Crème caramel

So simple yet so elegant. Crème caramel is a classic dessert made with caramel and custard. Making custard without eggs seems almost impossible however it is very much achievable. After lot of trials, here is the one.

Ingredients:

For Caramel-

1/4 cup sugar

1 tb spoon water

For 'custard'

1 cup whole milk

2 tb spoon corn starch mixed with 2 tb sp water

1 tb spoon milk powder

1 tb spoon sugar

1/2 tea spoon vanilla extract

Method:

Start with caramel. To make caramel, put sugar and water in a pan and bring mixture to boil. Swirl the pan to avoid burning. Do not stir the caramel, else it will crystallize.Once the caramel starts changing color (golden brown), switch off the heat and remove the pan. Sugar keeps cooking and it will eventually be a dark brown in color. If you keep cooking caramel on the heat until it reaches the beautiful golden color, you will burn it! Pour the caramel into 2 greased ramekins and set aside to cool.

       To make custard, heat the milk just until it reaches below the boiling point. Add corn starch paste, milk powder,sugar and vanilla extract. Stir everything together to mix. Cool slightly. Strain the 'custard' to ensure its smoothness. Pour slightly cooled custard onto set caramels.

       Transfer the ramekins into a deep baking dish. Pour hot tap water until the water reaches half the height of the ramekins. Bake in pre-heated 350 F oven for about 40-50 minutes or just until the custard is set. 

       Refrigerate set custard for at least 4 hours, overnight is even better. To remove custard from the ramekin, run a knife around the edges of ramekin and turn ramekin upside down on the plate. When the custard is on the plate, the caramel at the bottom will pour over the custard making a puddle of caramel into a plate! 

    

Beancurd in disguise

Bean-curd/tofu is a staple in my home. I eat it almost everyday. A very versatile ingredient, so much can be done with it like roasting,pan frying,grilling,baking. But every once in a while, I try to do something different and this is how it turned out!

Ingredients:
grated extra firm tofu 1 and half cups
1 tb spoon minced chillies
1/2 tb spoon each minced ginger and garlic
salt to taste
1 -2 tb spoon chopped cilantro
2 tb spoon semolina flour (use breadcrumbs if available)

Method:
Mix together all the ingredients. Divide the mix in 4 equal balls. Shape each ball into a flat disk (a patty). Shallow fry in a skillet. Serve with coconut chutney.
    Adjust the spice level according to taste.

Salad for dessert -Pear and blue cheese!

You read it right. Although it may sound weird, it won't disappoint you. When the recipe comes from Ina Garten, there is hardly anything that you don't want to try! This time, I am writing about roasted pear with blue cheese salad. The original recipe calls for arugula, however don't add it and you have a wonderful dessert. Take this from the one who is not a fan of blue cheese!
            I used bosc pears instead of anjou pears, omitted port and adjusted the amount of sugar. I prefer not to peel the pears, you can if you like.

Ingredients:
3-4 medium size bosc pears
3 tb spoons Lemon juice
3 oz blue cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup light brown sugar (adjust according to taste)
salt to taste

Method:
Thoroughly wash and slice the pears into quarters.Remove the core and the seeds. Chop each quarter into bite size pieces.Toss pears in lemon juice and arrange them in a single layer in baking dish. In a mixing bowl, mix together blue cheese,cranberries,walnuts. Distribute this mixture over the chopped pears equally. Mix together, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar until sugar is dissolved. Pour the mixture on and around pears and bake in 375 F oven for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool until warm.
             Sprinkle salt just before serving. Serve warm!

Note: There will be basting liquid left in the baking dish after baking the pears. Serve the basting liquid with the salad!

Instant mixed vegetable 'pickle'

The only reason I call it a pickle is because, I use ready made pickle spice for this. You can call it relish/chutney or whatever.
       Growing up my mom always made it and I can not remember why I don't make it that often. It is very easy to make and there is not really a recipe. This is a rough guideline.All vegetables are raw and marinated in lemon juice! How bad can it be?!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup cauliflower, raw and cubed (about 1/4 inch piece)
1/4 cup chopped green beans
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup green peas
1/8 cup chopped ginger (optional)
1/8 cup fresh turmeric root (optional)
2-3 green chillies, slit length-wise. (make sure not to cut through)
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tb spoon lemon pickle spice (adjust according to taste)
salt to taste

For tampering:
1 tb spoon oil
1 tea spoon mustered seeds
1/2 tea spoon turmeric powder
1/2 tea spoon asafoetida

Method:
Mix together all chopped vegetables,ginger,turmeric root,lemon juice, chillies,salt and pickling spice and set aside for at least 8 hours. To make the tempering, heat oil, add mustered seeds,asafoetida and turmeric powder and let this cool completely. Add cooled tempering to pickle and mix everything well. Transfer pickle in a glass jar with air-tight lid. It lasts for about a week in refrigerator.

Note:
If you don't have lemon pickle spice (lonache masala), use mixture of 1 tea spoon fenugreek seed powder,1 tea spoon cayenne pepper powder and 1 tea spoon mustered seeds powder. To make fenugreek powder, sauté 1 tea spoon fenugreek seeds in 1/2 tea spoon oil until they turn brown.Cool to room temperature and grind it with mustered seeds to get fine powder.

Orange marmalade

In all the varieties that are available in jam/jelly/preserves, orange marmalade is 'the one' for me! I don't have any favourites when it comes to store bought one, so making it myself is the only way. It is rather simple to make. Oranges have ton of pectin in them, so no need to buy any.
                  There are many varieties of oranges available in farmers market. Navels being most common of them. Cara-Cara oranges are my favourite. They are sweeter than usual oranges and don't have thick pith. A perfect choice for marmalade.However, if you don't get Cara Cara oranges, make it with regular ones, just adjust the amount of sugar!
                  The marmalade is a bread spread. You won't have a thick jam like consistency when done.

