Cooking recipes: January 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014

Red Velvet Cupcakes That WERK!

Photo via Lick the Bowl Good

Are you seeing these cupcakes, people?? Yes, these are red velvet cupcakes. But theyre not just any red velvet. First of all, they were made with sour cream. Indulgent? You bet your sweet ass. But wait, it gets better...Theyve also been layered with a sweetened cream cheese layer, creating a gorgeous ring effect:

No, theres no frosting, which may be breaking one of my cardinal rules, but these suckers look moist and rich enough, they dont even need it.

Like so many drag queens after a long night of lip-syncing, this cupcake has removed all superfluous decor, undressing before you and teasing you with its creamy cheesecake layer and fresh-from-the-oven joie de vivre! I have one thing to say: You better WERK:

Sashay, Shaun-cake!!

Chicken Caesar Springrolls – The Ultimate Low Carb Wrap

There are certain magical food products that are just too good to be true. Rice paper, or springroll skins, is one of them. While many of you have enjoyed these at various Asian restaurants, I bet most of you have never tried to use these at home. There’s no need for a long winded post today. What you see, is what you get. Simply dampen the rice paper and roll up some lettuce, and strips of meat and/or veggies.

These are very easy to make once you get the hang of how long to soak the paper. Since these translucent “skins” are so cheap, it’s ok to practice on a few to get the technique down. Once you do, you have an incredibly versatile wrapper for an infinite number of fillings. These are easily found in the Asian section of any large chain super market. As far as low-carb alternative to tortillas and flatbreads, these rice paper skins are like a millionth of an inch thick, and as I joked in the clip, I’m not even sure you can measure the carbs! Although, I’m sure someone will, and post a comment on the site.

If you are making a bunch of these, you can store them wrapped in damp paper towels. Just don’t stack too many on top of each other and you can keep them in the fridge for a few hours and they should be fine.

Ingredients:
rice paper springroll skins
baby romaine leave
strips of cooked chicken breast
strips of red bell pepper

Sagu Jaava SaguBiyam – a Healthy Drink

Sagu Jaava (not Java Techies :-) ) is a healthy and nutritional summer drink. This drink reduces heat in the body and it is a great remedy for tongue inflammation ( doesn’t make any difference for java Programmers :-) ).

My mom used to prepare this drink regularly in summer and it tastes delicious.

Sagu Jaava is very simple and prepared by using Sagu or Sabudan, water, milk, sugar and salt.

Ingredients:

Sabudan/ Sagu biyam/Sago – 3 to 4 tsps

Water – 4 cups

Sugar – ½ cup
Salt - a pinch

Milk – ½ cup

Cardamom powder – a pinch

Preparation

Soak Sabudan in water for 30 minutes.
In a cooking vessel take water and boil it.
Add only sabudan by straining water from it to the boiled water.

Cook for 5 minutes add sugar, salt to it.
Stir well and add milk to it and boil it for another 5 minutes.
Cool and serve it.

Sending this to Fun N Sun hosted by Radhika, Series Summer Coolers hosted by Sukanya, Only Coolers and Mocktails hosted by Simplyfood orginally started by Pari , Serve it - Chilled hosted by Denny and Kids Delight - Coolers hosted by PJ orginally started by srivalli.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

This is a simple and unbelievably delicious recipe for pumpkin cream cheese muffins, topped with a cinnamon streusel. What a dazzling fall recipe! Perfect for parties.We really enjoyed em, hope you guys will too.

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
2 cups (1 can) pumpkin puree
1 and 1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups flour (I use Canadian)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Cream cheese filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Crumble Topping:
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
5 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
5 tbsp unsalted butter, cold

Adapted from Lemon Sugar with my modifications.
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Prepare two muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside. Makes 24 muffins.

1. Whip with the mixer cream cheese with sugar and vanilla bean. Keep in the refrigerated. The colder the filling, the better.

2.Combine the sugars, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Dip butter into flour and grate it. (You can use a pastry cutter) Then mix it with your fingers to make it crumbly. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

3. Mix all dry ingredients for the muffins in the bowl.

4. Add all wet ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix for a min.

5. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

6. Spoon a generous amount of batter into each cupcake tin, filling each paper about 1/3 full. Add a scoop of the cool cream cheese mixture over the batter.

