Spring Onion, Bacon and Cheddar Bread, Kasutera-Japanese Honey Cake

Spring onion, Bacon and Cheddar bread, goes to Cindystar who is guest hosting "Bread baking Day #19-Spring Country bread", an event started by Zorra.

Kasutera, a Japanese Honey cake, goes to Lavanya's "A.W.E.D.-Japan", an event started by DK.

Thanks to all of you ladies, enjoy hosting.

Cheesy Scallion Bacon bread, a savory loaf makes an excellent addition to any picnic or get together at home. Sliced and toasted bread is great for breakfast or to serve as colorful appetizers like finger food topped with Tapenade or cream cheese. With green onions, Bacon, Cheddar and chilli flakes added, it gives little zest to the bread and makes it festive as well.

Vegetarians can skip the Bacon and bake it with Spring onion, grated carrots, Bell peppers etc along with any cheese you like. Just make sure that veggies you use don't get watery when baked, roast the veggies before adding.

Spring Onion, Bacon and Cheddar Cheese bread, ready for picnic, got a basket?!
This recipe adapted by 'Totally Teabreads" by Albright and Weiner. Hope you try it!

You need:

Large loaf pan 9" by 5" by 3", brushed with butter or sprayed with no-stick oil inside.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

To saute:
1/2 cup Butter, 1 cup Green onion/Scallions, finely chopped including tender green and white parts. 4-5 Bacon finely chopped or you can use 3 tbsp bottled real Bacon bits.
Dry ingredients:
2 3/4 cup Plain flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp Baking powder, 1/2 tsp Baking soda, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp of Pepper or red chilli flakes, 1 tsp Garlic powder, 1/4 tsp mixed herbs, mix all these first. Then add 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese and stir in to mix.
Liquid ingredients:
1 cup Buttermilk, 1/2 cup water, 2 large eggs. Beat these two and keep aside.
To top:
1 tbsp Bacon bits to sprinkle on top of the batter.

To bake:
1. Add butter to the pan, heat and add green onions and Bacon, saute until just soft for 2-3 mins. Take off the heat.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients, add butter-onion-Bacon to this, mix well. Add liquid ingredients, mix well again until you don't see any white flour. You can use the lowest speed beater to mix in the stand mixer as well.

3. Scrape the thick batter to the loaf pan, tap it gently to release the air and sprinkle 1 tbsp reserved bacon bits on top of the batter. Put it in the oven.
4. Bake for 50 to 60 mins or until the cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Take out of the oven, let it cool in the pan for 6-7 mins and then invert it on the rack to cool.
4. Slice and serve warm or toasted with butter or on the side with soup or pack the slices for picnic! Enjoy! :)

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Kasutera:
Kasutera is a spongy, eggy Japanese Honey cake which is not very sweet or naturally sweet with honey, hence do not need icing. Without adding any kind of essence, it has a wonderful aroma of honey and with just a dusting of confectioner's sugar on top, not too sweet either which is how I like my desserts!
This recipe is adapted from a 'Learn to cook' book series called "Japanese Homestyle Dishes". Usually, I don't cook any Japanese food at home or interested in trying either. I ran...well...drove to the library, borrowed this book. Kasutera sounded and looked good, so glad I tried it! I read that it's a popular dessert cake in Nagasaki, Japan, originally brought to Japan by Portuguese.

You Need:
5 large Eggs, 2/3rd cup Powdered sugar, 1/4 cup Honey, 1 tsp Baking powder, 1 cup All purpose flour or Cake flour. (9" by 9" cake pan, lined with parchment paper and sprayed with no-stick oil or butter.
(You can add 1 tsp of essence of your choice like Orange or Lemon, but recipe didn't say and I didn't add any either, loved the natural honey taste and aroma!)

For dusting: 1/4 cup extra powdered sugar for dusting the cake on top. You can even dust it with cocoa powder for contrast.

To bake the cake:

Preheat the oven at 350F.

1. In a mixer with whisk attachment, add 5 Eggs and beat until frothy.
2. Add in the Honey and powdered sugar, beat this mix for 10 to 12 mins, until it's thick, pale in color and beater leaves a ribbon when lifted.

(This 2nd step is very important to keep the cake fluffy and bake high, so do beat well until you see the trail of ribbon with the batter before adding the flour etc)

3. Now, add the baking powder and flour gradually, mix and fold or beat on low speed gently just until flour is well incorporated.
4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 mins or until skewer when tested in the center of the cake comes out clean. Don't bake too much.
5. Invert on a cooler, peel off the parchment paper.
6. When completely cooled, dust the top with powdered sugar and cut into slices to serve.

Enjoy and see you all later! :)

Jamaican Festival (Fried Bread)

My Jamaican festival bread goes to Meeta of "What's for lunch, honey" blog for her "Monthly Mingle" event. She has chosen "Caribbean cooking" as a theme for this month. Thanks for hosting, Meeta! :)

(A quick note to all event hosts before I start:
I will be taking a short break from cooking for events at "Aroma" blog probably until the last week of March or so, really need some time to read few books! My weekly blog posts at "Foodie's Hope" will go on as usual every Wednesday over there!)

Caribbean:

"The Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea.All islands at some point were, and a few still are, colonies of European nations; a few are overseas or dependent territories. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies from one place to another. Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin. Such islands include Aruba (possessing only minor volcanic features), Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands or Antigua. Others possess rugged towering mountain-ranges like the islands of Cuba, Dominica, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Guadeloupe, and Trinidad & Tobago. The region sits in the line of several major shipping routes with the man-made Panama Canal connecting the western Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean." Info from WIKIPEDIA.