Ingredients:
2 lbs oranges (5 cups when sliced) 

1/2 cup orange zest (use zest of all the oranges)
3 cups water

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tb spoon lemon zest

2 cups sugar (adjust to taste)
small piece of cheesecloth

Method:
Wash the oranges thoroughly. Zest all the oranges. Remove both ends with thick pith (do not throw it away).Remove any pith/skin left on oranges after zesting and slice oranges into about 1/4 inch thick slices, removing seeds as you go. Stack the slices and cut into the quarters. Transfer quartered orange slices,lemon zest and orange zest, lemon juice and water into a heavy bottom stainless steel pan. In a cheesecloth, take half of end parts with thick pith and make a pouch. Throw this in the mixture along with everything else.  Bring the mixture to boil and let it boil for 7-8 minutes stirring in between. Lower the heat to medium, add sugar and keep cooking until the mixture starts to thicken . It will take about 30-35 minutes. Stir every now and then to prevent burning.
           Meanwhile, place couple of spoons in the freezer to taste if the marmalade is ready. Dip 1 cold spoon in to the hot mixture, remove from mixture and let cool for half  a minute. Draw a line with your finger on the spoon. If the mixture sets up in 2 parts and you can see the line clearly, it is ready. If not keep cooking for few more minutes.
            Remove cheesecloth pouch and throw it away.Cool the marmalade down to room temperature. Pour marmalade into clean jars and seal with the lids. It will last for about a month in the refrigerator.

Appe

Mouth watering south Indian delicacy is my favourite. Original recipe is made with just rice and urad dal. However, this recipe came from my mom and contains chana dal too. Addition of spices is totally optional and up to you..

Ingredients:
1/2 cup urad dal
1/2 cup chana dal
1 cup rice
1/2 tea spoon fenugreek seeds
salt to taste
1 green chili, finely chopped
1 tb spoon minced ginger
2 tb spoons chopped cilantro

Method:
Soak together both the dals, rice and fenugreek seeds overnight or at least for 8 hours in 4 cups water. After 8 hours, remove excess water and grind everything in batches to get pourable batter. Keep the batter in a warm place to ferment for another 8 hours. Batter will be double in size.
      Just before making appe, add chili,ginger,cilantro and season with salt. Stir to combine well. You will need 'appe patra' to make these. Heat appe patra with a drop of oil in each hole. Add fermented batter until it reaches half of the sides of the hole. Cover and cook on medium heat. Once cooked, flip appe to get an even golden brown color on both sides.
     Serve with chutney and sambar!

Add chopped onion in batter just before making appe to make it even more tasty!

Vegetable pot pie

Vegetable pot pie is so easy to make and it can be made any day of the week! Choose the vegetables in season and you can make numerous variations of the basic recipe. I love to make a pot pie especially on the days when there are no sufficient vegetables available for the meal. Mix them all and you have a nice hot pot pie!
                     It really is simple to put together. You can make a crust in advance and freeze it for up to about a week. So don't scramble everything at once, just make a vegetable filling,put it in individual pot,cover with pastry and bake for about 25-30 minutes and you are done. A nice green salad on the side is definitely a plus.
                    If you don't have time to make individual pots, make one big pot or even a galette (just  a fancy term for a free form pie). A galette , is a dessert usually made with fruit filling but works just fine with this filling as well!

Galette!

Ingredients:
1 and half cups whole wheat flour
4 tb spoon butter cold,diced into cubes
2 tb thick yoghurt
1 tea spoon baking powder
1/4 tea spoon baking soda
pinch of salt
pepper to taste (optional)
1/4 cup cold water

filling-
1 medium size green bell pepper cut into cubes
2 medium size potatoes cut into cubes
1 onion chopped
1 tb spoon garlic chopped
1/2 medium size carrot cubed
1 small broccoli chopped (roughly the same size as other veggies)
2 tb spoon olive oil
2 tb spoon all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk (whole)
1-2 tb spoon parmigiano reggiano

Method:
To make pastry, add flour,salt,pepper,baking powder,baking soda into food processor and pulse a few times. Add cold butter and pulse until you get crumbly consistency. Add yoghurt and pulse again. Add cold water (1 table spoon at a time) to form a dough. Transfer the dough onto a plate and knead a few times until it comes together. Wrap it in plastic wrap and keep aside.
             For the filling, heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and onion and sauté until fragrant. Add carrots,bell pepper,broccoli and potato and cook everything for 3-4 minutes or just until everything starts to soften. Sprinkle all purpose flour on vegetables, stir to coat and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add milk slowly and whisk everything with a whisk until slightly thickened (don't go too far with the thickening else you will end up with paste). Remove from heat ,add parmigiano reggiano cheese and stir to combine. Cool slightly before starting to build pot pie.
           To build a pot pie, put about 1/4 of a vegetable mixture into a small casserole. Divide the pastry in 4 equal size balls. Roll each ball to fit the baking pot,prick it with a fork. Place dough over filling and tuck into the edges of pot. Slit a small hole in the middle of the pot pie to allow steam to escape. Brush the dough with a mixture of 1 tb spoon oil and 1 tb spoon milk to give pie a golden brown colour. Bake in 350 F pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot.
           To make a galette, divide pastry in 2 equal size balls. Roll each ball to form a circle of about 1/8 inch thickness and prick it with a fork. Place half of the filling in the middle of rolled pastry and fold remaining pastry over filling (as shown in the picture). Do not cover the entire filling with pastry, keep an opening to allow steam to escape. Place galette on a baking tray, brush with oil+milk mixture and bake in 350 F oven for 25-30 minutes.