7. Then use the remaining batter to cover the cream cheese ball and fill each tin to about 2/3 to 3/4 full.

8. Sprinkle a tablespoon of crumble topping mixture over each muffin.

9. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Enjoy!!!

This Post Is Linked To These Great Parties:
Feed me Friday
Foodtastic Friday
Saturday Spotlight
Saturday Night Fever
Future Expat
Will Cook for Smiles

Fried Chops with Capsicum

Fried Chops with Capsicum

Ingredients

Chops ½ kg
Yogurt 250 gm
Oil ¼ cup
Black pepper powder 1 tsp
All spice powder 1 tsp
White cumin seeds 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Vinegar 3 tbsp
Soya sauce 2 tbsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Capsicum 1
Onion 1
Green chilies 3 – 4
Salt to taste

Method
In a bowl mix together 250 gm yogurt, salt to taste, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp all spice powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 3 tbsp vinegar, 2 tbsp soya sauce and 2 tbsp oil.Marinate chop with the mixture and keep aside for 10 – 15 minutes.Now put marinated chops in a pan with its marinade. Cook till water dries and chops are tender.In another pan heat a little oil.Add 1 chopped capsicum, 1 chopped onion and 3 – 4 chopped green chilies. Sauté a little.Now add chops and cook for a few seconds.Remove from fire. Dish it out and serve hot.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Decadent Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Gluten-free peanut butter bars. A flashback treat.

These peanut butter cookie bars are a decadent sweet treat that will make your gluten-free angel smile. Can you cut back on the sugar or the oil? Well, yeah. But. It won't be as wonderful. My take on it? Make a treat a real treat. You'll feel more satisfied. Less deprived.

Not to mention, you'll keep your taste buds happy.

Read more + get the recipe >>

The Abel Cole Cookbook

I was contacted by Emma Healey of Abel & Cole to review some products for them. Unfortunately, Abel & Cole dont deliver to the wilds of south west Scotland yet. So I wasnt able to review their lovely organic veggie boxesm, but I Emma was able to send me the Abel & Cole Cookbook. It arrived on Thursday but I didnt have much chance to look at it until today.

As a cookbook it is written in a very relaxed style. I enjoyed the introductions and finding out about the history of the company. The book is set out by the seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and the idea is that you should cook by the seasons. Even though I have only had a superficial look through the book so far, I can see that I generally dont cook seasonal produce, and how restrictive seasonal cooking would be unless you have access to the likes of Abel & Cole. Certainly the south of Scotland is not the place for growing vegetables, it is dairy, beef and lamb country. A few potatoes but the ground just isnt suitable for vegetables other than for potatoes.

So what did I make?

Not a Spring recipe at all, but a Summer recipe for Honey Glazed Salmon Steaks.

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon Mustard ( I used 1 tsp as I have had encounteres with Dijon mustard before!)

1 tbsp runny honey

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

2 salmon steaks ( you will note that I had three salmon steaks!)

Mix together the vinegar, musard, honey, garlic and seasoning in a bowl. Brush over both sides of the salmon and leave in the fridge for about an hour.

Heat a ridged fying pan to a very high heat, then rub it with a little oil. Sear the steaks for about 3 minutes on each side, turning only once. The fish is cooked if it flakes easily when lightly prised with a fork. The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the salmon steaks and how you like them cooked. Remove from the girll, bursh with any remianin glaze and serve.

I served the salmon with roasted cherry tomatoes ( oops imported) and a Leek and Potato bake - YES, seasonal cooking at last. There isnt a recipe in the book for a Leek and Potato Bake, but there is one on the Abel and Cole website HERE.

and the finished plate....

The salmon was moist and delicious and the leek & potato bake went very well with it, as did the tomatoes.

Ill be back with more recipes from the Abel & Cole Cookbook very soon.

Merluzzo Pasta Puttanesca Pimp My Cod!

