Foodstr

Moving to a quicker way to share :-)

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:55:03 +0530

I’ve bee using Pinterest for some days and find it much easier to share recipes there than re-editing everything and pasting it here.. I’m thinking of being a lot more active out there than here due to the same. Please follow me on the link (http://pinterest.com/purvapar/fooood/) and drop me an email if you need an invite.. Ill do what I can base don the invites I have :)

12 Recipes to know by heart

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:21:02 +0530

Marcella Hazan’s Amazing 4-Ingredient Tomato Sauce

We are talking about kitchen essentials this month at The Kitchn, and when I think of “essentials,” I think first of my weeknight meals, the ones I can whip up without reference to a cookbook or a website. We asked our readers what these recipes were for them — what sorts of recipes did they have memorized and know by heart? Here are some of the most frequent answers, along with our own versions so that you too can learn these by heart.

From hearty chili to homemade salad dressing and hot yeast bread, each of these recipes can help you put a meal on the table quickly and efficiently, with the pleasure of knowing you whipped it up like a pro. These are recipes to give you wings in the kitchen, building up your store of confidence and practical knowledge.

Here’s our list of dishes that many of our readers said they know by heart, along with a sample recipe. We don’t claim these recipes to be the ultimate version of each of these dishes, but if you’re looking to add them to your no-recipe repertoire, they are a good place to start!

12 Recipes to Know By Heart

1. Tomato Sauce - Tomato sauce is such a great recipe to have in your head. Reader Margi83301 says she makes hers at least once a week. Quick, easy tomato sauce will let you get a saucy pasta dish on the table fast (and leave you leftovers too). Here are a couple recipes to check out:
• Marcella Hazan’s Amazing 4-Ingredient Tomato Sauce
• Quick Tomato Sauce with Pasta

2. Chili - So many of our readers mentioned chili as the recipe they could knock off without a second thought! A big bowl of hearty chili is a classic winter weeknight meal, and leftovers will carry you through a week of lunches. Here are a couple of our favorite guides to making chili.
• How To Make Chili
• Chili with Pasta & Wisconsin Cheddar

3. Chicken Soup - For sheer nourishment, chicken soup wins out for best recipe to have memorized. Here’s a basic recipe that does a very good job at showing you how to adapt for your own tastes or schedule.
• All Afternoon or Less Than an Hour: Chicken Soup with Herb Dumplings

4. Roast Chicken - Whether you’re just cooking for yourself, or having a mini dinner party, roast chicken is a fabulous thing to know by heart. It’s delicious, impressive, and comforting — quite a trio. Here are instructions for roasting a chicken:
• How To Roast a Chicken

5. Frittata - Frittata is not only a good recipe to know by heart, it’s also a good way to use up scraps of leftover vegetables, cured meats, and cheeses. Here’s a basic recipe for a frittata — but it’s easily adaptable:
• Potato, Red Pepper, and Feta Frittata

6. Risotto - Risotto sounds fancy, but like a frittata, it’s an easy weeknight meal that also gives you the opportunity to use up leftover vegetables and cheese. Here are a couple resources for making a good risotto:
• How to Make a Good Risotto
• Red Pepper, Sausage, and Chard Risotto

7. Biscuits - Quick, hot biscuits from the oven were mentioned by quite a few readers, including leapkate, who said, “Biscuits for sure!” Here are two recipes; the first is ultra simple:
• How To Make Cream Biscuits In Less Than 15 Minutes
• How To Make Buttermilk Biscuits From Scratch

8. Pancakes - Reader Cindy44 says that she has made pancakes so frequently that she could recite the recipe! Pancakes are a great thing to know by heart, especially when you’re trying to impress someone with a delicious Saturday morning breakfast. Here’s the best pancake recipe we know (they’re especially great topped with cranberry or fruit sauce:
• The BEST Pancakes Ever!

9. No-Knead Bread - This easy bread became a phenomenon when it was first published, as cooks realized how easy and hands-off it could be to make artisan-quality bread at home. Once you’re made it a couple times you’ll have it memorized too.
• How To Make No-Knead Bread

10. Pesto - I was surprised at how many readers mentioned pesto, but I shouldn’t have been. Pesto is a wildly flavorful, simple sauce that can really perk up simple dishes like pasta or a frittata. Here are basic instructions for making pesto out of basil or any spicy greens.
• Last Chance Basil Pesto
• Spring Greens Pesto

11. Salad Dressing - Everyone should be able to whip up a salad dressing from scratch. A homemade dressing, calibrated to your tastes, turns a plain salad into something really wonderful. Here are a couple sets of instructions on making a good balsamic vinaigrette.
• How To Make a Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette
• My Favorite Balsamic Vinaigrette

12. Fruit Crisp or Crumble - So, when talking dessert, lots and lots of readers said that they know chocolate chip cookies by heart. (Yum!) But we decided to also spotlight fruit crisp or crumble, with the argument that fruit crisp is a super way to enjoy seasonal fruit; it’s a more flexible dessert, overall.

Of course, the recipes we (and our readers) know by heart are not necessarily the ones that you would use on a regular basis. These are quite Western in focus, and we are definitely not claiming that this list is comprehensive! Perhaps these aren’t the things you would necessarily cook daily — if so, contribute in our comments and tell us what recipes you know by heart. We’d love to hear from you!

Caramel Apple-Popcorn Snack Mix

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:46:00 +0530

If you’ve ever enjoyed a hearty handful of caramel popcorn, you’re going to adore this amped-up recipe. Not only is a pot of fresh-popped popcorn covered in caramel, it’s also spotted with cinnamon chips, pecans, and teensy bits of toffee. Drooling yet? Toss in a handful of dried apple chips and you’ve absolutely arrived!

This recipe makes a perfect teacher gift, party snack, or afterschool treat. Of course, it works equally well as a midnight snack. And maybe even a breakfast if you’re anything like me … incapable of denying the scrumptiousness that is this popcorn. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 10 min

Total Time: 30 min

Serving Size: 10 servings

Ingredients

12 cups popped popcorn

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cinnamon chips

1 cup toffee bits

1 cup whole pecans

1 cup dried apple chips

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Place the brown sugar, light corn syrup, salt, and butter in a microwave safe bowl.

