Showing posts with label for. Show all posts
Showing posts with label for. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Going down memory lane with icecream and recipe for Fig and Vanilla Icecream
"As a kid, the only thing I really cared about was candy. Candy is the only reason you want to live when you’re a kid. Ages zero through ten, candy is your life, there’s nothing else. Family, friends, school…they’re only obstacles in the way of getting more candy."
Jerry Seinfeld
I can say the same thing about ice cream.
As a child, my love for ice cream was pretty intense. More so because I was not allowed to eat it as frequently as Id have liked to. I was predisposed to getting a nasty cold every now and then. The fact that my people thought eating ice cream led to colds did not help. Exam times, school competitions, all such times were strictly no-ice cream times. I wont say I was obsessed with ice cream the way Jerry was with candy. But being denied something makes you want it more. Thats what happened to me.
My first favourite among ice creams was strawberry - no fancy schmancy REAL fruit ice cream - the pale pink synthetic colour and flavour of Amul suited my tastebuds just fine. Next in line came Tutti Frutti - which is its mild orangey flavour and the colourful fruit bits (coloured and candied dried papaya for all we know) was pleasing to the eye as well as palate.
My aunt used to make these ice creams with seasonal fruits like Chikoo, Mango, Custard apple and also with those ice-cream mixes that were common in supermarkets as we were growing up. Those days, any guests coming to her place would unashamedly poke their head into her freezer to check if that aluminium dabba in which she usually freezed the good stuff was around!
Then entered Baskin Robbins. Probably that time I was low on my ice cream phase and dont recall any big favourites with them.
My short stay in the US made me a big fan of Perrys Death by Chocolate - my tastebuds could not believe that such a decadent icecream could exist. Then of course there was Ben and Jerrys Cherry Garcia and more such exotic flavours that made me regret that my stay in US wasnt long enough. On second thoughts, Im happy today I gave all those excess calories a miss.
From US when we moved back to Bombay, we settled into ice cream land - Juhu - the place where Naturals Ice Cream was born. The ice cream of Juhu scheme. Anyone who has tasted Naturals will vouch for the real good taste that comes from fresh natural ingredients. Their home delivery box on any fruit ice cream will read just three ingredients: Milk, fruit and sugar. I trust them. My favourites here were the papaya-pineapple and real strawberry. When it comes to ice creams, Ill mostly go with fruit flavours or butter scotch. Im not a big fan of chocolate in ice creams, I can eat chocolate by itself, thank you.
Today, I have all the freedom to eat ice cream as and when I please. The husband has nothing but words of encouragement when I say "I feel like having an ice cream today". Last week we shared a Willy Wonka Chocolate blast at the Cream Stone, which made me feel guilty as hell :(
There are some things you want to make more often, but we dont get around to making them. Making ice cream at home is one such thing for me. In all these years of frantic cooking, Ive made kulfi twice and ice cream twice, including this one. Ill probably make it more often, now that Ive almost cracked the jinx.
I came to know after 5 years of being married to S that his favourite flavour in ice creams was Fig and Honey, which is why they say marriage is a process of continuous discovery of each other :) I saw him poking his head into the Baskin Robbins counter a few days ago searching for this flavour that was out of stock or something like that - which is when the idea of making this cropped up in my mind. And I wanted to start using the vanilla pods that Id bought in Munnar on my holiday there in April. So this was a fantastic experience for me, handling real vanilla for the first time.
Since this can be made using basic household equipment, more ice cream lovers can try this out. So heres the recipe for the eggless fig vanilla ice cream - no ice cream maker required.
Fig and Vanilla Ice cream
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
12 dried figs
1" vanilla pod
800 ml milk ( I used toned 3%)
1/2 tin condensed milk (200g)
6tsp sugar or more to suit your taste
1 tbsp cornflour
Directions
- Soak the figs in hot water for 3-4 hours till plump and soft. Grind to a rough puree, using some of the soaked water if required. If some pieces of fig remain, it is fine - it will fun biting into the little chewy pieces later!
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine all but half cup of milk, condensed milk and sugar. Bring to a simmer.
- Slit the vanilla pod with the tip of a sharp knife - scrape out the seeds into the simmering milk. I added the empty pods into the milk too, to use any seeds that got left out inside. [If using extract, add in two teaspoons of extract after removing the mixture from the flame.]
- Mix the cornflour in the reserved half cup cold milk and add to the simmering mixture. Bring to a boil. The simmering milk will thicken as the cornflour gets cooked.
