By yash, on August 27th, 2012% Dave our It dude, made soem fabulous fruit bread and heres the recipe straight from heart.
- self raising flour sifted -3 cups
- Mixed nuts and seeds- 1 1/2 cups
- mixed berries- 1 cup
- Dried mango- 1 cup
- Milk- 1cup
- water- 2 cups
- Extra virgin olive oil- 1 glug ( yes 1 glug)
Method
mix all the dry ingredients. mix water, milk and glug and add the dry ingredients to the this mix.
pour into a greased baking tin or 3 and bake in preheated oven at about 180 c for about 35-40 minutes.
cool down , slice toast and butter and your ready to roll.
. . . → Read More: Dave Ballards Fruit bread
By yash, on May 9th, 2012%
Cherie Green is one of my fellow tutors at Whitireia, and she had made some fabulous anzac cookies one day very very long back. after much persuasion and bribery she kindly parted with her recipe, which is what im sharing down here.
Anzac biscuits
Mix Flour -50 gm
Sugar- 75 gm
Coconut dessicated- 2/3 cup
2/3 cup rolled oats
MELT Butter- 50 gms add
Golden syrup- 1Table spoon
Dissolve Soda bicarb- ½ teaspoon in 2 Tablespoons of Boiling water.Mix in with the dry ingredients.
Form into round biscuit shapes and bake in pre-heated oven at at 180C 15-20 mins.
. . . → Read More: Anzac cookies/ biscuits as made by Cherie green.
By yash, on May 8th, 2012% Dina, who is a childcare educator at Viraajs day care , is an ex chef and had this recipe which wowed all the children, so this post is dedicated to her recipe, which should wow young and old.
Ingredients
To cream together
- 125 gm butter
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 +3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Sour milk
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Dry ingredients( sieve twice to ensure they get well mixed)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- pinch of ground cloves( here ive reduced the qty which dina had)
- 2 +1/4 cups plain flour
- 4 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
To add
- 2 cups of grated zucchini
- 1/4 cups of dark chocolate chips
method
- preheat oven to 180 C/ 375 F.
- cream butter, sugaroil then add in eggs and vanilla till well blended
- mix in milk and lemon juice.( the acid in the lemon juice helps the baking soda to act). +the baking soad when used with cocoa powder gives it a richer darker colour.
- add in the dry ingredients to the creamed mix.
- stir in the zucchini.pour into large cake tin or 2 loaf tins, and bake for 40-45 minutes.
- check thats done by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer in the centre, iot should come out clean.
. . . → Read More: Dina’s Chocolate Zucchini cake
By yash, on April 21st, 2012% For this delicious and sometimes gassy levantine dip you need chick peas, tahina(sesame seed paste),garlic, lemon juice or citric acid.and olive oil to top it off.
- chick peas- 250 gms
- Tahina – 40-50 gms ..look for the ones from lebanon, habibi ibrahim will be most upset if its an israeli tahina paste, and not kanater abu naoum or mounir bissat from good old lebanon.
- garlic- 2-3 cloves peeled
- lemon juice- from1 lemon . alternatively you can use a citric acid dissolved in water.
- soda bicarb- 1/4 tsp to soak the chickpeas.
- salt- to taste.
method.
soak the chickpeas overnight with soda bicarb and plenty of water. the next day the soaking and soda will have softened the skins of the chickpeas.
these then should be drained and washed very thoroughly. Put it with some fresh water and cook, for really very long. Chef ibrahim hadla, would famously take one chickpea and throw it on the wall. it should be cooked so much that it will stick to the wall.
after they are cooked till really soft and mushy. drain and wash these very well in water.let them soak in a bowl of cold water and let the skins float on top.take these skins off and discard.
then you need a good food processor.like a food chopper, moulinex or any similar ones. at work we used one called robot coupe, which is the mercedes benz of food processors. start to blend .also add a few crushed ice cubes to the mix or really chilled water about 20 mls or so..
this will make the mixture very light and airy and fluffy.add in the tahina and garlic,salt and lemon juice.it should be slightly garlickly , and lemony, but most importantly very very creamy and smooth.
arrange in a flat- ish sort of dish nd then top it with some fruity good quality olive oil, and enjoy with pita bread.
this can be topped with toasted pine nuts or small cubes of lamb/ beef sauteed with onions garlic and some lemon juice as well.
Sahten as they say in arabic, or Bon appetit.
Dedicated to le petit fleur de liban!!!! god how much we laughed when chef ibrahim used to say that.
. . . → Read More: Hummus in the style of ibrahim hadla.