2. Microwave for about 1 minute, just until the butter is melted, then stir together until well mixed.

3. Return to the microwave and cook for 2 minutes, stir, then cook for an additional 2 minutes.

4. Add the baking soda and vanilla to the caramel. Stir until well mixed.

5. Place your popped popcorn in a large bowl and drizzle the caramel over the popcorn.

6. Sprinkle the cinnamon chips, toffee bits, pecans, and dried apple chips over the popcorn. Toss lightly. Allow to cool before serving.

No-heat Treats: Watermelon Nachos

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:41:00 +0530

Who says nachos have to be made out of chips? Wedges of sweet, juicy watermelon drizzled with yogurt, sprinkled with dried cranberries and toasted almonds and dusted with cinnamon makes a great, summery snack – especially on those days when you can’t take the heat.

Watermelon Nachos

12-16 1/2-inch thick watermelon triangles with 3-inch sides

2 cups (500 mL) Greek vanilla yogurt

1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla extract

Few drops almond extract

1 cup (250 mL) dried cranberries

1 cup (250 mL) white chocolate chips

1/2 cup (125 mL) sliced toasted almonds

1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cinnamon

Arrange the watermelon triangles on a serving platter, set aside.

In a small bowl mix yogurt with extracts and drizzle mixture over the watermelon to give the appearance of nacho cheese sauce. Sprinkle dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and almonds over the yogurt and dust with cinnamon.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Per serving: about 400 cal, 8 g pro, 11 g total fat (5 g sat. fat), 73 g carb, 4 g fibre, 10 mg chol, 65 mg sodium. %RDI: iron 10%, calcium 20%, vit A 70%, vit C 80%

Caramelized Onion, Gruyère, and Bacon Spread

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:35:00 +0530

Serve with crackers or bread slices. If you can’t find Gruyère, substitute raclette, fontina, or Swiss cheese

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded and divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, divided

1/3 cup canola mayonnaise

1/3 cup fat-free sour cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan lightly with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low; cook 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

3. Reserve 2 tablespoons cheese. Combine remaining cheese, caramelized onion, 1 tablespoon chives, and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Transfer the mixture to a 1-quart glass or ceramic baking dish coated lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle with reserved 2 tablespoons cheese. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon chives

Hunters Stew

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:01:00 +0530

Hunters Stew ~ Ciabatta croutons

Hunters stew

An odd thing for a vegan to recreate

When making this stew, I was thinking of what it would be like to live in a cabin in the middle of the woods with a wood stove to cook over and a perfectly seasoned cast iron Dutch oven and frying pan

I think I would like to live like this - I think this until I remember:

a. I don’t like smelling like wood smoke

b. I don’t like lugging firewood

A perfect stew for cold winters - a warm satisfying weekend meal you can share with friends with or without the wood burning fireplace

Traditionally, hunters stew features sausage, rabbit & chicken. I opted for sausage only - feel free to use any meat substitute you have on hand any & all would work equally well. The potato and yellow split peas thicken the stew without the need of added fat..

Baby bellas add an earthiness that I can never get enough of. Garlic & onion - well, no stew would be complete without them. Parsley adds a bit of color to the final dish.

I almost forgot the carrots - thankfully I remembered

Homemade veggie broth is best, but, in a pinch organic store bought works just as well

ciabatta bread croutons - need I say more? Well yeah - seasoned to perfection with nutritional yeast & all-purpose seasoning. After the soup was gone, I ate all the croutons straight outta the bowl

Sautéed with a bit of butter and olive oil

Wonderful. A perfectly crunchy garnish for a perfectly fabulous stew

A stew that warms your belly and your heart. A hunter’s stew that does not require hunting. That my friends, makes me smile

Hunters Stew ~ Ciabatta Croutons

Serves 4

You will need:

· 1 tsp. olive oil

· 1/4 cup diced onion

· 15 baby bella mushrooms, quartered

· 8oz light life gimme lean ground sausage

· 2 cloves of garlic, minced

· 2 medium red skinned potatoes, cubed

· 2 medium carrots, sliced into rounds

· 1/2 cup yellow split peas

· 32oz veggie broth

· salt

· ground pepper

· parsley for garnishing

For the croutons:

· 1 square ciabatta roll - about 1 1/2 cups cubed

· 1tsp butter

· 1tsp olive oil

· 1tsp nutritional yeast

· 1tsp all-purpose seasoning

· pinch salt

Assembly:

· in a medium soup pot heat olive oil over medium heat - sauté onion until translucent

· add baby bellas and a pinch of salt - cook until mushrooms begin to turn golden brown

· sausage and garlic are added next, cooking until the sausage begins to turn golden brown

· Potatoes, split peas & carrots are added to the pot along with the veggie broth - season with salt & pepper. bring to a boil

· reduce heat to low, place the cover askew (to allow steam to escape) onto the pot & simmer for 30 minutes

· meanwhile, cube the bread for the croutons

· in a medium sauté pan, over medium heat add butter, oil & bread - sprinkle with nutritional yeast, seasoning and salt- tossing to evenly coat all sides of the bread cubes

· Cook over medium heat tossing frequently until all sides are golden - about 10 minutes. remove from heat (I think this would equally work well baked in a 350* oven if you do not want to make on the stove top)

· allow the soup to sit for approximately 10 minutes prior to serving

· ladle finished soup in bowls, garnish with ciabatta croutons & fresh parsley

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Meatballs

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:43:00 +0530

* You can substitute the Pancetta with Bacon :). Gonna make these tonight! YUM!

