorail which runs across the entire place,giving us a panoramic view of the wild life and vegetation.Yet again the weather favored us.Last but not the least there was a festive mood in the Zoo,thanks to the wonderful musical orchestra.

I had picked up a box of Strawberries,Blueberries and Raspberries from Sams thinking I would make something.We kept munching some on our way to the Zoo and before we finish the entire box I decided to make “ Fruity Stacks”.I guess this one is a perfect dessert when we end up with an unplanned dinner/party ,easy to make and great to relish!

Prep Time – 30min
Baking – 10min
Start to Finish – 40min

Ingredients:

Phyllo sheets – 3 (thawed)
Butter –2 tbsp( I used Butter spray,coz its easy to use)
Almonds and Pecans – 2 tbsp (sliced or very finely chopped)
Whipped Cream – 1 cup ( I used the fat free one)
Sugar – 1/4 cup
Fruits – You may use any fruits available (Strawberries,raspberries,Blueberries,Mango,Kiwi fruit,Banana,Apple,Nectarines,Peaches etc) – Chopped into small slices/pieces.

Method:

Place one Phyllo sheet on a baking tray.Spray/brush butter and sprinkle sugar,place another sheet on top and brush butter and sprinkle sugar,place the last sheet ,brush/spray butter and sprinkle the almonds pecan mixture.Cut the Phylo sheets horizontally into three strips,further cutting them into small squares.Bake at 350F for about ten minutes/until golden brown.Cool it completely.

In the meanwhile,beat the cream and a tbsp of sugar (this is optional,the cream had sweet so I avoided this).Just before serving,assemble the Phyllo square and fruits.Place one square,top it with Whipped Cream and fruits.Place another square and repeat the same.

This is off to "Strawberry Feast" hosted by Happy Cook,"Click" event hosted by Jugalbandhi and "Low Fat(Eggless) Baking event" hosted by Madhuram and Fruit n Nut hosted by Mansi

Low Cal Yogurt and Banana Frozen Dessert

2009-06-18T10:36:00.007-05:00

Talk about Birthday parties,if it is ours its fun,if its our friends it all the more fun,what if it’s a small kido’s birthday?
After moving here,I have been attending Kids Birthday Parties more than ever before.While P doesn’t miss any of it,more so for the free meal(as always):-D,I often wonder how much he actually enjoys being a part of it.Initially,I used to feel a li’l out of place during these parties as most people had kids leaving the newly weds as minorities.However over a period of time I’ve started getting used to these, reminding myself that I wud be in the same boat sooner or later hosting my kids party.It also makes me realize the amount of patience and responsibility that I need to have before I become a parent.The birthday babies all decked up are blissfully unaware of the colorful surrounding ,clapping hands and multitude of new faces.They look extremely adorable and hog the limelight for the entire evening.Thanks to the technology - Digital Camera,Camcorders etc,these precious moments are captured and can be treasured lifelong.Shopping for gifts isn’t easy either,with tons of cute options available .I wish I were a kid here celebrating birthdays and receiving gifts:). How I wish?

The Birthday cakes again are so colorful and fascinating.Having a cake in the shape of Garfields,Barbie or Dora is so common these days.Its jes not the taste of the cake,the presentation and decoration makes it even more appealing to the taste buds.I realized after coming back from my vacation,I haven’t baked a cake/a pie/tart.Since I wanted to make something different,some thing simple and low on calories I made this yummy looking dessert.The recipe was from the book Smoothies and desserts,but I have tweaked it to suit my taste buds and yes it is a Low Cal Dessert,aint that good enuf to indulge on?:-P

Prep Time – 20min
Start to Finish – 3.5 hrs(including freezing time)
Servings – 10-12

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crumbs – 1 cup
Butter – 2 tbsp (Melted)
Pecans – 2 tbsp (very small pieces)
Sugar – 2 tbsp

For the topping:

White Chocolate/Vanilla Instant Pudding & Pie filing mix – 1 pkt
Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt – 2 cups
Milk – ¼ cup( I used 1% milk)
Low Fat Whipped topping – 1 ½ cups – Frozen(thawed)
Bananas – 2 ripe and firm (chopped into cubes)
1 tbsp – chocolate syrup

Method:

Grease an 8 inch square baking tray,with fork mix crumbs,melted butter,Pecans and sugar until crumbs are evenly moistened.With hands,press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the plate.Bake at 375F for 10mins.Cool it well.This is the usual recipe I follow to make the crust.
In a bowl,mix the pudding mix,yogurt and milk,whisk for a minute until smooth(I used an electric blender for a min in low speed).Fold in the whipped topping,don’t try beating it.Drop the Bananas and stir in slowly.Spread this mixture onto the crust(Crust should be at room temperature or cold).Cover and freeze at least for 3 hours or until firm.

Remove from the freezer , let it stand for 10min and then cut into squares and top each squares with chocolate syrup. Always store the remaining covered in the freezer.

The second time I tried this,I didn’t bake the crust.I went by the original recipe - I spread the crumbs and placed it in the freezer for 10mins,did the topping and it was jes perfect.

Verdict:

Looks can kill,don’t they?During each bite, I could feel the banana chunks,it was very well coated with the cream and yogurt.In between l'il pecans made it crunchy.I could eat this guilt free not thinking much of calories.230 cals per serving for this wonderful dessert….ain’t that great?:P)

Am sending this to Sugar High Fridays "Fruit & Nut" (Banana & Pecans are the Fruit and nut that I have used)and since this doesn't contain Egg and is Low on fat this is also off to Madhuram's "Low Fat Baking Event"

Preethi of Preethi's online Cookbook has passed on the lovely blog award.Thanks so much Preethi.