Merluzzo is Codfish in Italian, and I just thought it would look cooler in the title. In case youve never heard of a "Puttanesca" sauce before, its Italian for "in the style of the whore." I know, it sounds appetizing doesn’t it? But, it really is a fantastic and fast pasta sauce that can be prepared and tossed on plain pasta, or used as a base for a more complex recipe as I have done here. Ive taken the basic Puttanesca sauce and added fresh codfish and Arugula to create a very nice, and quite healthy seafood pasta. By the way, it tastes much better than it looks! The black olive tapenade I added makes for a sort of grey and muddy looking sauce, but when you dress it up with a little parmesan on top and more red pepper flakes, it suddenly becomes much more attractive (insert your own prostitute joke here).

Now, as far as the story behind the Puttanesca sauces origins, there are many stories, some more "colorful" than others. It is pretty much agreed upon that Naples was the birthplace, but thats about all that people dont argue about. What follows are the most common explanations of this delicious sauce; the ladies of the night made this pasta sauce because the irresistible aroma would help draw in customers. It was created as a quick and cheap meal the ladies could eat in between customers. It is hot, spicy, and fast, as are the woman for whom its named.

Regardless of the true origin, its a great sauce, and one that should be part of your regular pasta rotation, no matter what your own personal level of virtue happens to be. Ive made this version much lower calorie by reducing the usual amount of olive oil and replaced it with stock and wine. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh cod
2 cups chicken or fish stock (or water)
1 pound pasta
1 cup white wine
2 tbl anchovy paste
2 tbl red pepper flakes
6 cloves garlic
2 tbl olive tapenade or chopped olives
1/4 cup capers
1 bunch Arugula (about 2-3 cups)
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan

Mince Pies for Tea Time Treats

Im entering this for Tea Time Treats as the theme for December is Christmas Team Time Treats is a monthly baking challenge run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked , Kate is hosting the December challenge.

Last month I made Dark Chocolate Mincemeat using Dan Lepards Dark Rich Mincemeat recipe from his fabulous book Short and Sweet. So today I made some mince pies and again I turned to Short and Sweet for the Rich Shortcrust Pastry that Dan recommends for mince pies. Its a lovely recipe, sweet and enriched with ground almonds and egg yolk . I was really quite excited about tasting the mince pies and I wasnt disappointed.

Usually I find that mince pies are all pastry and no filling and the pastry never seems very exciting, but the Rich Shortcrust was light, short and added rather than detracted from the mincemeat. I made the pies in my muffin tins, some mini pies in mini muffin tins and a few larger ones. The muffin tins give you a deeper pie which allows for more filling. Definitely a huge hit! If you havent bought Short and Sweet yet, then get it on your Christmas list.

How to Make Horseradish Sauce and Giving the Gift of Summer

You Curb Your Enthusiasm fans may find this post, "a little saucy." First up, we have a quick and dirty tutorial for making homemade horseradish sauce. It makes me a little sad when I see someone in the market buying a jar of horseradish sauce.

You know I have nothing against the convenience of using the occasional prepared sauce, as a good jar of marinara or carton of organic broth can save hours in the kitchen.

However, a cold sauce like this only takes minutes, and the results will be noticeably superior to even the least picky. It will also include about 12 less ingredients. If you are doing a Prime Rib, or other roast beef, you may want to seriously consider whipping up a batch of this classic horseradish sauce.

As I mention in the video, sour cream is the standard base for this sauce, but if you can, I recommend trying some crème fraiche. Most big grocery stores will carry it, usually in the cheese department. Its basically the same thing as sour cream, but a little richer and slightly tangier. You can also make you own, which I demonstrated in this "How to Make Crème Fraiche" video.

I was fortunate enough to use a homemade batch created by my buddy Jesse, from Beer and Nosh. He was selling these at the New Taste Market, where Michele debuted her SFQ barbecue sauce (see next item). It was awesome, and reminded me just how great crème fraiche is. Enjoy!

Giving the Gift of Summer

This is your last chance to order some SFQ – The Original San Francisco-Style Barbecue Sauce. If you get your orders in by Saturday, Dec. 18th, Michele will be able to deliver your sauce before Christmas.