Baked Chicken Meatballs

I don’t think there is anything WORSE than a dry, flavorless meatball. I love the concept of meatballs however, I do not like red meat (steak, hamburger, veal I won’t eat it.) I just simply don’t like it. I did have some ground chicken that I needed to use up so I thought hmmmmm…..Chicken meatballs??? It sounded good but I was afraid it wouldn’t taste as good as it sounded. Ground chicken can become very dry, fall apart and at times be just blah. I researched chicken meatballs to find that 90% of the complaints in reviews were either the meatballs were “to dry” or “flavorless”. So I was very skeptical of trying to make them. THEN friends THEN I found a recipe….BAKED CHICKEN MEATBALLS!!!!!! And this recipe was on several other popular blogs so I figured if it’s good enough for them it is good enough for me. I whipped these babies up in no time and had them baking in the oven pronto. They are super simple, super easy and honestly fairly healthy for a meatball. I prepped and made these in the later part of the morning. Lets just say by the time dinner rolled around, well there weren’t to many of these left. (yes they were THAT good!) Even reheated the next day they still tasted exactly the same if not better. This is DEFINATLY my new go to recipe ! ps…I took these photos of only the meatballs so that you could see how they turned out. Once they were done baking I simmered them in marinara sauce for about 20 minutes then served over pasta. YUM!

Baked Chicken Meatballs
Adapted from Gourmet & summershutter

Ingredients

3 slices Italian bread, torn into small bits (1 cup)
1/3 cup milk
3 ounces sliced pancetta, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large egg
1 pound ground chicken
2 tablespoons tomato paste, divided*
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Soak bread in milk in a small bowl until softened, about four minutes.

Cook pancetta, onion, and garlic in one tablespoon oil with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until onion is softened, about 6 minutes. Cool slightly.

Squeeze bread to remove excess milk, then discard milk. Lightly beat egg in a large bowl, then combine with chicken, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, pancetta mixture, bread, and parsley. Form 12 meatballs and arrange in another 4-sided sheet pan or roasting dish.

Stir together remaining tablespoons of tomato paste and oil and brush over meatballs , then bake in upper third of oven until meatballs are just cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes

Che Bap (Vietnamese Sweet Corn Pudding)

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:59:00 +0530

One of my most enduring childhood memories is of watching my bà nội, or grandmother, shaving corn – the clean, confident stroke of her knife, and the tumble of sweet, juicy kernels released from the cob. If we were lucky, she’d stir the kernels into a pot of coconut milk to make chè, a delectable Vietnamese pudding.

I can think of few better treats than chè on a summer afternoon. Both refreshing and comforting, these Vietnamese puddings or sweet soups may be served warm or cold and often contain ingredients like tapioca, glutinous rice, beans, and fruit.

Several variations of corn chè (called chè bắp in the South and chè ngô in the North) exist, from those with sweet rice to yellow mung beans. This one combines juicy corn with the chewy texture of tapioca pearls and creamy coconut milk. If you can findpandan leaf at an Asian market, this adds a beautiful aroma, but the pudding is just as delicious without it. I personally prefer eating it chilled with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.

Chè Bắp (Vietnamese Sweet Corn Pudding)
Serves 8-10

3 large ears corn, shucked
3 cups water
2 pandan leaves, tied together and knotted (optional)
1/4 cup small tapioca pearls
2 (14-ounce) cans coconut milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Stand each ear of corn up in a bowl and, holding it sturdy, run a sharp chef’s knife down the length of the ear to shave off the kernels. Set the kernels aside.

Combine the corn cobs, pandan leaves (optional), and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place tapioca pearls in a small bowl, cover with cold water by 1/2 inch and let stand.

Remove corn cobs and pandan leaves from the pot and discard.

Add coconut milk, corn kernels, sugar, and a pinch of salt to the pot and stir to combine. Return to a boil and then simmer until corn is tender, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar and salt, if desired.

Stir tapioca pearls into the pot and simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat to cool. Can refrigerate for up to 2 days. If it gets too thick and gloppy, thin it with water.

Serve warm or cold in bowls or glasses. Garnish with sesame seeds just before

Broccoli and Bacon Salad

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:11:07 +0530

Broccoli Salad is an incarnation of broccoli even the most stubborn of broccoli haters can’t hate. The reason for this is 70% due to the presence of bacon, 15% due to the sweet, creamy, tangy dressing that one could lap off a plate (I said “one”, that was not a confession… nor was it not a confession… hmm), and 15% due to the fact that your mom probably made it, and you’re probably at a barbecue.

Yes, every summer barbecue, especially those of the potluck persuasion, have (or SHOULD have!) a broccoli salad. The classic is broccoli + raisins + red onion + sunflower seeds. Mine has cashews. Only because my sunflower seeds were rancid. Which, in an unusual twist, I discovered prior to putting them in the salad. What a concept!

Anyway, the cashews were a delicious swap – you can use either. Or even sliced almonds. But the salty, toasted sunflower seeds are the tops.

Do you want to know a secret? You can toast nuts in the microwave. Yep. Spread them on a plate, high power for 1 minute, shake ‘em around, back in for another minute… and TA DA!! Beautiful toasty nuts.

Toast your nuts. They taste way better.

I add thinly sliced bell peppers to my broccoli salad, not just because they add a gorgeous pop of colour against the green landscape, but also because that’s how Calhoun’s does it. If you went to university in Vancouver, you know Calhoun’s. It is a 24 hour coffee shop 10 minutes from campus. Crappy coffee, crappy food, crappy lighting (sorry Calhoun’s, if you happen upon this…) – but it’s packed with studiers, always.

And yes, I was among the Calhoun’s crowd for 5 years (that’s how long my program was, I didn’t do a “victory lap”…). When I wasn’t devouring a stale rice krispie square the size of my face, I was virtuously spearing soggy spears of broccoli from the pool of dressing in their crestfallen rendition of the broccoli salad.

Funny, regardless of how bad it was, here I am, adding peppers to my mom’s revered broccoli salad with a sigh of nostalgia…

Okay, I’ve shown you the broccoli, now I want to show you some behind the scenes cuteness.

See this face? This is the face that was staring at me from my photography perch (surfing the back and arm of the sofa with one white-knuckled fist clutching the blinds, in case you were curious). This face says: BACON? The maple kind?