- Add the fig puree at this stage. Stir / whisk well and remove from flame. [If using vanilla extract, add at this stage.]
- Cool the content of the pan and pour into two plastic icecream boxes. (I used two old ice cream containers 500 ml each)
- Turn your freezers setting to maximum and keep the boxes in the freezer for 4-6 hours.
- When the ice cream is nearly set, remove the contents of boxes into a large bowl and churn with an electric hand blender till soft and creamy, around 6-8 minutes.
- Return the content to the boxes and freeze again.
- You can repeat the same procedure after 3-4 hours and freeze for a creamier texture.
If you dont have an electric hand blender, use your food processor or else a wooden spoon to beat the mixture manually.
Taste: The ice cream was mildly sweet and very rich in flavours - vanilla with its intoxicating sweet aroma and the figs with their natural sweetness and textures. The combination worked beautifully for us. The condensed milk almost made up for the absence of the eggs - providing the rich creamy taste.
I used regular 3% milk, but you can use whole milk for better taste and more creaminess.
The only other ice cream on this blog is the Mango-coconut ice cream, which you might like to try if the mango season is still on in your part of the world.
I used regular 3% milk, but you can use whole milk for better taste and more creaminess.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Yorkshire Barm Brack with Wenslydale for Best of British
One of the things I love about visiting tea rooms in Yorkshire is being served a piece of Wenslydale cheese with a slice of fruit cake, its a fabulous combination and a real treat, if youve never tried it I can recommend it.
When I saw that Karen at Lavender and Lovage was hosting Best of British for the Yorkshire region, it was a no-brainer that I should make a traditional Yorkshire Barm Brack and serve it with a wedge of Hawes Wenslydale cheese.
Yorkshire Barm Brack
Ingredients:
550g/ dried fruit - sultanas, currants and raisins 225g /4oz candied peel, chopped
225g /8 oz glace cherries, halved
300ml/10 fl oz cold, strong, black "Yorkshire" or other tea
150g/5½ oz butter, slightly softened
150g/5½ oz soft, dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
225g/10oz all purpose/plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp black treacle/molasses
100ml/3 fl oz whisky
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2 tsp lemon juice
110g/4oz ground almonds
- Place all the dried fruits in a large bowl, pour the tea over, stir well, then cover with a tea towel and leave overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (160C Fan)/325°F/Gas 3.
- Line a 22cm/8½" cake tin (I used a square tin) with greaseproof paper or baking parchment and grease lightly with a little butter.
- Place both the butter and sugar into a roomy baking bowl. Cream the butter into the sugar until light, smooth and creamy using either a fork or electric hand whisk.
- Mix the flour with the baking powder. Beat one egg into the creamed butter, then beat in a third of the flour. Repeat until all the eggs and flour are used up.
- Finally, gently stir in the treacle, whisky, nutmeg and lemon juice to the cake mixture using a spoon or spatula.
- Drain the dried fruits of the tea and add the ground almonds. Stir well then add to the cake mixture, again stirring gently until all the fruits are incorporated into the mixture. Make sure you do stir gently so as not to knock the air out of the mixture.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and gently level the surface. Cook in the preheated oven for 2 - 2½ hours or until dark, golden brown.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place on to a cooling rack and leave the cake to cool in the tin. Once cooled it is ready to eat. The cake keeps well when stored in an airtight tin.
If you would like to enter the Best of British challenge which is sponsored for the first six months by New World Appliances proud BRITISH manufacturers of kitchen appliances. Each month, one entrant will be picked AT RANDOM to receive a £50 Amazon voucher. And, at the end of the six month period there will be a regional showdown, with a judge to pick the best entry New World Appliances have kindly offered £300 of Amazon vouchers for the overall winner, so if you enter every month you have 6 chances to win the grand prize!
We’ll be showcasing the entries both on the Face of New World blog and on host blogs and promoting the recipes through Facebook and Twitter, with all your entries fully credited back to your blogs. The full rules are posted on The Face of New World Appliances.
The Best of British Challenge has been organised by Karen Burns Booth of Lavender and Lovage and Fiona McLean of London Unattached. Many thanks to them both for all their hard work.