I am also asked to pass this on to 10 bloggers,so here I go - I would like to pass this on to Harini,Padma,Somoo,Priya,A2ZVegetarian,Parita,Divya Vikram,Pavithra,Prathiba and Varsha

Also, Varsha has tagged me for the "Honest Scrap Award" where am supposed to write 10 things about myself and guess I have already done this here.

Apple-Pear Crisp

2009-06-15T15:15:00.013-05:00

Train rides have always fascinated me since childhood.Journey through the lush green agricultural lands,deep dense woods,the feel of wind gushing thru my face,the sound of the engine horn, the rumbling noise of the wheels,etc.I have enjoyed Mother Nature’s beauty most while travelling by train.Thanks to the numerous trips during Summer Vacations in India. Well this is how I spent my weekend….a nature lover would surely enjoy these.Indian Railways is the largest railway network in the world, one of the most profitable ones too and not to mention one of the largest employers in the world.I had expressed my interest to travel in train here several times to P and my request finally fructified this weekend.Well it was a pleasant surprise trip to Iowa.We took the scenic Rail ride across the Iowa valley in an Open top train.This reminded me of the “Chaiya chaiya song” from the movie “Dil Se”.The weather was beautiful making the trip even more pleasant.It was a good two hours journey through the woods and rivers.We saw pretty homes,wild life and some breath taking views.It was a good break from the usual grind.We have made sure to make the best use of Summer,Road trips,biking, canoeing,rafting and the list goes on.I hope atleast a few of them materialize in the next few months.

Coming to the recipe,few days back I came across Rachel’s blog filled with wonderful recipes.I am sending across the “Apple-Pear Crisp” which I made from her recipe to Coconut & Lime’s Annual Recipe Contest that she is hosting this month.

Preparation Time – 10mins
Start to finish – 40mins(Including Baking time of 30mins)

Ingredients:

Apples – 3 Large (cubed)
Pears – 3 large (cubed)
Light Brown Sugar – ½ cup
Cinnamon powder – 1 ½ tsp
Corn Starch – ½ tsp

For the topping :

Old fashioned rolled oats – ½ cup
All Purpose Flour – ¼ cup
Light Brown Sugar – ¼ cup
Butter – 3 tbsp(melted)
Cinnamon – ½ tsp

Method:

Mix the first set of ingredients and place it on a greased baking dish.Mix the toppings separately and sprinkle evenly over the fruit mixture.Bake at 350F until the fruit is soft or the top turns brown and crispy.

Verdict:

Surely a wonderful recipe,best when served hot with a scoop of Vanilla Icecream. I made this for breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed it.This tastes best only when made with brown sugar.

Note : I used Granny Smith Apples.While making it for the second time I reduced the quantity of all the ingredients as it was made only for the two of us.I had also added pecans and raisins for the topping.

This is also off to Shanthi’s Sweet Time event and Divya of Dil Se’s Show me your breakfast event.

Cinnamon Apple Cheesecake ....a celebration!

2009-06-08T15:13:00.007-05:00

And it is so Cold..so very Cold. Its time for Summer and here am still feeling cold.The temperature is about 52 F and doesn’t seem to get any better. I am irritated to get back to the same old warm clothes..poor me! It was drizzling thru out the weekend too.Oh god, I wish I had a magic wand and change the weather the way I want it to be:)

In spite of the weather being bad,we didn’t compromise on our plans,especially on the Saturday. Weekends can be really quixotic and inspiring .P & I had a lovely day, “we” being formally dressed had a quiet and romantic Dinner at a classic American Restaurant, actually this is one of the finest restaurants here. Being a foodie I have been to all the kind of restaurants,have tried most of the cuisines and tasted best of the best foods, I guess very soon I should start blogging about my food and travel experiences too:-P.The restaurant pretty much had limited veggie entrée,but we were able to adapt a pasta dish (which was made veggie for us) called Linguini with fresh tomatoes (the original one had shrimp),we were happy to manage very well with the little that we could order.We also had Creamed Spinach which was served with Asiago cheese & some hand cut Idaho Potato fries,Bruschetta(grilled crostini rubbed with garlic and Virgin Olive oil topped with Roma Tomatoes,fresh Basil and Herbs).The dessert section was to die for - I had a Chocolate Lust cake ie., sinful layers of Devils food,Chocolate cheesecake and Rice Chocolate Truffle cake topped with Fudge Icing and Chocolate cookie crumbles…ummmm it was SINFUL!.

Well coming to the recipe, this is something I tried baking this weekend (Recipe taken from - the book “Taste of Home Desserts” along with my li’l variation) for something special…a celebration. I love cheesecakes and here is my endeavor with Apples and Cinnamon!

Preparation time – 15mins
Start to Finish – 1 hour(excluding the refrigerating time)
Yield – 12 Servings

Ingredients:

Butter – 1 stick/1/2 cup(softened)
Brown Sugar – ¼ cup
All Purpose flour – ½ cup
Wheat flour – ½ cup
Quick Cooking Oats – ¼ cup
Pecans – ¼ cup(finely chopped)
Ground Cinnamon – ½ tsp

Filling:

Cream cheese – 2 packages( 8 ounces each)
Condensed Milk – 1 can (14 ounces)
Apple juice concentrate – ½ cup
Eggs – 3 (lightly beaten)

Topping:

Apples – 2 medium( peeled and sliced,I used Pink Lady Apples)
Butter – 1 tbsp
Cornstarch – 1 tsp
Ground Cinnamon ¼ tsp
Apple Juice concentrate – ¼ cup

Method :

In a small mixing bowl,cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.Gradually add Flour,Oats,Cinnamon and Pecans until well blended.Press onto the botton of a greased baking sheet(1 ½ in. up the sides).Bake at 325F for tem minutes or until set.Cool on a wire rack.
In a large mixing bowl,beat cream cheese until fluffy.Beat in Condensed milk and Apple concentrate until smooth.Add eggs beat on low speed just until combined( the batter will be thin).Pour into crust.Bake at 325F for 40-45min or until centre is almost set.Cool and carefully run a knife on the edges to loosen.Refrigerate over night.
In a pan cook and stir in apples in butter over medium heat until crisp and tender.Cool and arrange over cheesecake.In a small sauce pan,combine cornstarch,cinnamon and apple juice concentrate until smooth.Bring to a boil.Reduce heat;cook and stir for a minute or until thickened.Immediately brush over Apples.Refrigerate for an hour or until chilled.