Now this, this right here is the intense focus face, the target is honed in on, and the eyes start to cross. ADORABLE, right?

And now we have arrived at the launch of operation thief-the-bacon. This is him looking me directly in the eye while he sloooooooooowly inches his open mouth toward the bacon hoping it will fall in at a rate so gradual that my weak human eyes won’t notice.

The bacon didn’t fall in. I’m sure he is still hopeful for the next time, though.

Without further adieu, grab some broccoli, secure your fork, and eat your veggies. The delicious way. You know, with bacon.

Broccoli Salad

· 1 head broccoli, chopped into bite-sized florets

· 1 red pepper, cut in thin slices

· 1/2 red onion, cut in thin slices or minced

· 1/2 cup raisins

· 1/2 cup cashews, toasted

· 4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

· 1/2 cup mayonnaise

· 1/4 cup sugar

· 2 tbsp vinegar (I used white wine vinegar, but you could just use white vinegar)

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, onion, raisins, cashews and bacon. Whisk together mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Pour over broccoli mixture and toss well to combine. Lasts 2 days in the refrigerator.

S'mores Cookies

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:57:10 +0530

In the central province of Saraburi in Thailand there is a temple that houses the Buddha’s footprint.

This is where I had my first experience with the all-American camping phenom, the Mighty S’more.

Strangeness & randomness to the infinite, people.

Image Courtesy Wikipedia

So – it was junior high. Not a very fortunate phase in anyone’s life. Although when you’re actually IN junior high, everyone else seems normal except you.

You, naturally, stick out like a sore thumb.

Wrong clothes. Wrong hair. Wrong braces. Wrong everything.

And no clue whatsoever why the hell anyone would ever want to go camping.

It was a field trip arranged by the international school in Bangkok where I spent the first half of my life.

My American teachers and American classmates were like – rockin’ out full on camp-town USA, fully equipped with tents and graham crackers, marshmallows, Hershey’s chocolate bars, hot dogs and burgers and buns to go with.

I was utterly confused.

I bought beach shorts just for the occasion. Because somehow I thought large-print multi-colored beach shorts were the thing to wear on a camping trip.

I was wrong.

Someone handed me a hot dog on a stick the first night by the camp fire and I stared at them blankly.

I am mortally afraid of bugs.

Thailand has a LOT of bugs.

I believe this trip was also my first experience with Off! Bug spray which the American quotient also managed to secure, presumably from the American embassy, along with the marshmallows.

Day 2, we had the option to go on an early, early morning trek up to the temple to see the Buddha’s footprint.

I didn’t go because I was too frazzled trying to make sense of my beach shorts, my hair, the bugs, the hot dogs and the whole American camping experience in general.

The Buddha would have to wait.

That night, they broke out the S’mores.

And all, as they say, was forgiven.

But I tell you, if you are an indoorsy soul like me, you needn’t go camping anywhere, whether in Thailand or Texas, to enjoy a S’more.

You can mash everything up into a cookie right at home, right in your trusty oven, bug-free, frizz-free, beach-shorts-free.

And happy.

S’mores Cookies

Adapted from Eleanor Klivans’ Big Fat Cookies

These cookies are out of control. They are not very pretty to look at. But they are out of control in the taste department.

We know marshmallows get soft and gooey in a regular fireside S’more.

And we know marshmallows get caramelly and sticky from making Rice Krispies.

These cookies are the best of both those Utopian worlds.

Gooey, melty, sticky, chewy, chocolately, graham-crackery goodness.

The original recipe calls for using graham cracker crumbs, but I went with buying the sheets then crumbling them up myself. I like the texture of having a few bigger pieces of graham crackers dotted throughout the cookie. Because there is so little flour used here, you really get full on graham cracker flavor.

If you under-bake them a little, you get maximum gooeyness, but they are going to tend to fall apart. I found them to be most delicious this way.

If you’re more into having them look cohesive (these are not pretty suckers), then make sure to bake them longer so that they hold together. They will be a little crispier, and the marshmallows will have melted into that clear, sticky caramelly thing around the edges.

Either way, they are phenomenally delicious.

Ingredients

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

18 sheets (2 packets) graham crackers

¼ cup flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

Method

Place the graham crackers in a food storage bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have mostly crumbs with a few larger pieces. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Crack in the egg and pour in the vanilla extract. Beat until well incorporated.

Gradually pour in the graham cracker crumbs, flour and salt. Mix until combined.

Add the chocolate chips and marshmallows and mix well.

Using an ice cream scoop or ¼ cup measure, drop rounded balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, 4 inches apart. Flatten the tops of the cookies slightly so that they are about ¾ of an inch thick.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges of the cookies will look clear and caramelly, while the centers may still have bits of white marshmallow peeking out.

Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack using a big spatula.

Makes 15 bug-free, campfire-free cookies.

Fresh Mango Sorbet with White Pepper

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:57:00 +0530

With hot weather coming up, it’s great to have a host of frozen treats at the ready. And nothing hits the spot on a sweltering day like sorbet. Here, we have a simple as can be recipe for fresh mango sorbet. Refreshing and intense, this is a big, bright treat everyone’s going to love. With a wallop of sweet mango flavor tempered by fresh squeezed lime, and, in honor of the tasty mango treats available on the streets of New York, just a hint of fresh ground white pepper.

A note on the recipe: I used white pepper because it packs a cleaner, less bitter flavor than the traditional black pepper. For a livelier sorbet experience, consider adding a bit more salt, cayenne pepper or paprika.

Fresh Mango Sorbet with White Pepper
makes 1 quart

2 large mangoes (ripe, but not overly so)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon rum or vodka*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 – 1 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper

Peel and core the mangoes. Be sure to collect any accumulated juices, but try and avoid the stringy bits from the pit. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Cover and chill the mixture in the refrigerator for several hours.

When the mixture is cold, process in you ice cream make according to instructions. At this point, sorbet will be a bit soft–for optimal texture freeze for an hour or two before serving.