Jamaica:

"Jamaica is the third largest Caribbean island. It's indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs". Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it later became the British Crown colony of Jamaica and later became independent in 1962. It is the third most populous anglophone country in North America, after the United States and Canada. It remains a Commonwealth realm. Its traditions of reggae, rastafarianism and Jamaican art mingle with cosmopolitan culture makes Jamaica an attractive destination for tourists. The natural beauty of the island also offers many amazing rivers, waterfalls, rain forests, coral reefs and sandy white beaches!"

I chose to make Jamaican festival, which are fried bread, either can be less sugary bread served with Fried Fish, Jamaican Jerk Chicken and rice and peas or sweet Festival bread as dessert. I found this recipe in one of the Jamaican travel websites. They are delicious as dessert sprinkled with powdered sugar, don't retain much oil even though they are deep fried. Hope you try!

Jamaican Festival:

Festival are oval shaped, somewhat thin, slightly sweet, crispy flour and cornmeal fritters. Why do they do call it Festival? May be because eating them is like having a festival in your mouth, as one of the theories go! :D

You need:
1 1/2 cups plain flour,
3 tbsp cornmeal,
about 1 cup of water,(you may need less, do not add all at once),
1/2 tsp salt,
3 tbsp sugar, less for savory festival and more if you like them very sweet,
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence.

How to make them:
1. Sift the plain flour in to a bowl and stir in the cornmeal, salt, sugar and baking powder.
2. Add Vanilla and mix. Add water tbsps at first and then as much as you need to get a very firm dough like Poori dough. Do not make them sticky and soft dough. You can add more flour if it becomes sticky which could make the bread hard, so do try not to add too much water to the dough to begin with.
3. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15-20mins. Divide into 8 or 10 pieces and without handling the dough too much, make shapes like elongated ovals or as you see in the photo, keep them aside.
4. Heat oil to 365F and deep fry the Festivals until golden, drain on the paper towel.
5. After they are cooled, sprinkle powdered sugar on top to serve or just plain with Jerk Chicken or fried Fish.

That's it! Beautiful Festivals are ready to eat. Have fun eating them! :)

Carrot-Fennel-Walnut Cake with Orange cream cheese frosting

My Carrot cake flavored with Orange juice, Fennel seeds and Walnuts goes to Ivy of "Kopiaste" blog who is guest hosting the event "Think Spice..Think..Twice", which is started by Sunita of "Sunita's World". Ivy has given 2 choices to us this month; Mastic Gum and Fennel, I have chosen the aromatic Fennel seeds in my cake.

Orange flavored Carrot cake also goes to Aparna of "My diverse Kitchen" blog who is guest hosting Harini of "Tongue Ticklers" blog's "Food in Colors-Orange" event.

Carrot cake studded with Walnuts goes to Aqua Daze of "Served with Love" blog's event "Let's go Nuts: Walnuts or Pecans" with my choice of Walnuts.

Made a Heart out of my Carrot cake, so this will go to Bindiya of "In love with food" blog's event "My favorite things-Love is in the air (Heart shaped food)".

Enjoy the cake and I thank all of you for taking time to host and rounding up all the yummy goodies! :))

Well.. Let's see how it all started! I always loved Carrot cake and I made a quick bread Carrot cake before which is delicious but not as moist as "made in the bakery" kind. So I surfed the web and came across a recipe from my kids' and my favorite scientific, educational and very entertaining Food Network chef Alton Brown's Carrot Cake which I adapted here for the most part but made some changes, which is why I posting the recipe the way I made it instead of just linking the original recipe. Instead of Allspice and Cinnamon in his recipe, I added freshly ground Fennel seeds, added some Walnuts and Raisins since I love the nutty crunch and yogurt is replaced by Orange juice. It came out moist and delicious!

A slice of Carrot Cake with Orange juice, Fennel and Walnuts:

Carrot Cake:

Here is how to bake Carrot cake:
For the cake, you need:
One 9" square pan, buttered or no-stick sprayed inside and the bottom of the pan lined with wax or parchment paper.

Sift all these dry ingredients together:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or wheat flour if you prefer,
1 tsp baking soda,
2 or 3 tsp freshly ground Fennel seeds,
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg,
1 tsp baking powder,
1/2 teaspoon salt.

Then add these to the above flour mix and mix gently until these are coated with flour:
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, about 3 large,
1/4 cup chopped Walnuts,
3 tbsp Raisins.

Blend these liquid ingredients to cream first:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar,
2 large eggs, (or 4 tbsp Apple sauce)
1 cup white sugar,
1/2 cup vegetable oil,
1/4 cup Orange juice.

For Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8 oz package of Cream Cheese, softend at room tempature,
1 to 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, (or as sweet as you want),
2-4 tbsp Orange juice,
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence or Orange essence,
few drops of Orange color(Optional).

Beat all the above frosting ingredients together well until creamy and chill in the fridge for 10 mins or so, keep aside for later use.

To bake:

Preheat the oven for 350F.

1. In a blender bowl with flat beater attached, add eggs, sugar, oil, Orange juice and blend until creamy.
2. Add dry ingredients sifted together with Carrots etc and run the blender very gently until they are all just mixed without lumps or flour showing. Do not mix too much.
3. Scrape and pour in to the prepared baking pan, tap the pan on the counter gently to release the bubbles.
4. Bake in the oven for 35-45 mins or until the center is cooked ie when tested with a wooden skewer, it comes out clean.
5. Cool on a rack for 10 mins, invert on a plate and frost as you like it. Make sure you wait until the cake is cooled completely. Garnish with grated carrots and walnuts.