Im also entering this cake for Alphabakes August 2012. as it is a Teabread for the letter T. Alphabakes is organised by Ros at The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
An unusual pizza for lunch
Yesterday was one of those days, when I was famished for lunch and the only thing ready was the cauliflower-potato curry made in the morning. Besides this, there was some thin crust pizza base languishing in the fridge since last Saturday, and there was the hummus that I had made a couple of days ago. I also had some ready pizza sauce( Pizza Mazza - Maggi) which I always happen to keep on hand nowadays, for these last minute affairs. (It is quite good!)
Putting all of the above together and a minute in the microwave, a delicious pizza was ready in under two minutes....and Im all set to beat Rachael Ray at her own game - Hahahaa
Ingredients
1 thin crust pizza base
1 tbsp pizza tomato sauce
2 tbsp hummus
1 cup cauliflower-potato curry (used 1 potato instead of the peas in the recipe)
1 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Start with the spreading a thin layer of tomato sauce on the base, followed by a thick layer of hummus. Spread the curry evenly over the hummus. Top with cheese (as much as you like). Nuke this for a minute at high power in microwave or bake for 5 minutes in a regular oven (if you have the patience for the pre-heating ritual). I sometimes use leftover pita bread or even leftover / frozen parathas as a pizza base, in times like these.
Eat as hot as your tongue can take it. I did, thats why I kept those cold cucumber slices by the side, for first-aid.
Burp!
That reminds me, we won two movie tickets thanks to DH reviewing a restaurant on Burrp that got selected as review of the week. We love this site, that is an exclusive restaurant review website, covering many of the Indian cities. Each time we have to decide on a place to eat out over the weekend, this site along with the Times Food Guide is a great resource.
[Disclaimer: I have not been paid to say this. And I have been using the site much before we won any prize there :) Just want to bring it this helpful website to the notice of my Indian readers! ]
And this is what has kept me busy all of today morning...I was planning to make Foccasia to take to a friend, and a search lead me to these hot cross buns...I have already devoured one piece of the 12 with a spot of orange marmalade and its yummy - will share recipe in next post! I know one of my dearest blog friends has made this too in the near past, and i hope we end up posting this together - like how true soul sisters should :)Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Ricotta Savory Muffins for Breakfast
Ingredients:
3 eggs
3 tbs whipping cream
2 cups ricotta (tvorog)
1 cup Alex meat bologna or Oscar Meyers wieners
3/4 cup green onion
Colby Jack for topping
Enjoy!!!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Iced Cranachan for Best of British
Best of British - The Scottish Challenge!
When you think about Scottish cooking what comes to mind? Haggis? Salmon? Oatcakes? Cullen Skink? There are plenty of modern and traditional recipes to choose from in the Scottish Kitchen so why dont you rise to the challenge and cook or bake something Scottish, put it on your blog and you could be in with a chance to win.
We are lucky that New World Appliances as proud BRITISH manufacturers of kitchen appliances are sponsoring this event for the first six months. Each month, one entrant will be picked AT RANDOM to receive a £50 Amazon voucher. And, at the end of the six month period we will have a regional showdown, with a judge to pick the best entry (we are still working on who that will be and should be able to announce it shortly). New World Appliances have kindly offered £300 of Amazon vouchers for the overall winner, so if you enter every month you have 6 chances to win the grand prize!We’ll be showcasing the entries both on the Face of New World blog and on host blogs and promoting the recipes through Facebook and Twitter, with all your entries fully credited back to your blogs.
So, why not show what you think is the Best of British and join our challenge.
Rules:
The full rules are posted on The Face of New World Appliances. However, here is a summary of what you have to do to enter:
- Post your recipe on your blog with a link back to The Face of New World Appliances AND to this post.
- Add the Best of British badge to your post.
- Add "Best of British" to your post or as a tag.
- E-mail bestofbritishchallenge@gmail.com with your recipe title, a link to your post and a photograph by Midnight of 15th July.
- If you post on Twitter, you can use #BestofBritish and if you mention @fionamaclean or @serialcrafter or @newworldapps, we will try and retweet.
- The round-up of entries will be posted on or before the 20th July on The Face of New World Appliances and here on my blog too.
Scotlands Food
There are so many fantastic food producers in Scotland. We have high quality beef and lamb and game, incredible seafood and delicious dairy produce. The varied landscape of Scotland has the right conditions to for all of these products and, despite some of the deep fried Mars Bar anti-food propaganda, Scotland has an excellent reputation for good food.I thought long and hard about what I should showcase for Best of British and toyed with a smoked venison salad or maybe some traditional baking. In the end I decided to put a bit of a twist on a dish that is full of Scottish products and is popular in restaurants and at home for entertaining: Cranachan.