These cakes have to be consumed at the earliest(I mean it cannot be stored for long),else they turn a li’l harder. The original recipe doesn’t call for wheat flour,I wanted to reduce the intake of A.P Flour,hence used wheat flour .

Jain Cuisine - Kadu Palak Roti and Doodhi Paneer Kofta Curry

2009-06-04T15:31:00.012-05:00

Longback P had been to a Swaminarayan temple along with a friend,followed by a lunch feast by the Gujarathi community. They had a second thought about the meal when they were informed that the food had no Onion ,no Garlic and no Potato.However,P lured his friend into it by highlighting their dessert specialities.Li’l did they know then ,that this would be one of their most delicious and lip smacking lunch.As bachelors(then) they cudn’t have asked for anything better.When P narrated this to me,I was amused but not surprised.I knew all and well about Gujarathi/Jain cuisine.Be it the presentation/spice level/variety they are arguably one of the best,my fav too!

When I was in India this time, the very first restaurant I had visited was a restaurant by name “ Rajdhani” in Delhi which served authentic Guju Thali.This was my automatic choice when my BIL asked my preference. I add sugar/jaggery in my everyday cooking,as I prefer li’l bit of sweetness in everything I eat.Guess this is one of the reasons for my love for Guju food,as they always have a sweet and spicy flavor to their food.Tomato forms their base for most of their curries.I tried making Kadu(Pumpkin) Palak(Spinach) ki Roti and Doodhi Palak Kofta curry,ie grated pumpkin crispy koftas in tangy tomato gravy,these are purely Jain food.These are Tarla Dalal’s recipe,however I have tweaked it a li’l to suit my requirement.I have almost all her collections with me and would proudly say that am one of her most ardent fans:-P.

Kadu Palak ki Roti

Preparation Time – 10min
Start to Finish – 25min
Serves – 1 – 2 (Makes abt 5 rotis)

Ingredients:

Red Pumpkin(Kaddu) – 1 cup
Spinach – 1 cup(chopped)
Whole wheat flour(Atta) – 1 Cup + l’il more for rolling
Chilli Powder – 1 ½ tsp( increase as per your spice level)
Green Chilli – 1 tsp(minced/crushed)
Oil for cooking
Salt – for taste

Method

1.Heat a tsp of Oil,add the spinach and sauté for 2 mins until cooked.Keep aside.(I used frozen spinach so just cooked it as per package instructions)
2.Mix this along with the rest of the ingredients except oil and knead into a soft dough.Use water if required.Knead well and divide them into small portions
3.Using a rolling pin, roll out them into a circle and cook each rotis on a hot griddle.Apply li’l bit of oil on both sides and cook until golden brown.Serve hot alongwith pickle and curd.

Most times, I have difficulty in getting the right shaped “rotis”.The pic also hasn’t come out very well,wanted to take another one but was so lazy to do so.

Doodhi Paneer Kofta Curry

The original recipe didn't have Paneer in it.

Preparation time – 10min
Start to Finish – 30min
Servings – 6

Ingredients:

For the Koftas :

White Pumpkin(Doodhi/lauki) – 1 cup
Red Pumpkin – 1/2cup (This wasn't mentioned in the original recipe,I had some left with me hence added)
Rice Flour – ¾ cup
Green Chilli - 4 (minced/chopped)
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Cilantro – 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/4tsp
Baking Soda – 1 pinch
Oil – for frying
Salt – for taste

For the Gravy:

Tomatoes - 4 (finely chopped,I used Roma tomatoes)
Bay Leaves – 3
Cloves – 4
Peppercorns – 6
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander Cumin Powder(Dhaniya jeera powder) – 1 tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Coconut Milk – ¾ cup
Cream – ¼ cup
Corn flour – 1 tbsp(mixed with 1 tbsp water)
Oil – 2 tbsp
Paneer – 4 tbsp
Sugar – a tbsp
Salt – to taste
Cilantro – for garnishing

Method :

For the Koftas – 1. Mix all the ingredients except paneer together.The Pumpkin would have left water so ideally you wouldn’t need more water,however if needed you may add li’l water.
2.Make them into small balls,fill in few pieces of Paneer inside. Deep fry in oil until golden brown.As per the original recipe you may also microwave the balls for 40secs (I din’t try doing this)

For the Gravy:

Tomato Sauce - Grind chopped tomatoes(1 cup)+ ½ Cup Grated White Pumpkin(lauki/doodhi) + Sugar(1 tbsp)+Chilli Powder (1/2 tsp)+1/4 cup water+Salt to taste. Make this into a smooth puree and boil it in a small vessel,along with a bayleaf + 1” cinnamon stick+ 4 cloves+4 peppercorns.When the gravy starts thickening,add a tsp of cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp of water to it.Cook until the mixture resembles a smooth sauce

1.Heat oil in a pan,add bay leaves,cloves and peppercorns.Add chopped tomatoes,chilli powder,coriander cumin powder and asafetida
2.Cook until oil separates.Add tomato sauce(recipe above),coconut milk,cream.The gravy would ideally thicken if it doesn’t add the corn flour mixture.
3.Add the koftas,bring to boil and simmer for sometime.Garnish with cilantro and paneer.Serve hot with Roti.