Tastes better the next day. You can keep it chilled in the fridge to serve or at room temperature.

One more look of a delicious slice:

You can make Carrot cake Heart for your Valentine too. Happy Valentine's day to all of you!! :)

Have a fun week! :))

No-Bake creamy cookies and super fast Microwave Brownies

No-bake creamy cookies go to Priyanka of "Asan Khana" blog who is asking us to "Cook and Create with Luv for Luv" for Valentine's day with this event. Made a heart with full of sweet sugar for you, enjoy!

Happy Valentine's day in advance to all you! :))

Super fast Microwave Brownies go to Srilekha of "Me and my kitchen" blog, whose theme for this month is "EFM-Microwave dishes". Here are my yummy Brownies, microwaved ( in regular Microwave baking method,) for you!

Thanks girls, enjoy these sweet dishes. Enough sugar for me to last a life time, let me tell ya but kids loved them all! ;D

No-bake Cookies first!
Really! Absolutely no baking or cooking at all to make these cookies!! If you like eating sweet...I mean sweeeet..desserts and love Ice cream, these are for you. It's creamy and melt in the mouth cookies with loads of sugar. So go easy on them but wonderful to eat a small amount after dinner. Must keep them in the fridge.
PS: Since we use only cream cheese and powdered sugar to make the cookies, they do get warm, sticky and soft when kept on the counter top for too long. It's best to store in the fridge at all times, take out few as you need. When chilled, it tastes like little balls of Vanilla Ice Cream!

Creamy no-bake cookies:
I made a very small quantity just to show you and made heart shaped pink ones for Valentine's day but traditionally made of small Key Lime sized balls and pressed the top with fork tines to make designs or you can press the top with any design too.
Variation: Add mint extract and green color to make mints!!

Here is how; You need:
2 oz or 1/4 cup or 4 tbsp Cream cheese, low-fat will do too,
1/4 tsp Vanilla essence,
2 drops of red food color to make it pink,
3 cups (keep 1/2 cup extra sugar if you need it) powdered sugar.

Now;
1. Take a bowl, add the cream cheese, food color and essence and beat well with hand held electric beater until well mixed for a minute.
2. On low speed, gradually add 3 cups of powdered sugar, keep mixing until you get a firm dough. Add more sugar if you need to. It took me a bit less than 3 cups, so it's up to you.
3. Spread some powdered sugar on the counter, add a key lime size dough and make a ball quickly and press the top with fork to make ridges. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
4. Place them in a covered dish and refrigerate immediately. Take them out as you need them. They must be kept chilled or they will soften and loose shape. They freeze well too!

I rolled a ball of dough and cut out a heart shape just for this event, you don't need to do that. If you find it hard to roll the dough to make balls, chill the dough for 30 mins and it will be very easy shape them.

Enjoy! :))

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Yummy and super fast within 8 mins Brownies!!
What more could you want, right? It's really easy and delicious although they might not taste like the best Brownies you ever had which are baked in the oven! But not bad at all for a quick chocolate fix when you are craving for something sweet to eat, for unexpected guests or for kids' after school snack, can be done from start to finish within 7-8 mins!!
Here it is, hope you give it a try and eat quickly within a day or two and keep them in the airtight Ziplock bags when you are eating them! :D

Check out this Microwaved Orange cake!!

Microwaved Brownies:

You need: 1/4 cup each butter and oil, Canola is what I use,
1 cup sugar, brown or white sugar,
2 eggs (replace with 4 tbsp Apple sauce for vegetarians),
1 tsp Vanilla,
3/4 cup plain flour,
1/2 cup good quality Cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli cocoa, Hershey will do too)
1/2 tsp salt,
1/2 cup (less or more) chopped nuts or white or dark chocolate chips.

First, mix flour, cocoa powder, salt together in a plate or bowl with a fork and keep aside.

To bake:
1. Add sugar, oil and butter in a big bowl, heat in the MW for a minute. Mix well with hand held electric mixer for a minute until mix is creamish and let it cool before you add the eggs or sauce.
2. Once cooled a bit, add eggs and vanilla to the mix, beat again to a smooth batter.
3. Add the flour mixture gradually to this and mix well. Do not beat too much, just until everything looks like a smooth thick batter. It's almost done!
4. Add nuts or chips now, mix well with a spatula gently or sprinkle on top just before you bake. I didn't add nuts, kids don't like them but sprinkled the white chocolate chips on top of the batter.
5. Now, spray a round or square 8" microwavable dish with non-stick oil or brush some butter, pour the above batter into it. Smoothen the top and spread evenly with the back of a wet spoon.
6. Put it in the microwave and bake for 3 mins on 100% power. Turn the bowl once halfway and MW again for another 2 mins. Check the center, if it looks a bit shiny but not soggy, it's done.
7. If not, MW one more minute. Never over bake it, it will be hard like a rock and crumbly. It's okay to leave little damp in the middle. As it cools, it will cook and get firm. Cool and cut into pieces. keep it covered to store, do not leave it in the fridge.

Every Microwave has different power capacity, so use your judgment when baking.
You can sprinkle some milk on top to moisten if you bake too much but I do recommend to bake less mins than repairing it later.

Have a fun Monday, see you all later! :))

Thai spicy salad and a Persimmon pudding to cool you down!