*Alcohol contributes to a smoother texture in sorbet because it doesn’t freeze. Note that this amount is very small, and compares to the amount in vanilla extract (which is 35% alcohol). This recipe makes a quart of sorbet which is about 12 servings, so the alcohol is about 0.6% of the total volume and each serving has about a 1/4 tsp. of vodka. If you’d like to avoid the alcohol altogether, consider upping the sugar content by 2 or 3 tablespoons.

My Mushroom Omelets

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:30:00 +0530

Now, Some thing of my own! :). Made these today and everyone absolutely loved them.

The best thing I love about omelets is you can add so many things to them and make something new :) So am gonna try something new these days and will post the recipes of successful results. ;)

Mushroom Omelets

Ingredients

Serves 1 (makes 2 omelets recipe)

2-3 Button Mushrooms - thickly sliced

Mixed, dried herbs (I usually use Pizza topping herb mix - they are dried and mixed with pepper only)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Eggs (or 3:1 white to yolk ratio eggs, for a healthier option)

2 tsp. chopped coriander

What to do next

1) Take a small amount of Olive oil in a non-stick pan. maybe 1/2 tsp.. Since it is non-stick anyway, this is only needed for coating the mushrooms and cooking them well, and mushrooms do not need too much oil.

2) make sure you have a low flame. Olive oil (esp. extra virgin) has a very low burning point. Don’t let it smoke.

3) add the mushrooms, a hint of salt and herbs (maybe 1/2 a tsp.) and sauté. let it cook for 5 minutes till mushrooms reduce visibly in size

4) Remove half the mushrooms from the pan into a bowl for later. With a fork, spread the remaining mushrooms around the pan so that the pieces are evenly spread out.

5) Pour half of the eggs onto mushrooms. sprinkle salt to taste. when half done, sprinkle some coriander and flip. Let t cook from both sides well.

6) Remove from flame. Put back rest of mushrooms in pan and repeat process of spreading them around and pouring egg. Add salt and coriander to taste.

Sprinkle with pepper before serving. Can also add cheese with the coriander for that extra wow factor :)

Creamy mushroom stew recipe

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:58:00 +0530

A friend of Mine (@Bearika) has suggetsed I try the Paleo diet.. So while ive ordered the book and I wait for its delivery, I was browsing the authors website (Robb Wolf) and some recipe websites when I noticed this awesome recipe for Mushroom stew. Guess whats for dinner tonight? :)

Particularly love the idea of coconut milk. Gonna try!

—EDIT—

Turned out AWESOME! Been taking this to work, and everyone loves it! Super healthy, nutritious and delicious!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb of mixed mushrooms, chopped with tough portion of stems removed (I used Portobello and White Button mushrooms and found them to be a great combination);
¼ cup of butter or ghee;
2 onions, chopped;
4 cloves garlic, minced;
Handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked;
¼ cup or so of red wine (this is really to taste, depending on how strong you want the flavor of the wine to be. A nice alternative to this would be fresh beef stock);
½ cup of heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk;
2 green onions, chopped;
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation

Before chopping the mushrooms, rinse them to remove any excess dirt and then pat dry.
Heat a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the butter butter or ghee.
Stir-in the onions and garlic. Cook until they begin to brown, about 7 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. After cooking for a few minutes you will notice that they let off moisture. You want to continue cooking until this moisture evaporates entirely.
Add the wine or stock as well as the heavy cream or coconut milk and stir well to ensure that the flavors are dispersed evenly.
Once the stew has simmered for a few minutes, add in the thyme leaves, green onions and adjust the salt and pepper seasoning. Allow to sit on a low heat for a few more minutes so that it thickens.

This stew is now complete. It is best served when in the “comfort” state-of-mind, but can really be enjoyed at anytime.

P.S. Be sure to check out the Paleo Recipe Book. It’s a cookbook I’ve created to help you cook the best food for your health. It contains over 370 recipes and covers absolutely everything you need.

Register for my email newsletter at the bottom of the page and I’ll send you a free preview of the cookbook right away.

How to make Cake Pops!

Fri, 06 May 2011 15:35:00 +0530

How To Make Cake Pops

Cake balls, cake pops, cakesicles — have you tried them? They swept the internet like a tidal wave over the last few years, thanks in part to the delightful and amazing creations of Bakerella and other creative cooks. We finally decided to try them, and while ours don’t achieve the heights of more talented confectionery artists, they tasted pretty darn good!

Cake pops are basically little smushed balls of cake and frosting (kind of like when you used to smash your birthday cake all in pieces, maybe with ice cream, and eat it as goop). You bake up a cake, let it cool, tear it into fine crumbs, stir in something to hold it all together, and roll it in balls. Easy!

They’re terribly cute, and they’re also a great way to use up leftover cake. I had quite a bit of leftover cake and frosting from my recent foray into LEGO cake building, so cake balls seemed a natural way to use them all up.

These are incredibly delicious, over the top little morsels. The chocolate shell gives way with a little snap to a moist and soft inside, like a brownie that melts in your mouth. They’re not as rich as chocolate truffles, but they are still quite sweet. Special occasion treats only, but oh how people love them!

Here’s how to do it yourself, and do it from scratch, too. Most recipes call for a boxed cake mix and canned frosting, but why not go with homemade, as long as you’re going to all the trouble of making cute little balls already?

Cake Ball Mix

What you need
1 batch Dark Chocolate Cake
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon milk (or more, as necessary)

Bake the cake and let it cool completely on a rack. This is a very moist cake, which is ideal for this recipe. It’s best to let it cool overnight at least. When it is completely cool, break the cake into a large bowl. Crumble it with forks or your fingers until it is in fine crumbs.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and milk together until smooth. Pour into the cake crumbs and mix with a spoon. Then continue mixing with your fingers, kneading and mixing until fully incorporated into the cake. Check to see if it will roll into a ball. It should: this makes a very malleable, easy-to-handle cake mixture. But if it needs a little extra moisture, add milk a spoonful at a time.