I know what youre thinking – sure, some of the worlds best barbecue sauce would make a great gift during grilling season, but why give this to someone in the dead of winter?

Because, it will make the recipient think of summer, and sun, and fun, and hey, I cant believe shes wearing that bikini, and put some more beer on ice, and whos up next in the horseshoe pit, and do we have time for another rib before the baseball game comes on, and…well, you get the idea.

Order some now!

How to Make Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream or crème fraiche

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

pinch of cayenne

2 teaspoon thinly sliced chives

2 tablespoons extra hot pure horseradish (not horseradish sauce)

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A Double Dip of Social Discourse

Sorry, but Im still waiting for approval from the powers that be on the chicken fingers video, but heres a little double dip of silliness from a clip I shot to test the video camera on the new Nexus One Google phone.

This clip has sparked a huge debate on my Youtube channel over the dos and donts of double dipping. Hopefully we can have the same heated discussion here. Some say the DD is disgusting, others say its been proven you dont get sick from this party foul. What do you think?

Penne Upma Pasta Indian Style

Each morning, I wonder what do I make for breakfast. Oats / Cereal gets too boring at times. It just so happened that I had some left over boiled Penne pasta and Upma being one of the staple breakfasts at home- i decided to put the two together.

Its just like regular upma, where rawa is substituted by pasta. This recipe would serve two people and taken under 15 minutes to get done.

Ingredients :
Over 1 cup boiled / leftover pasta (Penne/ Fucilli / Macaroni )
1 medium sized carrot-finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
2-3 springs-spring onions-finely chopped
10-12 French beans-finely chopped
Pinch of turmeric
8-10 Cashewnuts / Handful peanuts ( Optional)
For tempering: 1 tsp Udad dal, 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds (Rai), 1 tsp green chillies-finely chopped , 1/2 tsp ginger-finely chopped, Few curry leaves
1 tbsp Cilantro / coriander-finely chopped
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Heat oil in non-stick pan. Add mustard seeds-once they pop, add udad dal,curry leaves, cashews, ginger, green chillies.
2.Once udad dal and cashews turn golden, add the vegetables, turmeric, salt. Sprinkle some water, and keep a lid on the pan so that the vegetables cook fast. This will take around 4-5 min.
3.Once the vegetables are cooked, add the boiled pasta, and toss around so that all the spices are evenly coated.
4. Take the pan off flame, garnish with coriander and serve piping hot.

A cup of filter coffee will give good company to this Penne Upma!

SANDRA’S SILKY RASPBERRY MID AFTERNOON SMOOTHIES

My favorite smoothie that has
just the right amount of tartness without
being too sweet ~ simply delicious...

Servings: 2

Prep: 10 Mins.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups frozen raspberries

1 cup cold water

12 ozs. (2, 6-oz. containers) berry yogurt

--(I used 1 strawberry, and 1blueberry)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1 tablespoon honey

METHOD

Place all ingredients in blender in order listed, cover, and pulse a couple of times. Switch to puree setting, and blend for 3 minutes.

To remove seeds, strain mixture through a sieve into a 4-cup glass measuring vessel, using a spoon to push puree mixture through sieve while retaining seeds. Pour smoothie mixture into glasses and garnish with fresh raspberries, then serve. ~ Enjoy!

BTW: This is my friendly porcupine that came to visit when I was picking the fresh raspberries last evening to garnish these smoothies...he was gently snorting 1 away when I discovered him visiting, and he acted like he was happy to see me and hung around for about 15 minutes; he kind of likes his picture taken ;)

MOONG DAL

MOONG DAL

INGREDIENTS

Moong dal-1 cup
Water-2 cups
Tomato puree form-1 medium sized
Turmeric powder-1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder-1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida (hing)-a pinch
Cumin seeds (jeera)-1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder-1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves-1-2 teaspoons
Green chilli chopped-1
Oil-1 tablespoon

METHOD

In a pan, add water & dal & boil on a low flame till dal is boiled well.
You can check by mashing dal from the back of the spoon.
If it gets well mashed, then dal is well boiled.
Turn off the flame & keep it aside.
Next, heat oil in a pan.
Add a pinch of asafoetida (hing) & 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera) & as they crackle, add tomato to it.
Add coriander leaves & chopped green chilli as well.
Next, add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder & mix well.