Spicy Thai salad is my contribution to "A.W.E.D.-Thailand" (vegetarian) event which is hosted by DK of "Culinary Bazaar". Thanks for hosting, dear Ms. DK! :))
As DK and I were talking about weight, gaining and losing and all that beautiful things (Mine mostly! :D) last week, I thought I will make a light and spicy dish rather than usual Thai curries specially for DK for her event and went on to search and research to come up with this salad. Then I find this event "Just for you" hosted by Alka of "Sindhi Rasoi" who asks us to cook for a friend, family members etc. So, this salad which I specially picked and made for DK fits perfectly to Alka's event as well! :)
LG of "cooking station" is hosting a "SWC-salads under 15mins" event too, just found out. Here it is for you too LG, enjoy!
Then came this wonderful "AFAM-Persimmon" event, originally conceived by Maheswari and Trupti of "recipecenterforall" is guest hosting this month with her choice of fruit. Persimmon Pudding goes to her.
Since this pudding is baked with fruit, low fat milk and excellent for kids as well as adults, I am sending this to "Cooking for kids-Milk, milk products" event which is started by Sharmi of "Neivedyam" blog and Preety of "Preety's Kitchen" is guest hosting this month.

Thanks for all of you for taking time to host and round up, enjoy the spicy Thai salad and cool it down with delicious and easy to make Persimmon Pudding!! :)

Hot and spicy salad from Thailand:
Well.. I don't know whether Thai people eat this salad in their land (like Taco Bell is authentic "Mexican food", "Curry" is Indian! :D) but in US restaurants, this spicy salad is quite popular as an appetizer. Yes, I have eaten it and loved it, that's where the inspiration comes from for me to recreate this salad.
There is a Thai Beef salad called "Yam Neua", similar to this dish except served topped with grilled Beef. I have adapted this vegetarian recipe with some additions of my own from the Naked chef "Jamie Oliver".

All I can say is, this salad is deliciously spicy and can make a great light lunch as well. Loaded with fresh vegetables, peanuts, Almonds, green chillies, crunchy noodles and topped with sesame seeds oil, ginger, garlic. lemon juice etc in the dressing, it makes a satisfying and low fat appetizer or lunch. Enjoy.



You need these:

Bunch of Romaine lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, fresh Tomato, Cucumber slices, baby red radishes, green, red and orange bell peppers slices, 1/4 minced Jalapeno, bean sprouts if you have it, snow peas, grated carrots, green onions, purple cabbage slices, red onion slices, toasted sesame seeds, toasted Almond slivers, toasted or salted peanuts, store bought crispy flour noodles (Asian "Sev"), fresh Cilantro, few Mint leaves or Thai Basil if you have it. Any fresh veggies you can get your hands will do.

On a salad plate or bowl, add lettuce first to create a bed, add all the other veggies mentioned above one by one and pile up. Sprinkle roasted nuts, crunchy noodles and herbs on top, garnish with green onion. Serve with hot and spicy dressing on the side and just before you serve or eat, sprinkle the dressing on top. Don't mix dressing before hand, fresh veggies and nuts get soggy and soft. Remember, dressing is spicy!

Thai style HOT dressing! Slurp!! :D

For Thai dressing, mix all these well in a bowl and let it rest for an hour or so in the fridge:
3-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp canola oil, 1 tbsp sesame seed oil, 2 tsp Soy sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar or honey, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 garlic, grated, 1 tsp red chilli sauce (I added Sriracha hot sauce, and 1/2 tsp of peanut butter too!), few cilantro. Shake these well in a bottle, pour into a bowl and chill for few mins before serving. Stick a few lemon slices and cilantro to garnish. Adjust the salt, chilli etc to your taste. It should spicy, sweet and tangy, all in one. Sounds good, huh? Enjoy! :))

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Persimmon:
I am happy to give you this delicious and easy to bake recipe. I had neverbought Persimmon before since I didn't know how it tasted. Thanks to Trupti's AFAM, I went and bought 4 Japanese "Fuyus" Persimmon which look like ripe yellow Tomatoes. It smelled so delicious and tasted like Lychees. They say that other kind of Persimmon, which is heart shaped tangy "Hachiya" should be used to cook, and Fuyus should be eaten fresh. But I did use the Fuyus and trust me, they baked perfectly even with a thick sweet syrup under the pudding!! My son ate half of it alone with cream! :D
Hope you try and bake this yummy pudding. It's low in fat and not too sweet, great for kids and grown ups alike, almost a diet dessert if you skip the cream!!

Persimmon Pudding:
This recipe is adapted from "Allrecipes" websites but I did a change a lot, specially cut down the sugar etc. If you don't like the Egg, you can skip it. Pudding is scoopable, not like cake. So it's quite okay to skip the egg, egg makes it fluffy though. Baking time varies too acc. to your oven.

To bake Persimmon Pudding, you need these:
4 ripe Fuyu persimmons, peeled and roughly chopped or squeeze out into chunks,
1/3 cup white sugar, or more if you like it really sweet,
1 egg, beaten, (skip the egg if you like but pudding will be less fluffy)
1 cup all-purpose flour,
1/4 tsp baking soda,
1 tsp baking powder.

1/2 teaspoon ground sweet cinnamon,
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract,
1/2 pinch salt,
3/4 cup 2% milk,
2 tbsp melted butter.

To bake Pudding:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly butter or spray a 9" round deep baking dish.

1. In a mixing bowl, mix persimmon pulp, baking soda, sugar and egg and beat until well mixed.
2. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla essence, salt, milk and melted butter to the bowl with fruit etc, mix well again.
3. Pour into baking pan and bake for 50-65 minutes or until needle inserted comes clean. Do not over bake,it's okay if it's little soft in the center, it will firm up as it cools.