Iced Cranachan with Raspberries (serves 4)
For the ice-cream300ml milk
1tsp vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
25g caster sugar
1 tbsp Scottish Heather Honey
1tbsp Scottish Malt Whisky
300ml 1/2 Fat Creme Fraiche
For the Oat Crumble
100g Scottish medium oatmeal (I used Hamlyns Oatmeal suitable for baking)
30g Scottish butter
50g demerara sugar
200g Scottish Raspberries
To make the ice cream
1. Pour milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the honey and heat until almost boiling.
2. Take off the heat and let it cool slightly.
3. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until thick and creamy. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, then strain back into the pan.
4. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
5. Do not allow to boil!
6. Pour into a chilled bowl and leave to cool in the fridge
7. Whisk the Creme Fraiche into the cold custard until evenly blended.
8. Pour into an ice cream maker and churn until frozen, alternatively freeze in a shallow container, whisking 2 or 3 times during freezing to break down the ice crystals and ensure an even-textured ice-cream.
9. When the ice-cream is still soft, add half the oat crumble and mix well.
To make the oat crumble
1. Rub together the medium oatmeal and the butter until combined and resembling rough breadcrumbs.
2. Add the demerara sugar and stir through.
3. Heat the oven to 180C and spread the mixture on a baking tray.
4. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
5. Let the crumble cool.
For the Raspberry Coulis
100g Scottish Raspberries
25g icing sugar, sieved
1. Push 100g of raspberries through a sieve, collecting the juice in a bowl.
2. Stir in the icing sugar until dissolved.
3. Chill until ready to use.
I used some old fashioned Tala Castle Cake tins, lined with clingfilm, to make my little ices, but you could use a small glass or just add a scoop of ice cream to your plate. You need to take the ice-cream out of the freezer about half an hour before eating. Place the ice cream on the plate, using a dessert spoon add a pool of raspberry coulis on one side and place three raspberries in the coulis. Add a little stream of oat crumble on the opposite side of the plate.
This is not an over sweet dessert, there is only a very subtle taste of whisky, but you could leave it out if you dont have it or dont like it. They honey taste is to the fore and the different textures of the crunchy oat crumble and smooth raspberry coulis are delicious with the ice-cream.
I hope you will join us in the Best of British Challenge and make something from Scotland, it can be a traditional Scottish dish or a dish using Scottish produce. I look forward to seeing what you make and good luck with the prize draw.
Scottish Cooking
Scottish Recipes
STV Scotland Food and Drink
Scottish Recipes Food and Culture
Saturday, March 29, 2014
How to Make Grill Marks with the 10 and 2 Method – You Have to Give Me Marks for Trying!
I shot this grill marks tutorial before rushing off to New York in anticipation of the Memorial Day weekend, and all the grilling that traditionally goes along with it.Now, Im not saying that unattractive grill mark anxiety (UGMA) has ever prevented anyone from grabbing a pair of tongs and heading out to the grill, but it is a nice technique to know.
Invariably, if youre grilling in front of a group of people, and turn over a chicken breast sporting a nice set of diamond-shaped grill marks, someone will say, "Man, I wish I knew how to get those." Well, heres how.
Whether you’re doing the cooking, or are in charge of "quality control," I wish you all a delicious and wonderful long weekend. Enjoy!
Friday, March 28, 2014
Liquid Health A K A Vegetables for Busy F cking People
CupcakesOMG!s Green Juice
Makes about 8 glasses of juice
- 2 cups kale
- 2 cups spinach
- 2 green apples, chopped
- 1 lime
- 1/2 inch of ginger (more/less if you like)
- 3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 1 cucumber, chopped into chunks
- water
Dump everything in the blender (or juice, you lucky S.O.B.) and fill about 3/4 full with water. Blend on high for as long as it takes to liquify everything (about 3 minutes). Using a nut milk bag or a mesh sieve, strain juice from pulp. Serve over ice and with a wedge of lime.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Leaving for Las Vegas to Attend Classes at Kingsford U
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| Photo (c) Grilling.com |
Michele and I are heading to Las Vegas for some post-graduate studies at Kingsford University. Some of you may remember our first KU experience (you can see our class picture below), which I immortalized in the blog post, "Learning the Easy Way at Kingsford University."