By yash, on April 20th, 2012% Adapted from the Trini hot pepper sauce, which was more important than the salt and pepper for every dinner function that we did , when in trinidad, this sauce has the potential to blow the top of your mouth off.
the english name for this sauce has been inspired because of the fiery heat of this sauce, which im sure when you taste for the first time , is like one step close to suicide.
For the hindi name , i must owe homage to my good friend Christopher Francis, De bloody bugger from Bandra..that and the fact that there was a silly sounding sona chandi chywanprash at some point in the indian market. we transmogrified the name to maa bahen chywanprash and from there onwards, a few years later, when i was struck by a bizzarre idea to call it by this name.
there is no fixed recipe really, because every time in the name of creative spirit, or inspired genius.. i make new version. so far i have not decide to market the product for commercial gain,but instead give away free samples to friends.
So having talked too much already we now goto the recipe.
Chillies green / red or mix of above.
garlic
mustard paste
onions
salt
vinegar.
Blend all of the above in a blender till smooth. Refrigerate and use as dipping sauce, spread, to add heat, bute zest..life to all things which are duller..
Please wash hands after making and before visiting the toilet or rubbing your eyes.
Too much will cause acidity/ heartburn/ reflux..and the need to call the fire service the next morning.
. . . → Read More: Maa bahen sauce / or Suicide sauce
By yash, on April 6th, 2012% Kay is our Caffe latteria practical tutor, and makes a mean flat white coffee. she also dabbles in soap carving and made this fabulous kumara / sweet potato cake, so am sharing her recipe with all. open source for everything is what we do..
- kumara/ sweet potato – 500 gms
- milk-200ml
- eggs- 4 nos
- butter- 100 gms
- sugar-120 gms
- flour-30 gms
- baking powder- 15 gms
method-
- peel and dice the kumar and cook with the milk till really soft, then mash.
- cream butter and sugar till fluffy, then add in eggs a little at a time.
- sieve flour and baking powder together, combine the kumara mash with the egg, butter mix, then fold in the flour.
- put in greased loaf tin.
- bake in pre-heated oven at 170-180c for 30-40 minutes.
. . . → Read More: Kay Moris- kumara cake..
By yash, on November 16th, 2011% all of us at some point of time must have eaten or at least seen what steamed chinese buns or pao look like . this like most of the other recipes demystifies and makes it simple. the recipe given here will make about 50 good sized steamed buns. you can reduce quantities to half or a quarter without any problems
- flour- 1 kg
- warm water- 600 ml
- Sugar-25 gms
- Salt- 20 gms
- Active dry yeast- 25 gms
- vegetable oil- 25 ml
- sesame oil- 10 ml
Filling – of your choice — we will do an assortment of fillings in another post.
Method
- add yeast , sugar, salt, and flour to the warm water and knead well.
- Add in salt and oil and knead until you form a semi soft dough.
- now leave dough covered with gladwrap/ clingwrap / or clean moist towel in a warm area to prove and double in size. this can take upto 45 minutes depending on how warm or cold the area is.
- then knock back or knead the dough again and divide into about 20 gm balls the size of a table tennis ball.
- if you are using a bamboo steamer, then cut out round grease paper the size of the basket and spray with non stick spray/ or lightly brush with oil.
- arrange the balls on the rounds after placing the paper in the baskets. do not put them too close to each other otherwise they will stick.
- let them start to proof again. when nearly double in size, heat water in a pot or wok , on which these baskets fit.
- when water is boiling put the basket on top and cover with its lid. it should take about 15-18 minutes of steaming to get them done.
- lightly brush with sesame oil and serve to soak up sauce from a nice hot pot or anything for that matter.
- these can be filled as well , traditionally with chinese twice cooked pork/ char siew pork or with chicken or a nice veggie filling. its really upto you what you want to put inside.
- share with friends and enjoy steaming hot, not so good to let them get cold .
. . . → Read More: Steamed buns – chinese style
By yash, on October 28th, 2011% this is the one served with ouzi or the arabic styled roasted lamb.its really aromatic and flavourful.
you will need
- lamb mince- 200 gms
- onion chopped- 1 no / 150 gms
- garlic- 2-3 cloves chopped
- bayleaf-1 no
- baharat powder- 1/2 teaspoon ( you can make this one at home and use for shawarma etc, needs cinnamon, cloves, some green cardamom and some pepper, quite strong on the cloves)
- cinnamon powder as well again -1//4 tsp
- black pepper powder-1/4 tsp
- Gum arabic/ gundar/ gond- 1/2 tsp- pounded with some rock salt to a fine powder
- Basmati rice- 250 gms soaked in cold water and washed well.