(You don't have to do this step but do it if you can. After 20mins of baking, open the oven door and with a fork, stir the middle of the pudding few times and let it bake. It makes the pudding fluffier! Don't open the oven door again)

4. Pudding will rise in the oven and puff but will fall in after cooling, which is normal. Cool the pudding.
5. Serve with creamy whipped cream if you like.
You can use any ripe fruit with pulp in the same recipe instaed of Persimmons. Oven baking times may vary, use your judgment.

Have a great weekend, see you on Monday! :))

Mango-Cream JELL-O, Mint-Coconut-Peanuts Chutney

I am bringing a sweet and super easy dessert "Mango-Cream JELL-O" for Meeta from "What's for lunch honey" blog's "Monthly Mingle" with the theme of " Mango Mania " this month. I thought I wouldn't be able to make anything for MM this month since I am getting ready for a Summer blog break but squeezed in one more post anyway. Who can resist Mangoes! Hope you like it Meeta, great choice of fruit!:)

Mangoes:
Mangoes have been cultivated in India and South East Asia for thousands of years, also cultivated in many tropical regions and distributed widely in the world. Mango is one of the most popular and well loved fruit. Raw or ripe Mangoes can be in various sweet and spicy dishes and Mango leaves are used for religious ceremonies, during Hindu festivals and weddings in India.. For a great collection of unique Mango dishes, click here!

Mango-Cream JELL-O:
I have made so many Mangoes dishes before in my blog as you see in my list below, I thought I will keep it very simple this time. This cool dessert was delicious and so easy to make. It's specially great for kids. Hope you make it!:)

You need these:
1 3/4 Cup Mango pulp (I used Kesar canned Mango pulp),
1/2 cup Cream half and Half or Heavy whipping Cream, divided into half, (heat 1/4 cup cream to dissolve Gelatin)
2 Envelopes(1/4oz each) of Knox or Jell-O Original unflavored unsweetened Gelatin,
1-2 tbsp powdered sugar, if mango pulp is not sweet enough, up to you.
1 tbsp crushed Pistachios and Some Whipped cream to garnish.(optional)
To make it:
1. Add Mango pulp, half of the cream and powdered sugar, mix until creamy.
2. Heat 1/4 cup of milk or cream, add gelatin and let it dissolve. Then add this mixture to Mango to whisk well.
3. Pour in any shaped molds and chill in the fridge for 3 hrs.
4 Serve chilled, sprinkled with some crushed Pistachios or with more cream on top if you like. Enjoy!:)

Note: Add 1 Gelatin envelope to 1 1/4 cup or less liquid, total proportion to get a good Jello texture. You can also add Gelatin to cold Mango mix but have to whisk (or mix in blender) hard to dissolve Gelatin and adding Gelatin to warm cream first to dissolve it, makes it easier set the Jello! :)

Check out these dishes!
Jaggary Jello!
Mango Cobbler,
Mango Dal,
Mango Lassi,
Mango-Coconut Pound cake.
Mango-Coconut Burfi.
Mango Kheer.
Mango Ice cream!

Have fun cooking with Mangoes!:)

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Dee from "Ammalu's kitchen" has started a new event celebrating various herbs called "Herb Mania" this month. She has chosen "Mint" as her choice to start with. Here is my simple Mint, Coconut, Peanuts chutney from me Dee, enjoy hosting your event!:)


Homegrown Mint from my backyard:
Mint grows uncontrollably in a moist, well drained soil if you don't contain it in the pots. I always plant the good quality mint in a large pot rather than the in the ground. They thrive in the sunshine, but need to bring in the house for Winter, although they are very easy to grow every Summer. These Mints are called Peppermint, has good mild flavor to cook but it doesn't exactly smell like Pepper or like toothpaste like Spearmints do!:D

Mint:
Dried mint leaves were found in Egyptian pyramids, dating from 1000 BC. The plant is thought to be indigenous to Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia and it was introduced into America, Australia later.
Peppermint and Spearmint are the two best known of the mints but there are literally hundreds of varieties of mint. Mint is not only used in cooking and in drinks (Mojitos!), it also doubles as medicine to clear Sinuses, relieves Colic, added to bath water to soothe the muscles and in Tea with Honey. Mint flavor is added in Tooth pastes and in Medicinal syrups to make it pleasant to take too.

Green Moong Idlis with Mint, Coconut, Peanut chutney:
These delicious light green and super soft green Moong Idlis are from Sushma's "CookSpot" blog. I made these last week to link at FH and made some spicy Mint chutney to go with it. Thanks for these Idlis Sushma, they were excellent and so nutritious too!:)

For chutney, you need:
1 large bunch or 2 cups loosely packed of Cilantro,
1 cup loosely packed Mint leaves,(Spearmint, I find it too strong, use less),
1/4 cup fresh Coconut,
1/4 cup roasted Peanuts,
2-4 Green chillies,
Few curry leaves,
1"fresh ginger,
1 tsp Tamarind juice or you can use 2 tsp Lemon juice too,
Salt.
To season:
1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Urad dal, few curry leaves.
To make it:
1. Roast Peanuts in the Microwave for 30 seconds on a plate, let them cool.
2. Add the cooled peanuts to coconut etc and grind all them in a blender until smooth.
3. Heat a pan, add the seasoning ingredients and when they splutter, add to chutney and mix.

Note: Mint tends to discolor when exposed to air which turns it to blackish color. Although taste doesn't change, it will look darker.To avoid this, you have to more lemon juice to chutney.
You can also wilt the cilantro, curry leaves and mint for a second in a hot pan, roast green chillies before grinding but not necessary.