These Koftas don’t stay soft for long.P took these for lunch and told me that these turned a li’l hard.So its better to be consumed the same day.Few days back i had made Malai Kofta and the koftas din't come out well,besan was used as a binding agent,they started breaking out when i dropped them in oil.I was anticipating similar issue this time too,but luckily rice flour did a fantastic job,the koftas were neat,crisp and tasty too.Guess rice flour should be used for any other koftas too,i shall try the next time.

These are off to Padmajha of “Seduce your tastebuds” who is hosting RCI Jain cuisine originally started by Lakshmi of the Veggie Cuisine.

Chaitra of Aathidhyam has passed on the above mentioned award…thank you so much Chaitra,that’s wonderful of you.

I have been trying few recipes that I had bookmarked,but haven't been capturing the pics,here are three of my fav ones......Tried and Tested:)

1.Mango Pudding by Bong Moms cookbook.

Verdict - The pudding was moist,soft,well baked and delicious.I reduced the sweetness in the pudding,this ended up being the finest pudding i have ever had.Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.

2.Eggplant Potato Curry in Peanut Tamarind Gravy (without the potatoes) by Usha of Veg Inspirations

Verdict - It was tangy,the aroma of peanuts was excellent.It tasted very well without the potatoes too.

3.Mangalore Buns by SJ

Verdict - It was jes the way I had tasted it while in India.Soft inside,l'il crispy outside.Perfect sweetness and wonderful brown color.

Thanks all for sharing these wonderful recipes.

Vegetable Biryani

2009-06-01T13:04:00.007-05:00

Remember those days when Vegetarians(mainly the bachelors)traveling abroad carried a lot of homemade pastes,MTR ready to eats,easy to cook meals etc,often attracting the attention of the customs.This made me wonder if it was indeed difficult to survive as a “veggie” in the US? It’s a common misconception people have about the scarcity of Vegetarian food.Things have changed dramatically in the past few years owing to an increase in the Indian Immigrant population.Most restaurants cater to the needs of vegetarians giving them a fair deal.Two days back, P and I we went to TGIF and were bowled over seeing a customized menu card for “vegetarians”.

Of course there are times when we have to compromise on our likings, like am fond of Burgers and I don’t find any Veggie ones in any of the Burger joints like a Mc Donalds,Wendys or even in Burger King.I cudn’t care less as there are many other things to indulge on and enjoy.

I belong to school of thought that any food with the right blend of spices and timely cooking will taste as good regardless of whether it has meat or not.And I enjoy conversations with my ardent Non vegetarian friends on the same.Recently,a friend of mine argued on Biryani being the best when cooked with meat.According to him, a true Biryani is with either Mutton or Chicken and there is no such thing called Vegetable Biryani .While I can understand the tastebuds of my fellow Non Veg friends,I took it as a friendly challenge and made this spicy,aroma filled “Vegetable Biryani”(Basmati Rice layered with spices and vegetables).The word “Biryani” is a Persian word which means “fried before cooking”.This is a very popular dish in India,Pakistan,Iraq(my recent visit to a Kurdish restaurant helped me taste some,will talk about it in my next post),Afghanistan etc.There are also different types of Biryani ,Hyderabadi Biryani being the most popular one. Needless to say this was a royal dish for the Nawabs and Nizams.

I did mention about the origin of Pulao in my earlier post on “Tawa Pulao”.The difference between a Pulao and Biryani is - In Pulao the vegetables and rice are stirred/mixed before cooking,where as in Biryani the vegetables and rice are layered during cooking.And also Biryani is made more spicy and colorful,thus being my fav one too!

Prep Time - 20min
Start to Finish - 45-50min
Servings – 5

Ingredients :

For the masala (to be grinded to a smooth paste)

Ginger – an inch
Garlic – 2 large pods
Red Onion – 1
Tomato – 1 small
Poppy seed – 2 tbsp
Mint leaves – a few leaves
Coriander leaves – 2tbsp
Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Main Ingredients:

Basmati Rice – 2 cups
Ghee – 6 tbsp
Bay leaf – 1
Red Onion – 1 (sliced)
Cashewnuts and Raisins – 3 tbsp (roasted in li’l bit of ghee)
Tomatoes – 2 chopped (I used Roma tomatoes)
Boiled Vegetables (Carrots,French Beans,Peas,Cauliflower,Potato) – 2- 3 cups chopped to an inch thickness
Black Pepper corns – 1 tsp
Milk – 3 tbsp
Coriander Powder – 1 tbsp
Cilantro - 3 tbsp
Saffron – a pinch(soak in 3 tbsp warm milk/water)
Cinnamon – 2 sticks
Cardamom – 4 nos
Salt to taste

Method :

1.Cook rice along with salt and ensure each and every grain is separated. Mix saffron and allow it to cool.
2.Heat Ghee (4 tbsp),add Bay leaf,Cinnamon Sticks,Cardamom,Pepper corns and Onions. Saute the Onions until translucent,add the masala paste(already grinded),turmeric powder and Coriander powder. When you see the Oil separating from the sides,add the tomatoes and sauté for few minutes.
3.Now add the boiled vegetables,salt and coriander leaves.Cook for a while until you see the veggies completely coated with the masalas.If needed, you may add ½ cup of water.
4.Preheat the oven to 375F,on a large baking pan,smear ghee(remaining) in the bottom,spread one layer of cooked rice,cashewnuts and raisins and then spread li’l bit of the vegetable gravy on top,thus forming layers of vegetables,nuts and rice.End it with the rice,sprinkle milk and ½ tsp of ghee on the top.
5.Cover and bake for 20min.Serve hot along with raita.Also, if you wish you may turn it upside down before serving.

