Vanilla Pannacotta with Mango Sauce Daring BakersChallenge February 2011



This Months Daring Bakers was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen.
We had to make Florentine Cookies, which I din't do. Can you imagine me beeing lazy for baking and that is what exactly happend I was lazy for baking, especialy cookies.....
Actually to be honese I was going to Skip all together the DB challenge this month but few days back I thoguht why not do it.
As we all love here pannacotta and I have made few of them hereI serve the pannacotta with mangoe sauce.

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (one packet) (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/3 cup (80 ml) honey
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) granulated sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:
1.Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

2.Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).

3.Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.

4.Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.

5.Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.



Chicken Vindaloo



Vindaloo is a Indian Curry from the regeion of Goa.
The name Vindaloo is derived from the Portuguese    dish  " Carne de Vinha d' Alhos" , which is a dish of meat, usually pork, with wine and garlic.
The dish was originally modified in   Mumbai by the substitution of vinegar for the wine, and the addition of red Kashmir chillies (not as spicy but abundant in colour).
The dish evolved into the vindaloo curry in Goa , with the addition of plentiful amounts of traditional spice and using palm vinegar instead of red wine.
Ofcoure now they make this curry with all kinds of meat.

And I have used Chicken.
I think if you are live in India or more in Goa you can get hold of the permade Spice paste.
I have used premade spice mix which is available here in Bottles which is improted from UK, but have to say this is not good at all if you compare the premade spice paste I used.
Ofcourse as I was lucky to get from Goa itself.
I had mentioned in one of my earlier post here that hubby had gone to Goa and Aparna of  My Diverse Kitchen had send me goodies and one of the things she send was this spice paste.



So here goes the recipie.
500 gm Chicken cubed Iused the recipe on the packet with a bit according to my taste)
3 oniones finley chopped ( I made a puree)
4 tsp of vindaloo spice paste
2 tomatoes chopped
1 tsp of Kashmiri chillie powder.
2 potatoes boiled and cube
3 tbsp of oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Vinegar
Salt to taste.
Directions.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onione puree till golden brown, add the chopped tomatoes, the Vindaloo Masala paste, chillie powder followed by the chiciken pieces and salt.
Fry all of the for few minutes, then add a bit of water and cook till the chicken is almost done.
Add the cooked potatoes and cook for futher few minutes add the tsp of vinegar , stir well and serve with hot plain rice.

Baby Cup Cakes

I don't remember any more when I made this cupcake. I would say it was atleast half year ago.

There was a time when I baked a lot and that was the time when my daughter was still in school  so when she came home in the late afternoon from school , I often baked something and sometime she brought her friends with her so then it was like double whammy one could bake as much as one wanted .

But now she is in college and comming home only on weekends I hardly bake anything.

Some of you might remark why I am not baking just for me and hubby.

I would have if hubby and I were super thin. But alas that is not the case, I think we are so hard trying not to indulge in sweets as of the ever lasting fight with the expanding waist line.

These bite size cupcakes are really good if you are having a party and you want to serve something yummy, delecate looking and beautiful.

I am sending this to Meeta's which is hosted this month at Paulchens Foodblog.

I love this cupcake recipe as you know, I have made with the same recipe another cupcake but then with a totally different topping.

1 cup (126 g )selfraising flour

1/2 cup (126 g ) sugar ( I used 80 g sugar)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup ( 126 g) soft butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup ( 50 g ) ground almonds

1/2 tsp almond extract or to taste

For the icing.
1/2 cup ( 130 gm) soft butter
1 1/2 cups ( 260 gm) powdered sugar

Preaheat the oven to 350° F or 180°c.

Put baby muffin cases in a muffin tin.

Put all the ingridients into a bowl and beat untill well mixed.
Divide the mixture among the muffin cases and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or untill the cakes are well risen and springy to touch.

For the Icing.
1/2 cup ( 130 gm ) butter
1 1/2 cup ( 260 gm) icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
edible food colouring.
Decoration of you choice to decorate.

To make the icing put the soft butter znd beat untill really light and fluffy.
Add the sugar and the lemon juice and beat to make a very smooth icing that is stiff enough to pipe.
Pipe them to the cooled cupcakes.

Parsee Red Chicken Curry

Who doens't love a good curry especially the one who has this beautiful color.
Don't be shocked by the number of chillies in the recipe. They are Kashmiri chillies which are milder and give this beautiful color to the chicken curry and if you dont like the heat you can always remove the seeds from half of the chillies.
I love Camellia panjabi's book 50 Great curris of India.
I have the book for few years, I remember when i got the book I fell in love with it , if you look throught the book and see the beautifulpictures you will directly run to your kitchen and start making the dishes, that is if you have all the indridients :-)

Acoording to her The secret of the red colour id to use good quality dried Kashmiri chillies.