Have a great weekend. I have one last post to go here at Aroma and 2 more posts/weeks at FH before I take a blog break. See you all next week!:)

Coconut-Pineapple Burfi, Ricotta-Black Raspberry sweet Paratha!

Coconut and Pineapple Burfi is my contribution to "A Fruit A Month", an event which is started by Maheswari of "Beyond the Usual" blog. Suganya from "Tasty Palettes" is guest hosting this month for AFAM and her fruit of choice is "Coconut". Thanks for hosting Suganya, great choice!:)


Coconut:
A very commonly used and most beloved fruit of every south Indian household is the treasured Coconut. Like Tamarind trees, coconut are also a common site in India, specially in the south and as popular as Tamarind trees. As most of you know, my grandfather has a coconut and Sugarcane farm near Mysore. So my memories are firmly embedded in eating coconut burfi/Kobbari Mithai (in Kannada), drinking elaneeru/Coconut water, scarping the tender sweet creamy pulpy insides of a halved coconut as a child, not to mention enjoying juicy sugar cane, Guavas, Mangoes, come every Summer in India in my thatha's house! Those were the days, good times! :)
For more info about the origin of Coconut and it's uses, click here and here!

Coconut-Pineapple Burfi:
Usually, Coconut burfi made with just coconut, sugar syrup and cardamom but I thought I would give a twist and added Pineapple!


How to make Kobbari-Pineapple Mithai!:)


You need:
2 cups of sweetened packaged flaked coconut or fresh grated coconut,
1/2 cup or more sugar (if you use sweetened coconut, it already has sugar, use as much sugar as you want to make burfi)
(or 1-1/2 cups sugar+Pineapple with juice for the syrup, if you use fresh unsweetened coconut)
1/2 cup crushed Pineapple, canned with it's juice,
1 tsp Cardamom powder.
2 tsp ghee (optional but adds to the taste)


A non stick or any pan to pour the Burfi to cool it.
Prepare the pan by spraying some no-stick oil or butter to prevent the burfi from sticking.
To make it:
1. Take a non stick pan, add ghee, Pineapple with it's juice and boil it until you get one thread consistency of the syrup or until candy thermometer shows it has reached 230F.
2. Add all the Cardamom pd and the coconut gratings, keep stirring until you see little whitish spots and the whole leaves the sides of the pan.
3. Pour into the pan, pat gently to make it about 2" high, score 2" by 3" rectangles with a knife and leave it in the fridge to cool.
4. After cutting them, serve at chilled or at room temp.

Note: Adjust the sugar. I always add less to avoid too much sweet in our desserts. These Burfis stay moist and not very firm like Coconut burfi because of the crushed Pineapple but tastes fabulous. It's sweet and tangy at the same time.

One more look!

Have fun!:)

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Mythreyee of "Paajaka" blog has started a new event called "Sweet series"
this month. To start with, she has chosen "sweet rotis" which are every Indian kid's dream snack. Well..here is mine for you Myth and for my kids, an American version of sweet Paratha with Ricotta-Black Raspberry preserve and Walnuts. Enjoy!:)

Sweet rotis:
We, who grew up in India, all have some kind of memory of munching or sweet rotis or chapatis our moms made! Mine would be a very simple chapati sprinkled with ghee and sugar and cooked on Tawa until crisp, the only sweet I ate with gusto. I don't have a sweet tooth although I make and bake desserts for the family or events like these. I would rather munch on savory crunchies the whole day!:D

Ricotta-Black Raspberries preserve-Walnuts Paratha!
I just made one Paratha. One of these is enough for 2-4 people like a finger food/dessert, depending on many you can eat! Kids love Ricotta and Raspberry Preserve, but not very crazy about Walnuts but it gives a good crunch.

This is how I made it:

Make Parathas first:
Mix and knead 1 cup of wheat flour/atta or mix 1/2 cup each of wheat flour and plain flour, 1 tsp fine sugar, 1/4 tsp Baking powder and pinch of salt until a soft dough. Cover and rest for an hour.
For filling:
2 tbsp of Black Raspberry preserve or any kind you like,
Mix 3 tbsp of Ricotta cheese with 1 tbsp powdered sugar,
1 tbsp small grained Walnuts/any nuts you like/no nuts at all!
To make the sweet paratha:
Heat a tawa or a non-stick griddle on medume high heat.
1. Divide the dough into 2 equal rounds, roll each of them into to 1/8" thick circles. Cut them to make a perfect circle with a lid.
2. Brush one paratha with preserve leaving a 1/2 " from edges.
3. Drop little mounds of Ricotta on top of the preserve and sprinkle with Walnuts and place the other paratha on top gently. If you brush some water on the edges, it seals firmly.
4. With the edge/tines of a fork, seal the edges all around. Gently pick up and cook on the Tawa on medium heat until it's golden both sides, brush some butter if you like while cooking it.
5. Cool it on the rack, cut into triangles to serve.

A close up!