The Rice already has salt in it,hence be careful when you add salt to the veggies.You may also add grated Paneer at the end,this would give a richer taste.And trust me,after baking the Aroma that it brings is simple mind blowing.

This is off to "Ravishing Rice" event hosted my Nags of the Edible Garden,originally started by Meeta of Monthly mingle

Kesar Badam Phirni( Saffron Almond Rice Pudding)

2009-05-27T22:16:00.008-05:00

Weather is a great metaphor for life.The change in weather gets me everytime.Just a week back in India,I was sweating like a pig at 115F,jes in a day when I reached here it was 60F and I needed a light jacket.Awww,I really admire mother nature for the way she has made things for us.As soon as I landed in Delhi,the first thing I enjoyed was to walk barefoot,no socks.....hurray!The weather was just so perfect,no sweater,no jackets,no ear protectors & no gloves. Here,towards the end of winter,I was a l’il irritated with everything white around me…I mean the snow,but now its Spring time,the greening of the grass,the leaves,flowers and blooms starting to come etc,it brings a whole new life together.Wonderful!

Well coming to the post, heard about “Phirni”? It’s a traditional Indian dessert,a rice pudding to be precise which is primarily made with milk,sugar and rice.This has been introduced to us by the Mughals.It’s very similar to the “Kheer” that we make.However,Kheer is Pakistani in origin,while Phirni is Indian.Though the original would always be the Kesar Badam Phirni, the variations to this are endless,the others include - Pistachios,Gulab(Rose),Chocolate,Mango,Apple & Banana Phirnis.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice/Sona Masoori Rice – 4tbsp
Milk – 1 Gallon
Almond(Badam) – ½ cup
Saffron – a pinch (soaked in warm milk for 30mins)
Sugar – 1 cup
Cardamom Powder – ½ tsp
Silvered Almonds – 1 tbsp(for garnishing)

Method:

Wash and soak rice for about an hour.Soak Badam for about 6 hours,peel the skin and blend it into a smooth paste along with the rice.Boil milk,add sugar & cardamom powder,continue boiling until it reduces to 3/4th quantity.Stir well in between.Add the paste and saffron(already soaked in milk).Allow it to boil until it thickens completely(custard like consistency).Pour into individual cups,garnish with silvered almonds and refrigerate for about 6 hours.Serve chilled.

The last time I made this,instead of soaking the rice for long,I microwaved it for 2mins.Also,if you are too lazy to wait for the milk to thicken,you may add 2 tbsp of rice flour mixed with 1/4 cup of water,this will help in thickening faster.Adding Mango to this would be Mango Phirni,adding Banana would be Banana Phirni and so on.

This is off to "Ravishing Rice" event hosted my Nags of the Edible Garden,originally started by Meeta of Monthly mingle

Bourbon Biscuits and am back!!!!

2009-05-19T15:21:00.011-05:00

Okie…am back,not that I ever left,am back to the blogging world! I thought I would take a moment today to welcome myself back from a long and a wonderful vacation.Am I happy or sad???? Well,I have mixed feelings,feeling bad coz am missing my family,happy coz am back to my space,my sweet home. It was a long long….very long vacation,huh and its over now!

As it is said,”If you come as happy as you leave,you have had a good vacation”.I am thoroughly happy to get back,whatever it is end of the day you really wana get back to your den!. Have you heard this one too – “No one needs a vacation more than the person who just had one”.So am ready,P wat say,eh?

Few bloggers thought I disappeared, few kept checking on me…felt nice with all responses.Thanks a lot for stopping by my blog even in my absence. To kick off,I decided to make something sweet, which is actually both P’s & my favourite – Bourbon Biscuits.Does it ring a bell??? Yeah this is the one which is like a sandwich biscuit consisting of two thin dark chocolate biscuits with a chocolate cream filling.This one was one of my all time fav as a kid,I remember licking the cream inside first and then have the biscuit. It surely is a hit amongst kids.The chocolaty color makes this all the more appealing:)

This is P's cousins recipe, I believe she learnt baking before her wedding and his Aunt collated all the recipes n gave it to me during my visit this year.I did change a li’l as per requirement.

Ingredients –

All Purpose Flour/Maida – 1 cup
Sugar – 1/3 cup
Butter – ¼ cup
Baking Soda – 1/4tsp
Honey – 1tsp(optional)
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Cocoa – 3 tsp
Vanilla Essence – 2tsp
Cold milk – 3-4 tbsp

For Filling(Butter icing)-

Butter – 1/4cup
Icing Sugar – 1/3 cup
Cocoa – 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence – a few drops

Method:

Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add essence,honey and Baking Soda and blend well.Sieve the Flour with Cocoa and baking powder.Mix the Flour to the creamed mixture and form a soft dough.Add cold milk to this dough.Roll out the prepared dough on a board(You may use a li’l flour for dusting) and cut with a biscuit cutter(I cudn’t find mine,hence used a knife to cut into rectangles).Prick on top of the cut shapes with a toothpick and sprinkle sugar.Place on a greased and floured baking tray and bake at 355F for 8-10mins.Cool it for 2mins before using the filling.

For the filling:

Mix all the filling ingredients to a smooth paste.Sandwich the biscuits with this chocolate butter icing.