Ofcourse she has writeen if you cant get them use red fresh red chillies. But then she has written remove the seeds from the half of the fresh chillies if you dont want it to be too hot.

10 Kashmiri chillies ( or fresh red chillies)
1 1/4 cup grated coconut , this is for making coconut milk ( I aded tinned coconut milk)
1/2 tsp cummin seeds ( I added 1 tsp)
1 Tso corriander seed.
1 teaspoon sesame seeds ( she had written it is difficult to grind them smooth so her tip was to use tahini) and I used 2 tbsp of tahini.
3 cloves
6 pepercorn
1 inch cinamon
3 cardamoms
1 tbp ginger peeled and chopped
4 large garlic cloves chopped
3/4 cup onions coarsly chopped
65 ml oil
800 gm chicken cut into pieces, preferably with bones that give a wonderful taste.
2 tomatoes finley chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp can or apple vinegar,
1 tsp garam masala



1. Soak theKashmiri chillies in a little warm water for 15 minutes to soften.
If you are using fresh coconut, soak the grated coconut in a bowl of 400 ml warm water for 15 to 20 minutes. Then squeeze out ans strain to make coconut milk.

2. Put the cumin, coroander and seasame seeds ( i used tahini) the cloves, pepercorns, cinamon, cadamoms, ginger, garlic and onione into a food processor and blend ti a very smooth paste, adding a little wateer if necessary.

3. Heat the oil in a cooking pot. When hot , add the spice paste and stir fry for 5 minutes.
Add the chicken and fry it in the paste fir 5 minutes. The add the tomatoes  and the salt and fry the chiciken for 5 minutes.
Add a little water abd tge coconut milk and leave it to simmer untill the chicken is cooked.
Add the vinegar and garam masala. Taste for salt.
When you add the coconut milk you might think the dish is too wattery dont worry when the chicken gets cooked in the sauce it will get thicker.
I do have step by step pictures, will add them later.

The above picture, this one I made with chicken breast cut into small cubes, the curry was really yumm, but I think with bones the curry taste much better.



Almond Cup Cakes with Seven Minute Frosting



These days if I go to a shop only thing i see is things which you can buy for Valentines day.
And I am like why is it that people make so much phoo ha for this day.

You see in the shops everything red, red rose, read fluffy heart a read bear with a whte hear etc.....the list of things can go on and on.
I am not against valentine day but I just think why there should be just one day to celebrate the love you feel for someone.
It could be also beeing married for 20 years I dont think you dont need a specific one day to celebrate your love for someone.

I just think the only people who gain from these days are shop people and ofcourse the person who get the gift.

I dont mind if we cook a good dinner on that day what I mind is the comercial side of it, were the shops is just like shouting to you buy the card, buy the roses, but something !!!!!!!!!!!!!

But then I think it is not because I don't like valentine day commercial side, that my blog should be punished :-)

This is one of the best cup cake recipe I have made. I make them and use it for different frosting.
All thought I thought the frosting  was a tad bit too sweet
1 cup (126 g )selfraising flour
1/2 cup  (126 g ) sugar ( I used 80 g sugar)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup ( 126 g) soft butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup ( 50 g ) ground almonds
1/2 tsp almond extract or to taste
For the frosting
1 egg white
3/4 cup (175 g) fine sugar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cream of tartare
2 tbsp of coffee liqueur or strong coffee ( i used ligueur)
Preaheat the oven to 350° F or 180°c.
Put 10 muffin cases in a miffin tin.
Put all the ingridients into a bowl and beat untill well mixed.
Divide the mixture among the muffin cases and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or untill the cakes are well risen and springy to touch.
Remove the cakes from the tin and allowe to cool and then swrill the frosting on top.

To make the frosting.Put all the ingridients into a bowl and whisk together with a hand held electric mixer.
Stand the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk for 7 minutes untill the mixture stands in a soft peak.
Swril the frosting on top of the cake.
Last week hubby had gone to Goa for playing in a Music festival and he had met up with Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen well actually Aparna was so sweet to take him around  to various shops so he could buy somethings which I needed. And also to show him around a little bit of the place as he was just there for 2 days.

Ofcourse she also send me a bag of delicous things. In Aparna's words a touch of kerala and Indeed it was a touch of Kerala , there was chakka Varithathu, Tapioca chips etc...... if I am honest I have been not sharing these goddies with my hubby and daughter well I gave them to taste but the rest I have been hogging it :-) not that It is all finished, i still have more to crunch on.