When the mix is completely done, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. You can leave the mix refrigerated for several days at this point. I left mine in the fridge for about three days before making the balls. You could probably also freeze this.

Making Cake Pops

What you need
Lollipop sticks (found at Michael’s, JoAnn’s, or other craft stores)
12 ounces chocolate chips
12 ounces white chocolate bark
Edible wax, optional
Colored sugars, candies, and other decorative sprinkles

How to make the balls
Prepare two large baking sheets by covering with wax paper or parchment. Take a bit of the cake mixture and roll it into a smooth ball. If you want to use the lollipop sticks, stick one into the end of each ball, pointing upward, as you put the ball back down on the sheet. [Note: I cut the long lollipop sticks in half; they seemed a little long for the size of the balls.] Repeat until you’ve used up all the mixture. As each sheet fills up, put it in the freezer so that the balls harden.

How to decorate the cake pops
Melt chocolate or white chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. If you want to make the coating a little more resistant to melting, add a small square of wax to the pot and let it melt too. Stir well. Dip each ball into the chocolate until covered.

Dip in sugar, coconut, sprinkles, or anything else you’d like to decorate with. Put it back on the sheet to harden.

Don’t refrigerate these; it will cause the coating to weep or melt. They can be frozen, however.

Peanut Butter and Oat Energy Bites

Tue, 03 May 2011 13:55:00 +0530

Peanut Butter and Oat Energy Bites

It is Sunday morning. Hopefully you will wake up well-rested, stretch out your arms, and open your eyes to a sunny day. Maybe you will have a warm cup of coffee, some eggs with toast, or maybe you will even get really lucky and have some homemade pancakes. After that you might relax with the Sunday paper, catch up on the news, or watch some cartoons with your kids. Of course, you will do all that while still in your comfy pajamas. On Sunday morning, you can rest easy because the next work week is still a distant 24 hours away.

As the day wears on, you might run some errands, meet a friend for lunch, or do some laundry. But by Sunday evening, you will have the unfortunate revelation that Monday morning and that-thing-that-shall-not-be-named (ie. work) is right around the corner. You will start gearing up for the week, thinking about what you need to accomplish, what you will wear for work, and hopefully you will think aboutwhat you will eat for lunch during the week.

Maybe you have a catered meeting on Tuesday, and lunch with a co-worker at that new burger joint on Friday. The other days you will probably bring your lunch, and I would wager a guess you will eat sandwiches, leftovers from the night before, or healthy portable foods like fruits, yogurt, or hummus. Some days if you are extremely busy, you might not even have time to eat lunch at all! Am I describing your week about right?

I wouldn’t call myself a fortune teller, but I can also reasonably predict that by the time 3 or 4 o’clock comes around, you will be looking at your watch - your eyes will bulge with astonishment as you realize there are still several hours to go and lots of work to be done before you can eat dinner, and you are hungry. Your energy from lunch is gone (if you had time to eat anything at all) and you are seriously contemplating a vending machine run. It is a situation of serious food desperation, and we have all been there.

At the root of this problem lies the simple facts that:

A.) You are hungry.

B.) You have failed to anticipate you would be hungry.

C.) As a direct consequence of B., you have no food on hand.

You could also make the excuse that:

D.) You anticipated the hunger strike, but had no time to rustle up some grub.

Ok fair enough. But since this problem occurs on a daily basis for most people (and amnesia is not currently an epidemic), fact B. is clearly ridiculous. If you are honest with yourself, I am sure you can agree that you know you will be hungry. So really, the reason we suffer through these late-afternoon snack monster attacks is that we don’t take the time to prepare.

I know we all have busy lives full of very important things to do, but let me tell you how you can feed the snack monster with something healthy and delicious that will give you the energy you need to finish the day strong. You can make it in 5 minutes over the weekend, and these snacks should last you for 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Now that sounds like quite the payoff doesn’t it?

By simply combining peanut butter, whole grains and seeds, dried fruit, and a bit of honey, you have a no-cook snack that is made with ingredients to specifically give you energy. These bites are especially packed with protein from the nuts and seeds, but also have healthy oils, more natural sugars, and obviously no preservatives or strange binders/additives. They are just sweet enough to feel like an indulgence, but not enough to spoil your dinner or turn away savory/salty snack fans. Since they are extremely easy to make - just mix the ingredients together and press and roll them into balls - you can actually make this a fun family activity for the weekend and include them in kid’s lunches too. Wasn’t snack time invented in kindergarten?

But let me tell you what I like the most about these snacks - for several reasons, you will only want to eat one at a time. Since they are kept cool, you will need to go all the way to the refrigerator to get one, making it less likely you will go back for seconds (as compared to eating chips/cookies/candy that can be kept in an desk drawer). Also, they are about 2 inches in diameter, which makes them big enough to satisfy but still small enough to be just a snack. And lastly, the peanut butter makes them slower to eat and chew, so it would be almost impossible to rapidly eat them in multiples (though I won’t stop you from trying).

So this weekend, before the work week starts, be good to yourself and your tummy and get prepared to deal with late afternoon cravings or energy crashes. You will be able to finish your day with more focus, more productivity, and less stomach growling. All good things in my book.

One year ago: Avocado and Red Grapefruit Salad

You might also like: Whole Grain Animal Crackers

______________________________________________

Peanut Butter and Oat Energy Bites
Adapted from Kylie, at A Hungry Spoon

3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup unsalted, roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup (or more) dried cranberries, roughly chopped*
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, making sure to evenly distribute all the ingredients. Take some of the dough and press it together between your hands - if it sticks together well, it is ready to go, if it feels too dry then add a bit more peanut butter or honey. Likewise, if it is too ‘wet,’ add some extra oats or flax.

To form the dough into a small bite, use a spoon or a cookie scoop to portion out the dough, squeeze it between your hands, and then gently roll it into a ball. This amount of dough makes 12 bites that are about 2 inches in diameter. Store the bites in an airtight container, and keep them refrigerated until eating. Bites will keep for 1-2 weeks refrigerated.