See you all next week, have a wonderful weekend!:)

PEAR TOMATOES & MW ORANGE STREUSEL CAKE

Pear Tomatoes in all it's natural glory is my entry to "Click-Au Naturel" which Jai and Bee of "Jugalbandi" blog are hosting this month. Thanks to you both and all the judges too!:)




First, let me say that it feels great to be back after 5 weeks' long hiatus. I still have lots of work to do, so I will be blogging and visiting you all just 3 days a week from now on (Mon., Wed., Fri.) and will be participating in very few events if I can, as there are so many events going on these days. Right now, I am glad I have managed to post these, my last minute entries! :)

Pear Tomatoes:
I grew few Pear Tomato plants last Summer, loved and enjoyed each and every fruit of these beautiful tomatoes.They were not only gorgeous to look at, very sweet and juicy to eat too, excellent to make Summer salads. Hopefully, they are few seeds still scattered in my garden patch waiting to sprout up for this Summer's bounty, keeping my fingers crossed! :)



Camera I used: Sony Cyber-Shot 8.1 Mega Pixels

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Microwaved Orange Streusel cake is my entry to "Microwave Easy cooking", which is hosted by Srivalli of "Cooking 4 all seasons" with a theme of "cakes" this month. Thanks for hosting Sri!:)


I am giving you a fabulous tasting and a very fragrant Orange cake with Streusel topping, baked in a microwave!! Can you believe it? Of course, microwave cakes will never be as soft and fluffy as the oven baked cakes but look like quick breads, not bad at all for a cake made within 10 mins, instead of 1 1/2 hrs for a cake baked in the oven when the craving hits you!! :D
This recipe came from an old yellowing microwave cookbook I bought long time ago. Orange cake is really delcious and quick to make in 6-7 mins after the initial prep of the batter. It will taste like a quick bread but lot more delcious than a bread. Read the whole recipe before you start on the cake please, hope you try!:)

Microwave Orange Streusel cake:



A slice for you! :)



Step by step photos, click to enlarge:

Bowl: Prepare the microwavable ceramic bowl about 8" in diameter. Spray no-stick oil or butter inside. Cut a round wax paper to fit into the bottom of the bowl inside and spray again on it to make the cake come out of the bowl easily after cooking.

For Streusel topping, you need:
1/4 cup plain flour,
1 tsp Cinnamon powder,
1 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa pd,
(I used Ghirardelli Cocoa,Hershey Cocoa will do too)
1/4 cup chilled Butter,cut into pieces,
1/4 cup fine brown sugar,
Mix all these with your fingers until it has a texture like coarse bread crumbs,chill in the fridge until needed.
Or you can use the commercial chocolate frosting on top instead of Streusel for topping.

For Microwaving the cake, you need:
To cream:
1/4 cup Butter, softened,
2/3 cup fine textured white sugar,
1 large Egg.
Liquid mix:
5 tbsps Orange Juice,
6 tbsps whole/2%Milk or half and half,
1 tsp Orange flower essence,
1 tsp grated Orange rind or zest.
Dry mix:
1 1/2 cup Plain flour,
2 tsp Baking powder,
1/8 tsp salt.

How to:
1. Make Streusel topping first, chill it until needed.
2. In a stand mixer or processor, beat butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy on high speed. Stop and add 1 egg, beat gently until creamy.
3. Add liquid mix to it, mix on low speed. Add dry mix to it slowly until everything comes together to a thickish batter. Do not over mix.
4.Pour into the prepared bowl, tap the bottom of the pan gently on the counter top to make the top even and to take the bubbles out.
5. Cook it in the microwave for 3 mins. Take it out, sprinkle the Streusel topping, press it gently on top and microwave it again for 2 more mins.
6. Insert a wooden skewer or knitting needle in the middle to test the doneness. If it comes out somewhat clean, it's done. If very wet, microwave for just one more minute, but not more than that.
7. Take it out, loosen the sides with a knife, shake the bowl gently to loosen the bottom. Invert it on a plate very carefully as to not crush the Streusel (or try to take it out from the bottom i you can), invert again on a cooling rack to cool. Store in a air tight plastic bag or cake stand.
8. Serve a slice with cream if you like and dust with cocoa powder.

Note: Don't worry if you feel that it's still a little moist in the middle of the cake, it will cook as it cools. If you feel that it's not completely cooked, you can always microwave for 1/2 to 1 minute but DO NOT OVER COOK it or else it will be become dry and crumbly.
If that happens ie if it's very dry, prick the top with skewer, drizzle a tbsp of cream or Orange juice in the holes to make it moist again. Each Microwave differs in power, so use your judgment regarding the time for cooking after the first 5 minutes. Enjoy!:))

HOT COCOA AND PAPAYA-PECAN SCONES

Hot Cocoa with cream and Cinnamon, my own liquid comfort is my entry to Jai and Bee of "Jugalbandi" blog's "Click" event with a theme of "Liquid Comfort" this month. Enjoy and thanks for hosting JaiBee!:)

Hot Cocoa topped with Cream and Cinnamon:



Camera: Sony Cybershot with 8.1 mega pixels in Macro mode.

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Papaya scones are my contribution to "A Fruit A Month", which is the brainchild of Maheswari of "Beyond the Usual" blog. Nags of "For the cook in me" is guest hosting this month for AFAM and her fruit of choice is "Papaya". Thanks for hosting Nags!:)


Finally!!! After all the running around the town here for Papaya, we visited a Vietnamese store in the next town last weekend and got 2 cans of Papaya! Canned Papayas taste nowhere near like the real ripe Papaya we used to gobble up in India regularly but I feel lucky to have these cans than nothing at all, beggars can't be choosers!!:D

Canned Papayas!
Fresh Papayas are low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber and Potassium and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Folate. But watch out for the high content of sugar!!! More info at WIKI.


