Daring Bakers Jully 2010 Swiss swirl ice cream cake

I didn't want to miss this months DB. So I thought I will do a sheduled post.
By the time you read this post we will be in Italy ( Rome) for a week, enjoying good food , drinks etc.....
Our daughter is getting 18 years so we thought we will celebrate her b'day in Rome as she has been doing Latin for the last 6 yrs and she is just crazy for Roman history and culture.

So I won't be ablt to visit all you DB post till I am back from our holidays.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world- life and food . Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.-

The moment I saw this recipe in the foroumn I loved it. It really suited for the weather we are having here and I do have a ice cream machine .
We had to make two different ice cream, but I didn't do. I have been really lazy to make dessert and bakes for this month, actually the only baking I did this month was DB.
So I just did a Vanilla Ice cream and I had big plans for making the Strawberry ice cream.And what i did was took half of the vanilla ice cream and mixed with strawberries which were sauted with a bit of sugar, I cooled it down and then added to the half of vanilla ice cream so that atleast I will have 2 flavours as Sunita had told us we needed to make two different flavours.
I didnt do the delicous fudge sauce ( will surely make that as it is a delicous recipe) I just served with strawberry sauce.
I will post the recipe when I come back as I am fast writting thepost the day before we are leaving.

Penne With Sausage Ragu

For the last 10 days it was just Shyama and I at home as hubby is gone to US, he will be back tomorrow ( yupiieee). We have been doing lot of things together cycling to a book fair in a town which is 10 km from our home, then going for shopping together etc....... and in the evening by eight both of us go to my inlaws place and then MIL open up a bottle of wine and we talk and gossip and just before midnight we walk back home ( don't worry guys , out place is only 900 m from their place, thanks to GPS i know that ).
So as it is the last evening just two of us we will be doing the same again.

Now to the recipe, as i have mentioned before one magazine i look forward for getting every months is my Taste Italia Magazine and this recipe is form this months issue.
S and I loved the pasta dish.
I tweeked according to my taste.

2 tbsp of olive oil
1 onion chopped
500 gm sausages, skins removed and crumbled ( i used less sausages)
1 tsp chillie flakes or according to your taste.
1 garlic chopped
150 ml dry white wine
200 ml hot milk
400 g tin tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
50 ml stock ( used chicken)

Add the oil in a large pan over a medium heat add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chillies. Add the sausages and cook untill slightly dry and crisp. Add the wine and cook untill evaporated.
Add the milk and once creamy, add tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar and stock and reduce the heat to a low and cook stirring regularly for 1 hour or untill thickened and reduced.
Cook the penne pasta, drain toss the pasta into the pan and serve with paremesan cheese.

Feta Cheese with Olive oil and Rosemary

For me it is not normal if I don't bake any sweet.
And you would be surprised to hear I have not been baking for 2 weeks. It is summer holidays here and the weather has been so good that I think it is a shame to be in the kitchen , especially if you consider the bad weather we have been having for the past months.

And as it is hot weather I made this feta in olive oil.
Come to think about there is no recipe , I think just go with your taste and liking when you make this.
Good Feta Cheese cube.
3 springs of Rosemary
Couple of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil sliced.
1 tsp chillie flakes , more or less according to your taste.
I add the above ingridients into a bottle and just pour olive oil to fill up. Keep it for a day before you use so that the flavours can blend in.
I serve then with salades or just eat them with slices of bread.

Best Cocoa Brownies

Hubby left to US today morning, and the taxi came exactly a hour and fifteen minutes earlier, it was such a panick, we woke up when he rang the door bell. I saw hubby rushing to the door to see if it was the taxi and saw him flying back inside well let me put like this I have never seen anyone getting dressed so fast.

There was no chit chat no tea just rushing to the bathroom etc............ I in the mean time rushed to the kitchen as the two pack of pralines was still in the fridge kept there as it was such hot weather ( he is also visitting sis and family) I stuffed them in his luggage, closed it and dragged the luggage to the corridor so he just have to take them.
Shyama was awake but she always stays in her bed and hubby goes to her room to say bye ( as it is early morning) but this time I told her come out of the bed other wise he will loose more time.
All in all it was a event full early morning.

Now to the recipe. I saw this Brownie recipe the day when Patricia posted in her beautiful delicous blog Technicolor. She post so much baking goodies that I hope I could do that.

It just showed up in my reader and I clicked to her page and the moment i read how delicous these were I had to make them ( this happend more then 2 weeks ago). I straight went to the kitchen and made them. It was the time when S was having her exams, so she was prteey pleased when she saw these yummy gooey looking Brownies when she had her break.
I have to agree withPatricia these are the best brownies i have ate and made. This is for sure a keeper.