*Feel free to substitute other dried fruits if you like such as apricots, mango, or apples, or you could take this a totally different route and swap in carob or chocolate pieces.

Crepes with Fresh Strawberry Jam

Tue, 03 May 2011 10:58:00 +0530

YUM!! Cant wait to try these out!

Crepes with Fresh Strawberry Jam

The first time my boyfriend told me he was going to make me pancakes, I expected a tall stack topped with Aunt Jemima; these are what he made me. I was both surprised and excited, because I know this dish as a “crepe”, and I love them! It turns out that Norwegians (including my boyfriend) call this a pancake, and call our buttermilk goodies “American Pancakes.”

I can almost guarantee that all the things you need to make these crepes are in your fridge or pantry right now. You only need three ingredients to make the crepes themselves, and your local farmers market is the perfect place to pick up some ripe strawberries for the jam.

We LOVE to eat these crepes, most often for breakfast, but almost as often for lunch or dinner as well. Although I suppose it is technically like “breakfast for dinner,” I have never really thought of it that way. For me, crepes are a special treat, and I usually end up eating them until I feel like my stomach will burst. And then I still want more.

We use a Lodge 10 1/2 inch cast iron griddle pan to make our crepes, which is perfect because it is a nice size, it has low sides, and was a good price. Just make sure you get a mitt for the handle, since it is also cast iron. Crepes won’t be so much fun if you burn your hands! If you don’t have/don’t want to buy one of these pans, it is also possibly to make these crepes in a heavy-bottomed non-stick skillet, such as an omelette pan. (My boyfriend disagrees. He claims this type of cast iron pan is essential, and that other pans give subpar crepes. He may be right. However, we have made crepes at my parent’s home before and used such a pan, and I say that I would rather have a subpar crepe than no crepe at all. If you use a non-stick pan, just be sure to adjust the heat accordingly. If you have a real crepe pan with one of those wooden dowels to smooth out the batter… well, then you are a crepe-pro already and I am just jealous.)

To see the technique that we use for making the crepes, check out this video:

So the quality isn’t great, but you get the idea.

Since the batter for these crepes doesn’t have any sugar, they can be a foil for any sort of topping or filling, sweet or savory. My boyfriend always eats them just with sugar; he is a purist. Growing up, his family ate them with blueberry jam made with wild berries that his father had gathered. Me? If you make me choose I am definitely a strawberry kind of gal, and although I know I can eat them with savory filling, I never really do. It must be the kid in me that just wants sweets.

Crepes (European Pancakes) with Fresh Strawberry Jam
These crepes are a great base for any toppings or fillings, either sweet or savory, but my favorite way is to eat them with fresh jam. My boyfriend prefers to sprinkle lots of sugar over the entire crepe before eating it (which I also love on occasion!). If you want, you can adjust the recipe to include less eggs, with little detriment to the texture of the final product; however, it will taste the most rich with 4 eggs, and this is the way I prefer it.

4 eggs (or 2-3 depending on your preference)
1 1/2 cup milk, you can use non-fat milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
Olive oil for coating pan

Strawberries
Sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and flour. Everything should be well-incorporated, but not too foamy. Set aside for at least one hour.

Meanwhile, make the strawberry jam. (There are no measurements for this, just use as many strawberries as you would like.) Hull and quarter strawberries, and place them all in a medium bowl. Using your hands, squeeze and mash strawberries to extract some juice and pulp, but leave some large pieces intact. Taste and add sugar depending on your taste.

To make crepes, use a cast iron crepe pan or a heavy-bottomed skillet or omelette pan. Add a splash of olive oil to the pan, and heat over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, turn pan to coat all surfaces. Then, using a soup ladle, quickly add batter, and immediately turn/swirl pan again in a circular manner to distribute a thin layer of batter over pan. Batter will bubble around edges at first, and look liquid in the center. After just a minute or two (this timing depends on your pan, and heat), the center will set. Use a spatula to flip the crepe and cook on the second side for another minute or two. When done, use spatula again to transfer to a plate. The process is pretty quick.

Eat the crepe however you like (any sweet or savory filling should do), but I would recommend putting the strawberry jam in a thin layer over the middle of the crepe, and rolling it up so the filling is in the center. You can put more strawberry jam over the top, or sprinkle with sugar or whipped cream.

Baking Perfect Bread

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:42:00 +0530

Chad Robertson, one of America’s best bakers, tells how anyone can make stunning loaves.

Crusty Wheat Bread

INGREDIENTS

PRE-FERMENT

300 grams warm water

1/4 teaspoon dry granulated yeast

300 grams whole wheat flour

BREAD DOUGH

1.5 kilograms warm water

1.4 kilograms white flour

600 grams whole wheat flour

5 tablespoons kosher salt dissolved in 1/2 cup of warm water

White rice flour or all-purpose flour, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE THE PRE-FERMENT: In a medium bowl, mix the water with the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Stir in the flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 10 to 14 hours.

PREPARE THE BREAD DOUGH: In a bowl, combine the warm water with the pre- ferment: Using your hands, break up the pre-ferment until dissolved. In a very large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour with the whole wheat flour. Using your hands, mix the dissolved pre-ferment into the flours, until a smooth dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.

Uncover the dough and add the salt water. Gently fold the dough over onto itself until the salt water is thoroughly incorporated. Loosely cover the dough and let rest for 1 hour; every 20 minutes, gently fold the dough up and over onto itself 4 times. Cover the dough and let stand for 3 to 4 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it in half. Using a bench scraper and floured hands, gently shape the dough into 2 rounds, folding the dough under itself as necessary. Let the loaves stand on the work surface for 20 minutes and then gently fold the sides under again.

Line 2 large bowls with kitchen towels and generously dust the towels with rice flour. Transfer the loaves to the bowls, rounded sides down. Cover the loaves with clean towels and let rise for 4 to 5 hours. Alternatively, let the dough rise for 1 hour at room temperature, then refrigerate the loaves overnight. Let the dough come to room temperature before baking.