Brown is one of my fav colors too,hence this recipe perfectly fits in for FIC:Favourite.So here it goes to Curry Leaf who is hosting this event originally started by Harini of Tongueticklers.

Except for the baking,which is less than 10min this one is an easy stuff to make.So off it goes to 15 minutes cooking,hosted by Mahima of the Indian Vegetarian Kitchen.

I have missed alot of awards,i did see messages from alot of them about the same.Am yet to check and accept,however would like to thank each and every individual for having thought about me & passing it to me.Thanks a bunch!

Litchi Cinnamon Custard Bar and Awards!

2009-03-02T22:36:00.014-06:00

Social networking sites/social media - tell me who is not addicted? This is something that has caught up with youngsters and elders alike. While at work, never did I have a chance to indulge in such activities,now that I have all the time in the world I got lured into it too. Just a couple days back in Facebook, a friend of mine tagged me for something called – 25 things you have to say about yourself and keep passing the baton. It was funny, yet intriguing. Once done, I decided to do something similar in our very own blogging world ,at least this would give us an opportunity to know our fellow bloggers better other than their culinary expertise. Instead of 25 things, I thought 5 to 7 was good enough to kick start.Coincidentally,Varsha proposed something similar too and tagged me. “Great minds think alike”,don’t they? Let me not bore you much,I am just writing seven of them,will leave the rest to your imagination :-D

1.Kitchen is my exclusive paradise, an area where I pursue my culinary endeavors , no one gets to cook..It’s MY SPACE!

2.I am a cleanliness freak, particularly Kitchen & Bathroom. Utensils lying in the sink is a good enough reason for me to lose my temper.P bares the brunt most times.

3.I drink gallons of water,so I use the loo a lot:-P My friends always take a dig at me for this!

4. I believe,am not only good in making friends but keeping them too,still in touch with folks I’ve known since I was 5yrs old. Touchwood!

5.As a kid I’ve been told” books are like god”,if your feet happens to touch it,take it immediately and hold it close to your eyes (actually its like saying sorry god).Just for fun,my Dad and bro torture me by actually taking a newspaper,touch it to my feet,hide it & make me run around the entire house,I would be relieved only when I find it. Its quite funny but I still believe in this.

6.I don’t claim to be a Master neither a geek,but certainly good at excel and numbers, after all that’s been my bread & butter for long.

7. I drool over Death by Chocolate & Tiramisu,the latter being my fav one.Am crazy to the extent of naming P’s number on my mobile phone as “Tiramisu”

I would be happy to see your responses too, however I leave the choice to you.I am tagging seven of them – Asha,Mahimaa,Supershef,Vidhya,Alka,Hema,Malar

This is also going to be my last post before a long vacation to India.Whenever I get time,I will surely try and check all your blogs.If not,I will catch up with all your posts once am back.I thought to wind up with a sweet dish using any fruit and the soft gui gui Litchi is the fruit that came into my mind first.Its also spelt as “Lychee” and called “Litchu” or “Laichi”.The original recipe was called “Pear Custard Bar” from the book “Taste of Home Desserts”.Instead of Pear, I used Litchi and also tweaked the recipe a li’l and made this gorgeous looking dessert. So here it is….

Ingredients:

Sugar – 1/3 cup
All Purpose Flour – 3/4cup
Vanilla extract/essence – 1 tsp
Pecans – ½ cup
Cashewnuts – ½ cup
Macadamia nuts – ¼ cup(optional)- Ididn’t add this

For the topping:

Cream cheese – 1 package (8 ounces),softened
Sugar – ¼ cup
Vanilla extract/essence – 1 tsp
Litchi – 1 can (this had about 18 pieces),drained
Sugar - ½ tsp
Ground Cinnamon – ½ tsp

Method:

1.Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.Add Vanilla extract,gradually add flour to the creamed mixture.Mix well and stir in the nuts.
2.Press into a greased 8-in square baking pan.Bake at 350F for about 20min or until lightly brown.Cool it.
3.In a small mixing bowl,beat cream cheese until smooth.Beat in sugar(1/2 cup),egg and vanilla.Pour over the crust.
4.Cut the litchi into half,arrange in a single layer over filling.Combine sugar(1/2tsp) and cinnamon;sprinkle over the litchi.Bake at 375F for 30min.Cool on a wire rack for an hour.

5.Cover and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hrs before cutting.

Once its done,the centre will be soft set and will become firmer upon cooling.Store in the refrigerator.

Its time for Awards - Superchef and Malar has passed on these awards to me....thanks so much.

.Also Jaishree has passed on the above mentioned award and the Yumblog award.Thanks so much.

I want to take time,appreciate and thank each of the bloggers,you truly make a difference to the blogging world.Hence,am passing on all these awards to-Varsha,Asha,Mahimaa,Vidhya,Trupti,Alka,Hema,Rajeshwari,Malar,

Jaishree,Priya,Paru,Harini,Usha,Mangala,DeepaHari,

Rekha,Superchef,Dershana,Daily Meals,Ujwal,Preety,

Pavithra,Vani,Redchillies,Cham,Madhu,Madhumitha,

Priya,Lubna,Uma,Lavanya,AnuSriram,Sia,

Navita,Shama,Aparna,Madhuram,Chitra,Ashwini,Vibaas,

Jayasree,Indhu,Akal's Saapadu LG,Maya,

Veggiebelly and Sowmya.