10 tablespoons (140g/1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¼ (250g) cups sugar - I used vanilla sugar¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (I used lesser amount of sugar other wise it is a bit too sweet for my family)
(80g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
½ cup (70g) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (74g) walnut or pecan pieces (optional) i used them.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F. Line the bottom and sides of a 20cm (8in) square baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Butter the foil.


In a medium heatproof bowl, add the butter and set on top of a large sauce pan with barely simmering water. Melt the butter, then add sugar and salt, and stir until well combined. Next add the cocoa powder and stir until mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test.

Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Tour De France Stage 2 Food from the Region Brussles-Spa

When Barbara mailed me and asked if I want to join them Tour de France project, the first thing I told her is I don't like any kind of sports and I don't watch any :-)
But then Barbara mailed back saying it has nothing to do with the sports it has to do with the food from the region.
Well that I can do I told her and I was delighted to pe part of the group.

There are 20 stages in Tour de France and I am in Stage 2. Bruxelles > Spa and we had to talk about the food from this area.
First food item which comes to my mind if I think about Belgium is , Chocolate.
I remember when I first came to Belgium I lived on chocolate. I am not making this up, I literally ate chocolate every day as I din't like the food which I thought tasted bland compared to the spicy Indian food I was used to from India.

The great thing about Belgians and their chocolate (as well as those who visit here) is that they only have to go around the corner to one of the thousands of local belgian chocolate shops to buy some of the best chocolate in the world.
Belgians have been making the world's best chocolate for well over a century and locals simply regard good chocolate as an everyday part of like.
Few of the most famous Belgian Chocolates are Godiva, Leonidas, Neuhaus, Guylian it will go on and not to mention the other famous local chocolate shops .

Then it is Frites. Belgian French Fries.
One would think reading the name French Fries that they are originated from France.
The belgians would argue about that.

Many Belgians believe that the term "French" was introduced when British or American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War 1. and consequently tasted Belgian fries.

They supposedly called them "French", as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time.
"Les frites" (or "Frieten") became the national snack .

Here at home we make Frites once a week. If it is not made once a week, my daughter and hubby would be like how come you didn't make frites this week.
Every home makes these once a week, even my hubby's grandmother who is 98 eat them once a week so you can't say that are unhealthy, as they say everything in moderation.

Don't forget about Belgium Beers. They have been making beer from Middle ages, which was brewed at some monasteries during this period.
I think if I have to start writting aobut the variety of beers I will have to have few posts.

The famous Lambic Beer from Brussels.

Lambic is a wheat beer brewed in the Pajottenland region, southwest of Brussels by spontaneous fermentation.
Most modern beers are fermented by carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeasts,
Lambic's fermentation, however, is produced by exposure to the wild yeasts and bacteria that are said to be native to the Senne valley, in which Brussels lies.
The beer then undergoes a long aging period ranging from three to six months (considered "young") to two or three years for mature. It is this unusual process which gives the beer its distinctive flavor: dry, vinous, and cidery, with a slightly sour aftertaste.
There is the Trappist beers, Abbey beers, Flemish Ale called Rodenbach, not to mention the special beers they bring out in Christmas season.

Then there is something which is close to my heart is the famous Belgian Waffle. The first dessert I ate when I came to belgium was these delcious light waffles.
It is generally, but not always, lighter, thicker, and crispier and has larger pockets compared to other waffle varieties. You can find a step by step picture here in one of my first posts

There is Mussels and Friets,Waterzoi a rich stew/soup with chicken , cream, and vegetables,
Vlaamse stoofkarbonaden made with beef and beer and mostly served with friets or stoemp (mash potato), Paling in 't groen/anguilles au vert which is eel in a green sauce with variety of herbs, Gegratineerd witloof/chicons au gratin
From Brussels they are cycling to Spa.
As the famed site of healing hot springs, Spa has been frequented as a watering-place since as early as the 14th century. Though other sources of healing hot mineral springs have become famous throughout the world, it is the town of Spa which has become eponymous with any place having a natural water source that is believed to possess special health-giving properties, as a spa. The place name is from Walloon espa meaning "spring, fountain." (Wikki)

Today, Spa is famous for its waters, in the forms of the blue bottled Spa Reine.

Now this is not food related at all, Did you all know that Audrey Hepburn one of the worlds best actress was born in Brussels.

I kg Potato cut
Oil for deep frying. I use my deep fryer.
Salt to sprinkle.

Wash the potato slice twice, drian in a collander and then dry the potato in a tea towel.
I spread the towel and put all the potato slice and cover it. Then after 5 minutes take a a fresh twel and repeat.
Friets are always double fried here.
Heat the oil to 160°c and fry the potatoes in batches for 3 minutes, and drain them into a collander with kitchen paper.
After all the potatoes are fried, you have to fry them again in 180°c till they are brown.
Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Ghents Waterzoi (Recipe comming soon in a another post )

Stage 1 04 July Rotterdam - BruxellesBarbara at winos and foodies

Stage 2 - Brussels - Spa @ My Kitchen Treasures