Cook on a low flame till the mixture leaves oil.

As the mixture leaves oil, add the boiled dal to it & bring it to a good boil.

At this point, check if there is a need for more water.
In case there is a need, add some water & boil well.
Cover the pan with a lid for a few minutes till dal is well cooked.
Keep checking in between & as it appears to be cooked well, add garam masala powder & turn off the flame.
Moong dal is ready to serve.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Tagged

My dearest friends Priya and Prasu has tagged me..thankyou both.

The Rules:

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share the ABCs of you.
4. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let the 4 tagged people know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so that there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag.

The Tag:

1. A – Available/Single?

Happily Married.

2. B – Best friend?

Mom and Hubby.

3. C – Cake or Pie?

Not both, "Double Chocolate Muffin".

4. D – Drink of choice?

Cranberry Juice.

5. E – Essential item you use every day?

Kitchen tools.

6. F – Favorite color?

Purple.

7. G – Gummy Bears Or Worms?

Dont like both.

8. H – Hometown?

Chennai.

9. I – Indulgence?

Doing things with effort.

10. J – January or February?

Feb 14th "Valentines day".

11. K – Kids & their names?

Recently married, not so soon.

12. L – Life is incomplete without?

Loved ones.

13. M – Marriage date?

Last Dec 4th

14. N – Number of siblings?

One elder sister.

15. O – Oranges or Apples?

Orange.

16. P – Phobias/Fears?

Lizards.

17. Q – Quote for today?

Make others happy and be happy.

18. R – Reason to smile?

Being always on cloud nine.

19. S – Season?

All seasons.

20. T – Tag People?

Their names are below.

21. U – Unknown fact about me?

Unknown.

22. V – Vegetable you dont like?

Yam.

23. W – Worst habit?

Being extremely happy or extremely sad, wanna be neutral.

24. X – X-rays youve had?

Dont remember.

25. Y – Your favorite food?

Bitter-gourd fry, can u believe it.

26. Z – Zodiac sign?

Scorpio.

Iam tagging these to

Subhie Arun

Sashi

Shubha

Sireesha

Frozen Salad Mould

Frozen Salad Mould

Ingredients

Potato (cubed and boiled) 1 cup
Carrot cubed and boiled ½ cup
Peas boiled ½ cup
Cucumber (peeled and cut into cubed) 2
Fruit cocktail 1 medium tin
Mayonnaise ¾ cup
Fresh cream 1 cup
Castro sugar 2 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
White pepper ½ tsp
Gelatin powder 1 tbsp
Pineapple jelly 1 packet
Water 1 cup

Method

Dissolve jelly and gelatin in 1 cup water. Mix in it mayonnaise, cream, salt, pepper, sugar, all vegetables, fruit cocktail, mix all well. Pour mixture in a jelly mould. Set for 4 hours till firm. Over turn serve decorated on bed of salad leaves.

Sticky and Hot Chipotle Maple Chicken Wings

So, a little junk food indulgence here, but thats ok once in a while, right? Its the holidays after all. If you cant go calorie commando this time of year, when can you? These crispy fried chicken wings coated in a thick sticky sweet and blazingly hot sauce was the perfect pub food treat that I was craving! They would also serve as great little appetizers for a seasonal cocktail party or make um by the boat load for Sunday football parties.

Sticky and Hot Chipotle Maple Chicken Wings
whole chicken wings
canola oil
flour
salt
4 chipotle chilis in adobo, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Heat a large dutch oven with enough canola oil to safely deep fry until the oil reaches 350 degrees. Lightly coat the chicken wings with flour and deep fry in batches, if necessary, turning once until chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Drain on a paper towel and season well with salt. Set aside while making the sauce. In a small sauce pan heat chipotles, maple syrup and vinegar and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for several minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Turn off heat, add butter and incorporate well into the sauce. Place chicken wings in a large bowl and drizzle over the chipotle maple sauce. Toss well and serve hot.

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