Have fun blogging:)

Tandoori Gobi

2009-02-26T16:12:00.009-06:00

I have been waiting over a month to see some snowfall for all the hype P had given. Am I crazy to wish for it???? Nah,all I wanted is to make a Snowman. Living in the Midwest that is certainly not a big ask.Though the weather has been cold,we haven’t witnessed much snow this year. The nature’s way of creating it white, reflects so well in the night. I wish to have a snowball fight, taste the icicle, skiing and enjoy the wondrous splendor of the nature, there’s always a next winter for these activities. Remember the fairy tales – Little Match girl, trying to sell matchsticks on a wintry New Year’s eve? I have fond memories of my school Annual Day celebration where I won this book as first prize in the Drawing competition while in Class I .My first tryst with snow was through this book.Little did I know that this would turn to reality many years later!

God was kind enough to shower some last week. I was freezing but knowing the stubborn I am didn’t quite listen to P, after a lot of “to do” and “not to do”, went ahead with it . I had a tuff time making one, the snow wasn’t wet (wet granular one is the best one to use),it was difficult to assemble them together. I finally ended up making a snow baby and not a snowman:-D. And the wonderful coincidence to this is the state wide alert for heavy snow storm today:-P

In this weather, what could be more delicious than a hot Tandoori Gobi?

Ingredients –

Cauliflower – 1 (carefully cut into large florets,big chunk would be good)
Thick Curd – 1 cup (I used low fat curd)
Ginger Garlic paste – ¼ tsp(Optional)
Coriander powder -1tsp
Chilli Powder – 2 tsp (Change the spice level as per your taste)
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
Besan – 2 tbsp
Garam Masala – 1tsp
Chunky Chaat Masala – 1 tsp(I used MDH chunky chaat masala)
Green Chillies – 1tsp (Crushed/minced) This is optional.
Olive oil – 1tsp
Lemon juice – 2tsp
Asafoetida/hing – a pinch
Onions – ¼ cup(thinly sliced)
Cilantro – For garnishing
Salt – as required

Method –

1.If you don’t have thick curd, hang curd in a muslin cloth for about half an hour to drain water.
2.Mix the curd along with all the powders (Chilli,Turmeric,Besan,Garam Masala, coriander powder & chaat Masala)in a bowl.If using ginger garlic paste & green chillies,add them too.Add salt & hing.The addition of Turmeric & Chilli powder gives it a nice Orange Color.
3.Cauliflower needs to be steamed so that it turns out to be l’il soft while eating.Either use the microwave or use our conventional method,parboil it with salt water.Ensure not to overcook.
4.Drop the Cauliflower to the mixture and mix well.Use a plastic wrap/a lid and close the bowl and allow it to marinate for about 4-5hrs in the refrigerator.
5.These are made in the Tandoor/Griller. If using a griller,push the florets onto bamboo skewers,keep some marinate mixture aside & brush the florets once in a while and grill them.I used the broil option in the Oven.Place the florets on a baking tray, sprinkle Olive oil and broil at 350F until color changes.In between flip the florets.Be watchful as it might get charred soon,as the heat is directly applied to the food in this method.However,the charred ones taste a lot better.
6.Toss sliced onions and lemon juice together and garnish it on the Gobi along with Cilantro.Serve it with Mint Chutney.The hotter the better:)

Oil can be avoided as broiling doesn’t need oil.Broiler is a process of cooking food in high heat, so be very careful. In fact while making this, the smoke alarm got triggered at home:-P.It ain’t that bad,its just that I wasn’t paying attention to it. You may also place a silver foil on the baking tray, as the cauliflower has a tendency to stick to the tray.

This is off to JFI,Cauliflower is the theme for JFI:Cauliflower,hosted by Mythreyee of Paajaka Recipes.The event was originally started by Indira of Mahanadi.

Since this is orange in color,this goes to FIC Orange hosted by Aparna of Diverse Kitchen,originally started my Harini of Tongueticklers.

Also,Rachna of the Gourmet Launchpad is hosting A Healthy Bite event,this is off to her event too.Rachna this appetizer is neither fried nor has any fatty food,am not sure if this qualifies,you may take a call.Thanks!

Cherimoya Custard and an Award!

2009-02-23T18:14:00.007-06:00

It was Oscar fever at home too. However,I wasn’t too keen on watching it,but P insisted and dragged me to see the program.I didn’t quite enjoy Slumdog Millionaire,except for Rehman nothing else seemed right to me.I am a diehard fan of A R Rehman, so he being nominated was the only enthu that kept me on with the award ceremony. I was jumping to glory to see him receive the much coveted award. And to add to this,his performance at the Oscars was mind blowing.I was touched by his “Thanksgiving speech”.When he won the first award for the Best Original Score,along with his thanking note he said “Mere paas Ma hain”(ofcourse he translated this- I have my mother),apparently his Mom had accompanied him for the ceremony and for the second award he said “Ella Pugazhum Iraivanuke” meaning - All praises/tributes is to God. I am in complete awe of his simplicity and humility.Hats off to him – Jai ho!

Coming to my recipe,Cherimoya is nothing but Custard Apple.I happened to find it at the local Chinese market here.This is one fruit that I’ve missed eating for long.It brought back memories of the Custard Apple tree at my house back in India.Although the tree bore delicious fruit, it was tedious to remove the zillion seeds in it. To my pleasant surprise the one here had less than ten seeds ,making my job much simpler.It makes me wonder,the wonders of Nature’s creation,the same fruit being different yet so similar across continents

Ingredients:

Cherimoya/Custard Apple – 1
Sugar – ½ cup
Cream – ½ cup
Milk – 1 cup
Vanilla Extract/essence – 1tsp
Egg Yolk – 1(optional)
Kit Kat chocolate – 1 (small – chopped)

Method :

1.Cut and deseed the Cherimoya,extract the pulp and mash it.
2.If using egg,beat the yolk along with Vanilla Extract.
3.Add sugar,mashed pulp and Milk.Mix well,add the cream. Refrigerate it add the chopped chocolate before serving.