Preheat the oven to 490°. Heat 2 large enameled cast-iron casseroles or cast-iron skillets with lids for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust the bottoms with rice flour. Turn the loaves into the casseroles, rounded side up, and score the tops with a sharp, thin knife. Cover the casseroles and bake the bread for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 470° and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake the loaves for 25 minutes or until the bread is richly browned. Transfer the bread to a rack; let cool before slicing.

Cheesecake Brownies

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:50:32 +0530

Well this one, is a Google Transalation of an Italian website and Italian Recipe, so excuse the grammar and English. But I HAVE to try it out just coz it is SO awesome. SOMEDAY :D

Well a brownie cheesecake is not it? Since he came back a bit ‘fresh (a little’? But here within two days I had to come up with duvets and sweaters?), It seemed that something cuddly, reassuring and above all, there could also be in calorie the start of this weekend … Oh, about this particular brownie stripes, I do not know where it comes from or why, but it is a bit ‘I see him around (now that I think I saw for the first time in Gourmet , then also tartellettes , and Bea ), in short, the thing I was intrigued. And the rest of the story, well, you see it here … :-)

Brownie cheesecake (Rose Bakery’s recipe)

for 15-20 servings

sugar 380g
dark chocolate 70% 250g
butter 250g
flour 150g
Eggs 6
vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
salt 1 pinch

made for the cheesecake
Ricotta 125g
mascarpone 100g
philadelphia 50g
egg 1
sugar 2 tbsp
flour 1 tbsp
vanilla extract 1 teaspoon

Prepare cheesecake mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, egg and flour. Stir until smooth and creamy and set aside.
Melt the chopped chocolate with butter in a double boiler until everything is completely smooth. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with vanilla extract.Add the chocolate mixture and finally the flour and salt. Pour this mixture into the chocolate in a pan (20 x 28cm) lined with baking paper. Pour, patchy, composed of the cheesecake with a fork or a knife, make drawings (not too much otherwise the dough mix). Bake at 180 ° C for about 25 minutes. (If it is still slightly moist in the middle is better not to overcook, however, then congeals alone). Allow to cool and go for a bit ‘cool before cutting the brownies into squares.

Rosewater, Cardamom and Gum Mastic Ice-cream

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:45:00 +0530

I LOVE the concept of this recipe. I wish I could serve it with some almond brittle all golden and sprinkled on the top. Im just not sure abt the Gum Mastic. It looks too much like the edible gum named “Dinka” we get in Maharashtra and which I am not too fond of. So if I do try this out, It will be - the gum but with some golden crunchies in it :)

Rosewater, Cardamom and Gum Mastic Ice-cream

It’s always exciting to try ingredients you’ve never used before – although I sometimes (OK, often) miss the food from my country, one of the positive aspects of moving to the UK is that it’s more multicultural and so we can get many different types of ingredients that I’ve never tried before.

I’ve had this distinctive ice-cream here and absolutely loved it. I vaguely remembered that the recipe was included in the Clarks’ book and I was right – I wasted no time finding the right page, but soon realised that there was one ingredient I couldn’t get here – called gum mastic. It’s a resin from a tree native to Greece and Turkey and people there chew it instead of chewing gum. In the book, the Clarks say that you can omit the gum mastic, but I really wanted to try using it and checked Greek/Turkish suppliers in London – there were quite a few, but none of them were located conveniently for me so I had to give up going myself. I knew I could askShalimar about it, though :) She is a world traveller, but has lived in Greece for a while now. She knew exactly what I was talking about and sent me some mastic straightaway, I was actually making the ice-cream just a few days after I was asking her about it, she is indeed a kind-hearted soul.

Their recipe suggests using evaporated milk as well as milk and double cream. Reduce the milk and cream by boiling for a while before adding the evaporated milk – it will be almost beige in colour and have a concentrated creamy flavour. Infusing the milk with cardamom and cinnamon already makes for an exotic flavour, but this jewel-like gum mastic (its smell is gorgeous) and rosewater makes this ice-cream even more so. (I love to sprinkle some rose petals on top – although it’s more of an aesthetic factor, it does add some flavour and smells lovely)

I suspect this isn’t to everyone’s liking, but it’s definitely worth trying if you like Eastern Mediterranean food. I’ve also made the ice-cream with orange-blossom water instead of rosewater and it was equally delicious. I’ve found a similar recipe in this book too – her version is simpler and only uses gum mastic to flavour the ice-cream. She has included a recipe for yoghurt and semolina syrup cake with rosewater – which must go wonderfully well with the ice-cream, I shall try it as soon as I can :) Oh and while I was struggling to shoot the rapidly melting ice-cream, someone was giving me moral support…

Serves 4

1 tablespoon whole green cardamoms
300ml milk
300ml double cream
1 cinnamon stick
85g caster sugar
100ml rose water
1 teaspoon gum mastic crystals, crushed with 1 teaspoon caster sugar (optional)
200ml evaporated milk
dried rose petals (optional)

Crush the whole cardamoms in a pestle and mortar, take out the pods leaving the seeds then pound the seeds to a fine powder.

Place the milk and double cream in a saucepan, add the ground cardamom and cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil and simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by about a quarter to a rich creamy colour (it takes about half an hour).

Place the sugar and rose water in another saucepan and dissolve the sugar over a low heat until it becomes a thin syrup. Remove from the heat and cool.

When the milk and cream are ready, remove from the heat and stir in the crushed gum mastic (if using) and cool for about 15 minutes. Sieve the liquid and discard the solids. Add the evaporated milk and combine with the rose water syrup. Cool and chill.

Churn in an ice-cream machine until thick enough to scoop (if you haven’t got a machine, freeze the chilled mixture, giving it an energetic whisk with a hand whisk or electric mixer every half an hour or so to prevent crystallisation).

http://www.tastespotting.com/

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:29:00 +0530

http://www.tastespotting.com/:

Oh Dear Lord. How can I have missed this? Stunning concept. a website which shares recipes FROM other websites. Kindof like a mini google. Kindof like cookstr but with picture search. AWESOME!