She also send me a touch of Goa , a bunch of Goan masalas which I am so looking forward to cooking Non Veg dishes ane some other goodies, oh and then handmade papers which she send I dint even know such beautiful papers were there. If i ever get to Goa I am sure gonna visit that shop she bought from.
So soon my blog is going to have lots of Goan dishes. I still have to make the dishes so you all have to wait a bit. I tend to make these days new dishes when Shyama comes home for weekend from college so she can also enjoy them.

Lemon Cranberry Pound Cake



Last week Shyama came home from her college and asked if I would make a cake for her to take back to her place.
The place were she stays they celebrate all the kids birthday, and for the person's birthday which comes in the summer holidays they celebrate half year bithday and as her birthday is on end of Jully they did her birhtday on end of  January.
So she wanted to take a cake back there and which she could share with 17 kids.
She didnt want anything with chocolate because one of the kids there don't  like chocolate.
I thought a budnt cake will be the best thing as it is huge can be sliced and shared by a lot.



Normally it has a lemon glazing on top, but I didnt do as she had to take in a tupperware and I thought it might get too sticky etc.....

This is not the first time I make this cake I have made it plentyo f time and it is a reallymoist cake.
The one thing i changed in the recipe was I added less sugar as fo me if we add the full amount of sugar mentioned in the recipe , then it is too sweet.
You can find the Original recipe here

Profiteroles with Coffee Cream and Coffee Glaze

Profiterole is a dish of choux pastrty filled with Whipped Cream or Pastry cream. You can also glaze the top.

This is one dessert I whipp up when my daughter say what we have with our afternoon Tea or when I know suddenly some one is joing us for afternoon Tea.
I have made them with vanilla cream with chocolate glace which we all love very much.
But after the Chocolate heavy doze from Nigella's Devils Cake I am not allowed to bake or make something with chocolate fro a while.
Each time I say I am going to make a cake or dessert I hear my hubby saying no chocolate please.......and hearing no chocolate please.... I close my chocolate tin and start thinking of some other dessert without chocolate.

These are addictive you wont stop with 1,2 or 3 you will go for them again and again untill everything has disapeared from the plate.
There is a step by step pictures how to make them in my post here



Choux Buns recipe is from Michel Roux book Eggs.

Serves 8 to 10
125 ml milk
125 ml water
100 gm butter diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
150 gm plain flour
4 medium eggs
Eggwash ( 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk)

For the filled cream.

2 cup double cream
2 tsp of gelatines mixed with few tbsp of water (optional) but i do it
I love strong coffee taste in my cream so I add few tsp of nescafe Espresso powder and mix with few tablespoon of wram cream and leave it to cool, if you like lighter taste add less coffee powder.
Few tbsp of powder sugar. We dont like the cream to be too sweet as the topping ( glace is sweet) but if you are a real sugar lover andlike you whipped cream sweeter then add more sugar.

Whipp the cream with sugar and the coffee mix, a just before they get to the soft peak add the galatine mix and mix it well till you get to the stage of soft peak.
I whipp up the cream after making the profiterroles.

Preaheat the oven to 200°c.
Combine the milk , 125 ml water, the butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan and set over a low heat.

Bring to the boil and immedieatley take off the heat. Shower in the flower and beat the mixture with a wooden spoon untill smooth.
Add the eggs one by one, beating with a wooden spoon. Once they all are incorporated into the mixture it should be smooth and shiny and thinck enough to pipe.

Pipe small mounds to a baking sheet lines wuith greaseproof paper to staggered tows, using a pipping bag fitted with a plane nozzle.

Brush with the eggwash and lightly marlk the tops with the back of a fork.
Bake at 200° c for 15 to 20 minutes untill dry and crisp.

Cool on a wire rack.

In the mean tim make the cream, when the buns are cold, make a small opening in the side of each chous bun with the tip of knife.
Using a pipping bag fitted with plain nozzle, pipe genorous amount of the cream.

For the glaze.
250 gm Royal Icing ( I used shop bought one )
1 to 2 tsp Nescafe Espresso
Few tbsp of water.

Boil water in a pan. Add the above mixture in a bowl and melt the mixter in top of the pan of water.
This will take a bit of time if the mixture is a bit too thich add a bit more water.
when everything is smooth and no lumps you can dipp each profiteroles to this mixter and leave it to set and then serve.
If you are in a good mood you can melt a little chocolate in the MW and swrill on top too .