- Saffron strands- 8-10
- oil+Butter mix-25 ml
Process
- heat oil and add onions and garlic, lightly brown and then add the mince, which has to be really well browned and caramelised.
- then add the spice powders and stir fry even more. add bayleaf and the rice and continue to stir fry till the rice is well coated with the mince and the oil . that will make the rice grains quite separate and nice when the mix has cooked.add in the gum arabic powder.
- Add in enough hot stock or water (you can add some chicken stock powder to cheat) to cover the rice and a little more still.
- Top with the saffron which you must have soaked in a little water.(what you dint know that?.Then get out of here).
- cover with a lid for about 15 minutes on a low heat .
- Serve with roasted lamb as an accompaniment.you can top the rice with almonds, cashew, pistachio ..
. . . → Read More: middle eastern oriental rice or rice with minced lamb really..
By yash, on July 13th, 2011% this recipe has been influenced quite a bit by the quintessential indian frozen ice cream kulfi and uses the worlds most expensive spice saffron for flavoring and coloring.
Saffron if you dint know comes form the crocusplant, and is the stigma of the purple flower which grows on the plant. because its so tiny and delicate it has to be handpicked and since you only get 3 per flower, so pushed the prices ridiculously high. but nothing compares to the aroma and color that you can get from using really good saffron. you get some very good saffrom from iran, the worlds largest producer and the best quality saffron to look for is called sargol, which is the all red part of the stigma, with maximum color and aroma.
anyway after all that info, lets get down to business.
creme anglaise/ english custard
250 ml milk or half milk and half cream like we did
4 egg yolks
120 gm sugar
7-8 strands of saffron / more is not good, can get bitter and too much toxic(really).
100 gms of crushed pistachio nuts lightly toasted
combine the egg yolks with the sugar. warm the milk and add it to the egg and sugar mix. mix in well, but dont whisk it too much, otherwise it gets to foamy and then its difficult to see whether it has been cooked to the right degree.strain to get rid of any shell fragments and get a smoother texture.
put on a very very very low heat. if in doubt, then use a double boiler. cook till the mixture starts to thicken .at this stage you could add in the saffron just as it is or lightly toasted(10seconds in the microwave). take it off the fire, when it has thickened enought o coat the back of spoon with. cool down and either churn in the ice cream machine or put in the freezer and take out every half hour or so and give it a good whisking then . when its half set add int he pistachio and freeze. use with abandon !!!
. . . → Read More: saffron and pistachio ice cream
By yash, on April 28th, 2011% for the pastry shell we will use a 1-2-3 dough really that simple
- 100 gms sugar
- 200 gms butter
- 300 gms flour
rub the butter and sugar with the flour till the butter mix is blended in with the flour. its called rubbing in , and helps to achieve the short crumbly texture that we want for a tart/pie or cookie dough. add in 1 egg and combine lightly to just form a dough. rest in the chiller for 30 minutes.
part 2
make a strawberry compote / jam with fresh, frozen strawberries and sugar about 500g berries and 200 sugar till really thick. belnd it all together and cook over a low heat. thats to get a really concentrated flavor. if you are short of time then get a really good jam with high concentrate of fruits
- eggs-2 whole
- sugar- 50 gms
- white wine 50 ml
cook over a double boiler whisking till really light and frothy and thick . the white wine will add lots of flavor, plus volume. then add in 10 gms of gelatine powder, which you will have soaked in about 10 ml of cold water beforehand(i hadnt mentioned it earlier, but now i have).oh also nuke the gelatine in the microwave for aboout 10 seconds and mix it in the egg mix.
Add in about 150 gms of the strawberry compote /jam.
now whip about 200 ml of cream till thick and light , soft peaks . no sugar in this , because our strawberry already has some so do the eggs. by the time the cream is whipped , the egg mix will have cooled down sufficiently to fold it in. voila here is the strawberry mousse mix.
oh and we go back to our 123 dough. roll it out and line a sprigform pie/tart mold with it. there is enough for that and with the scraps you can make easy cookies.
bake at 175 C /350 F for about 20 minutes . dock the pastry so that it does not rise. cool down. melt some white chocolate and brush the inside of the tart/pie shell with the melted white chocolate. this will prevent it from going too soggy when the mousse mix goes in.
pour in the mousse mix in the pie/tart shell. and chill for about an hour .
slice and decorate with plenty of strawberries. for the final piece of work you can glaze it with some strawberry jam thined down with orange juice and melted in the microwave. brush it over the sliced strawberry topping and we are ready to rock after 2 good hrs of some work , but hey, this is not fast food . this is slow and decadent.
. . . → Read More: strawberry mousse tart, for mirra
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