It was such a great time, so we jumped at the chance to attend another event. This time were at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a NASCAR-themed weekend of barbecue-related fun in the sun.
I know nothing about NASCAR, at all, but from what I hear well probably be drinking beer out of cans and chewing tobacco, so Im really looking forward to that. As far as the food goes, world champion pitmaster and all-around cool dude, Chris Lilly, will be in charge of the cue’d cuisine (which means it will totally rock).
If youd like, you can follow along with all the smoky, high-speed adventures on my Twitter page, and be sure to stay tuned for the official recap when we return. Vroom!
Kingsford University Class of 2009
Monday, February 17, 2014
Hotel Style Tiffin Sambar Recipe Ratna Cafe Sambar Sambar for Idli Dosa Pongal
Learn how to make Hotel Sambar / Tiffin Sambar
I still remember when I started blogging 4 yrs back I was first or one of few bloggers to post about Tiffin Sambar Recipe or Hotel Sambar Recipe. This Sambar recipe has acclaimed me many compliments from my fans, friends and co- bloggers. At that time I had just point and shoot camera I wasnt able to shoot a good picture of it, so here Im re-posting the same recipe here with recent pictures. You can click here for the link to older post.
This is my favorite sambar for idly, dosa, pongal and even it tastes great with hot pooris. For the people who know about the popular Ratna Cafes Sambar( triplicane, Chennai), this Tiffan sambar tastes similar to the Ratna cafes sambar.
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| Hotel Sambar |
Ingredients
Toor dal/ Split pigeon peas( cooked and mashed)-1cup
Small onions/ Shallots( peeled)-15 to 20
Tomato medium chopped-1
Drumsticks-1 no
Carrots chopped-1/2cup
Curry leaves-few
Coriander leaves-few
Turmeric powder-1/2tsp
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Jaggery powdered-1tsbp
Salt to taste
Oil required
Sambar powder ingredients
( Dry roast the following ingredients separately and grind to fine paste)
Coriander seeds-3tbsp
Bengal gram/ Split chick peas-2tbsp
Whole dry red chilly-10( +/- depending on taste)
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Fenugreek/ Methi seeds-1/2tsp
Fresh shredded Coconut-1/2cup( dont roast coconut, add this while grinding).
.JPG) |
| Tiffin Sambar |
Method
Heat enough oil in a pan, when hot add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds crackles add the shallots and curry leaves, fry for few minutes and add the carrots and drumsticks. Now add the tomatoes and cook for few more mins, when the tomatoes are done, add the turmeric powder and ground sambar paste. Fry the ground paste for few seconds and add the cooked toor dal. Season with salt and add enough water( to get required consistency, sambar should not be too thin or too thick). Simmer the sambar for 5 mins. Finally add the powdered jaggery and coriander leaves, give a good stir and remove from heat. Serve hot with Idly, Dosas. Pongal or Poori.
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| Sambar for Idli Dosa |
Important points for making this delicious Tiffan Sambar are
Never use tamarind pulp for this sambar
Do not add more vegetables( any 2 to 3 variety of vegetable is enough)
Try to use small onions( shallots)
A tbsp of powdered jaggery is very important ingredient for this recipe.
Click here for Ghee Idli / Sambar Idli recipe
Friday, December 27, 2013
Fruity Porridge in a Flask for Breakfast Week
A lot of people who dont eat breakfast say that they dont have time in the morning. This super tasty porridge in a flask takes only a few minutes to make before you go to bed and its ready to eat when you get up next morning.
Fruity Porridge in a Flask
Serves 2
1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 pinch ground mixed spice
1/3 cup dried fruit, chopped
1 3/4 cups milk
Combine all ingredients in a jug; add 1 3/4 cups milk and stir to blend. Cook in the microwave until the milk is steaming. Pour it into the vaccum flask and close the lid. Leave overnight.
In the morning, open the flask and youll find that the porridge has cooked and the fruit plumped up. You might need to blast it for 30 seconds in the microwave to warm it up a bit more as it tends to be a bit luke warm first thing. But the texture of steel cut oats is nothing like sloppy instant oatmeal and the flavour of the the spices and fruits is infused into the oats.
You can follow @breakfastweek on Twitter and tweet a picture of your breakfast every day with the hash tag #BreakfastWatch. You can also post your photos to Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
A little break from the Christmas recipes Muffins cupcakes for every day use
It seems the line between what counts as a muffin and what as a cupcake is blurry. The dictionary tells me that muffins are sweet breads, leavened with baking powder or baking soda and baked in cup-shaped tins, while cupcakes are cakes leavened and baked in the same way.