Here they are, my Papaya scones. They are flavorful, not very sweet and makes a perfect breakfast warm or cold with any jam or just sprinkled with powdered sugar. Nuts are optional,gives it a little crunch. I can only imagine how wonderful and aromatic it would be to use the real fresh ripe Papayas in these scones! Use fresh if you can. I don't like any of my desserts too sweet, so these are perfect for me to have on their own with a cup of coffee!:)

Papaya-Pecan Scones:
Recipe for Scones is mostly adapted by Betty Crocker's baking book with my own addition and elimination, makes about 10 scones. You can any kind of chopped fruits and nuts of your choice for variation.



You need:
1 3/4 cup Plain flour,
1/3 cup packed brown sugar,
2 tsp Baking powder,
1/4 tsp salt,

1/3 cup firm unsalted butter or Margarine,(I used the butter),

1 Egg,
1/2 cup Half and half or cream,
1 cup chopped ripe Papaya,
1/4 cup finely chopped Pecans or Walnuts or any nuts.

To bake Scones:
Preheat oven to 400F.
1. Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking pd. Add cut up butter and mix with your fingers until they look like bread crumbs.
2. Add egg and cream beaten together and mix with a wooden spoon just until combined.
3. Stir in Papaya and nuts and mix gently until combined.
4. On a ungreased baking sheets, scoop 1/3 cup of mix and drop them 3" apart from each other. Put it in the oven and bake for 18 mins or until golden brown on top.Do not over bake.
5. Slide them on to a cooling rack gently and immediately and store in a air tight container when cooled for breakfast or light snack. Serve warm or at room temperature with jam or powdered sugar.

Enjoy!:))

MANGO KHEER AND MW MOONG DAL-PUMPKIN GRAVY

This is my last post in 2007 at Aroma!! YAY!! Happy new year to all of you. See you in 2008!:)

Latha N of "The YUM blog" is hosting this month's "A Fruit A Month" with a theme of cooking with "Dry fruits". AFAM is started by Maheswari of "Beyond the usual" blog and Mango-Coconut Kheer is my entry for this event.. Thanks for hosting Latha!:))

Dried Mango slices from Philippines:
Mangoes retain a special significance in the culture of South Asia where they have been cultivated for many centuries. It has been the national fruit of India, Bangladesh and Philippines. Reference to mangoes as the "food of the gods" can be found in the Hindu Vedas and the leaves are ritually used for floral decorations at Hindu weddings and religious ceremonies.

The name 'mango' is from the Malayalam word manga, which was introduced in Europe by the Portuguese from Calicut (Malabar Coast) in the late fifteenth century and called "Aam" in Hindi.
The mango is an excellent nutritional source, containing many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, as well as enzymes such as magneferin and lactase. In the Philippines, unripe mango is eaten with bagoong. Dried strips of sweet, ripe mangoes have also gained popularity both inside and outside the country, with those produced in Cebu making it to export markets around the world. Dried unripe mango used as a spice and is known as amchur or amchoor in India and ambi in Urdu. All these info. is from WIKIPEDIA.

Mango-Coconut Kheer:
Kheer is an Indian word for pudding, which is easy and quick to make and tastes delicious flavored with Mango bits and coconut. Hope you try!

You need: 1 cup chopped dry Mango slices(soak these in hot water for 1/2 an hour until soft, drain), 2 tbsp very fine grained Semolina(cream of wheat), 2 tbsp grated fresh or Sweetened Coconut, 1/4 cup or more Sugar, 3 cups 2% milk, 1/2 tbsp butter, pinch of salt.

To make it:
1. Heat butter in a pan, add semolina, stir for a minute.Add milk, bring it to boil, turn down the heat.
2. Add the soft Mango slices, coconut, sugar, salt and simmer for 1omins. Take off the heat. It gets thicker as it cools.
3. Serve warm or chilled, tastes great. I added very little sugar and skipped Cardamom pd since Mangoes have their own sweetness and beautiful aroma. Enjoy!

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Moong dal and white Pumpkin(Ash gourd) gravy cooked in the Microwave is my entry to "Easy cooking with Microwave" which is hosted by Srivalli of "Cooking 4 all seasons" with a theme of "Gravies" this month. Thanks for hosting Srivalli!:))



Microwaved Moong-Pumpkin dal:
Here is a tasty gravy you can make in the microwave. Moong dal or yellow split lentils is the easiest dal to cook in the microwave since it cooks very easily unlike other dals. You can use Masoor dal (red lentils) too. Adding Ash gourd pieces gives the gravy texture and makes it tastes delicious.

You need: 1 Cup Moong dal, washed,soaked in 3 cups of hot water for 1/2 an hour, 1 cup Ash Gourd or Bottle gourd chopped into cubes, 1/8 tsp Turmeric, 2 green chillies chopped or 1/4 tsp chilli pd or any curry pd you have, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 tbsp Coriander seeds powder,salt, few cherry tomatoes (Optional).
For seasoning: 1/2 Tbsp Butter + 1/2 tbsp oil,1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 garlic chopped, 3 tbsp onion minced.

Garnish with cilantro and squeeze of lemon juice.

To make it:
1. Add the soaked dal with water to a microwave proof deep dish along with gourd pieces and cook for 5 mins on high. Stir and cook for 5 more mins.Repeat this way until dal is cooked and gourd is soft. Add salt, turmeric, green chillies or chilli pd and ginger.
2. Cook again for 3 mins. Add coriander pd, pierced cherry tomatoes,cook for 2 more mins, mix well until you get a thickish gravy.Take it out of the MW and garnish.
3. For seasoning, you can either do it on the stove top for convenience or heat a glass bowl with butter and oil for 1 min on high, add all the seasoning ingredients, cover with paper towel and heat until it splutters. Add minced onion and garlic and cook again until golden on the edges.Add to dal and mix.

Enjoy!:)