A friend of ours actually served Custard along with Chocolate which was delicious, this was originally her idea. I added egg thinking it would make it smooth, but this can be avoided.

Vidhas of the "Appetizing Recipes" has passed on this award to me.Thanks so much! I would like to pass it on to Varsha,Mangala and Jaishree

Easy appetizers - Spring Rolls & Dim sum

2009-02-19T22:20:00.009-06:00

A recent visit to one of the Chinese Grocers here was such a revelation, I found almost all the veggies that I’ve been missing here.It was actually my Bro’s engagement in India, I was feeling pathetic sitting here and to cheer up my mood P took me for shopping,which always helps me:-P. Apart from the other shopping,I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie shopping too.I picked up Banana Flower(Vazhai Poo),White Pumpkin,Small Green Brinjals to name a few. I also picked up Wanton wraps and spring roll sheets from there and made these yummy appetizers:-P

Dim sum which is a Cantonese word literally means “Touch the heart” .This appetizer has surely touched my heart,an all time fav one:) Remember Mainland China/Beijing bites in India???? These are served in small steamer baskets. In most of the places these are ordered from a menu,in few other places these are brought & served by the servers in a trolley, one such restaurant that I remember visiting is Civet in Bangalore,India which followed this.Dim Sum can be made by steaming or frying ,even pan fried ones are very common. The Chinese prefer having Chinese tea (Jasmine Tea to be precise) along with them, because it helps in digestion. Here in the US, the shallow fried ones are called “Potstickers”. Nowadays things are getting Indianized, but still Dim Sum rules! Its believed that making Dim sum is an art by itself.These days it’s a lot easier to make one,thanks to the wraps which are easily available. In India they are quite popular as “Momos”. I’ve personally known these as Momos only,which are mainly made with rice flour.Dim Sums however, use some kind of specialty rice flour.

They are called Wantons & Dumplings too. Momos are Tibetan name for Dumpling. And Wantons are type of dumpling common in Chinese cuisine.Huh…..confusing,eh? Well I made both steamed and the fried ones. As far as I’ve known Wantons are always associated with the fried and Momos with the steamed ones. Whatever the name is, it’s surely is a winner. For the sauce, I just randomly added the ingredients, didn’t actually have any definite recipe in mind, the outcome was super duper!

Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

Spring Roll Pastry Sheets – As many as u need. I used 10 of them
Cabbage – 1 cup(shredded)
Carrot – 1 (grated)
Noodles – ½ cup cooked (I used veg hakka noodles)
Capsicum – ½ cup(finely chopped)
Onions – ½ cup(finely chopped)
Ginger Garlic Paste -1 tsp
Soy Sauce – 2 tsp
Green Chillies – 4 (finely chopped/crushed)
Oil – 2tsp + for frying
Salt – as per taste

For the sealing -

Cornstarch – 1 tbsp mixed with 5tbsp of water.

Method :

1.In a wok/pan,heat 2 tsp of oil.Add Ginger Garlic paste and Onion, sauté for a minute. Add the remaining ingredients one by one.Saute it well for 3-4mins,do not overcook the veggies they need to be crispy.Allow it to cool.
2.Remove each pastry sheet carefully and place a spoon full of mixture and roll it tightly. First from the end, then the sides and then the opposite side. Mix cornstarch with water and use it for sealing.
3.Deep fry in hot oil, until brown.

The filled rolls can also be frozen and fried as and when required.

Chilli Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

Ginger – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 2 small pods
Red Chillies – 5-6(increase as per individual spice levels)
Onions – ½ cup(roughly chopped)
Soy Sauce – 2 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup – 2 tbsp
Salt – as per taste

Method –

1.Grind the onions,redchillies,ginger and garlic together.
2.Heat a cup of water,add the paste and the remaining ingredients.
3.Allow it to boil and switch of the flame when it turns thick.

This was actually red in color,because of the bright light it looks orangish.In the final display with the Dim sum it looks fine.

Steamed Dim Sum

Ingredients:

Wanton wraps – 10 (use as many as u want)
Cabbage – 1 cup (finely chopped)
Onion – ¼ cup (finely chopped)
Tofu – ¼ cup(crumbled)
Oil – 2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Green chillies - 4 (finely chopped/crushed)
Soy Sauce – 1 tsp
Salt – as per taste

Method

1.In a Wok/pan,heat oil,add ginger garlic paste,green chillies and onions, sauté for a minute,add the remaining ingredients. Sauté well, don’t overcook the veggies. Allow it to cool.
2.Remove each wrap carefully, place the filling in the centre and fold as per your choice.

Moisten the ends of the wrapper with a dab of water.Fold the wrap as per your choice be it a single fold/similar to our very own Modaks(Kozhakattai) or even fold it into half and press/crimp the edges forming a pleat(saree pleat) like structure.

3.Steam it for about 10-12mins.

Always serve these hot,else it looses its taste.

Fried Dim Sum

Ingredients:

Wanton wraps – as per requirement
Cheese – 3 tbsp

Method –

1.Place l’il bit of cheese in the centre and fold it as per your choice.Just like the steamed ones,a single fold would do good too ie., fold it diagonally than seal the edges using water. Ensure it is folded well, else the cheese would ooze out and melt.
2.Deep fry in hot oil until brown. Serve hot with the sauce.

Any kind of cheese can be used. Instead of cheese,the filling used for steamed ones can also be used.The Spring Roll Pastry sheets and Wanton wraps can be found in the frozen section in any Chinese grocers. Wanton wraps are available in different thickness; I used the thin ones.Instead of Frying these can be Pan fried too.