I suppose the following – my own recipe – falls somewhere in between the two. It is a cake recipe, but I have added a bread ingredient: whole-wheat flour.
Basic recipe:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
50 g margarine or butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Enough milk to make a thick batter, usually about 2/3 cup
12 paper muffin cups
1 12 muffin baking tray (mine came from Ikea)
Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Add egg, milk, vanilla and melted margarine and stir into a thick batter. Put paper muffin forms into the cups in the baking tray and fill each to 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 190°C (180°C if you have a convection oven), for about 20-30 minutes, or until the cakes are golden and a pin stuck in one of them comes out clean. These cakes are moist, delicious and not too sweet, and will keep for several days.
Cooled muffins can be spread with lemon or cocoa icing.
Variations:
Berry muffins:
1 cup berries, may be frozen (I love bilberry muffins, but mixed wild berries are also good in muffins)
Fill each muffin cup to 1/3 full with batter. Divide the berries evenly between the cups and top with the rest of the batter.
White muffins with chocolate chips:
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips, depending on how rich you want the muffins to be.
Fold gently into the batter and prepare as indicated in the basic recipe.
Double chocolate muffins:
Make dough with 3 tbs dark cocoa powder and ½ cup chocolate chips, white, dark or mixed.
Jam muffins:
Fill each muffin cup to 1/3 full with batter. Put a teaspoon of your favourite jam in the centre of each blob of batter and top with the rest of the batter.
Cinnamon muffins:
Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp powdered cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the batter before you bake the muffins.
Cinnamon-raisin muffins:
Add 1/2 cup raisins to the batter and top with cinnamon-sugar before baking.
They taste even better the day after you make them.
Read More..
I suppose the following – my own recipe – falls somewhere in between the two. It is a cake recipe, but I have added a bread ingredient: whole-wheat flour.
Basic recipe:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
50 g margarine or butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Enough milk to make a thick batter, usually about 2/3 cup
12 paper muffin cups
1 12 muffin baking tray (mine came from Ikea)
Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Add egg, milk, vanilla and melted margarine and stir into a thick batter. Put paper muffin forms into the cups in the baking tray and fill each to 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 190°C (180°C if you have a convection oven), for about 20-30 minutes, or until the cakes are golden and a pin stuck in one of them comes out clean. These cakes are moist, delicious and not too sweet, and will keep for several days.
Cooled muffins can be spread with lemon or cocoa icing.
Variations:
Berry muffins:
1 cup berries, may be frozen (I love bilberry muffins, but mixed wild berries are also good in muffins)
Fill each muffin cup to 1/3 full with batter. Divide the berries evenly between the cups and top with the rest of the batter.
White muffins with chocolate chips:
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips, depending on how rich you want the muffins to be.
Fold gently into the batter and prepare as indicated in the basic recipe.
Double chocolate muffins:
Make dough with 3 tbs dark cocoa powder and ½ cup chocolate chips, white, dark or mixed.
Jam muffins:
Fill each muffin cup to 1/3 full with batter. Put a teaspoon of your favourite jam in the centre of each blob of batter and top with the rest of the batter.
Cinnamon muffins:
Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp powdered cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the batter before you bake the muffins.
Cinnamon-raisin muffins:
Add 1/2 cup raisins to the batter and top with cinnamon-sugar before baking.
They taste even better the day after you make them.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tomato Chutney Thakkali Chutney for Idli Dosa and Rice
This is an ideal recipe for students, bachelors, working women and for everyone.You can store this chutney for a month in refrigerator. The more oil you add to the recipe the more storage life.
Ingredients
Onion large( chopped)-2
Tomatos large( chopped)-500 gms
Garlic cloves( chopped)-8
Red chili powder-1/2 tbsp
Turmeric-1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil-5tbsp(+/-)
Method
In a pressure pan/ pressure cooker add chopped onions, chopped garlic, chopped tomatoes, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and less than 1/4 cup water. Cover the pan with a lid and pressure cook on medium heat for 8 to 10 mins. When the pressure releases from the pan, remove the lid, check the seasoning and add required oil to the pressure cooked tomato mixture. Boil the tomato mixture on high heat until the chutney thickens and oil seperates on the sides of the pan . Serve with idli, dosa or rice.
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