“A photograph is like the recipe – a memory the finished dish. “
Carrie Latet
It’s been a while that I was tagged to do post my top 10 foodie photographs from my blog. When I first got the tag from Farida @ Azarbaijani Cookbook I was thrilled. This was something just me…’say it with pictures’. Tags in general remind me of my dear friend Manggy@ No Special Effects where he claims ‘all tags come to die’. This tag was special & challenging. Clicking away to glory is my next best therapeutic pleasure after cooking or baking, & I’m still trying to squeeze the life out of my old faithful camera. DH has been on my case to get a new one…until that comes along, here’s my pick for my top 10, being posted pronto because dear Rosie @ Rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake tagged me for the same. I’m embarrassed that I needed prodding to get my act together…sorry that I’m so late Farida, but IT WAS ALWAYS ON MY MIND!! Have been tagged again by Jamie @ Flavour Pantry for the same one last night, so I’d better HURRYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!
I’ve picked 10 of my random food pictures…& couldn’t resist posing my 2 fave non-foodie ones at the bottom.
Top 10 food pics……this tag consists of choosing 10 of your top food pics and in return tagging 5 people to choose 10 of their tops food pics.
…all accomplished foodies whose photographs I have marvelled at for long! Do stop by & take a peek into their blogs; they are a source of inspiration!! Sneaking in 2 non-foodie favourite snaps of mine!
The past days have seen more awards than I ever dreamt I could get, falling into my lap. Each of these make me feel very chuffed indeed, & I am absolutely honoured to be in this sort of ‘firing line’. Thanks to each one of you who thought I was worth it & picked me from the millions of fantastic foodies & bloggers out there. I need to pass these on before they grow roots sitting on my blog…I got this delicious one from Ranji @ Ranji’s Kitchen Corner, Kalai @ Samaithu Paarkalaam, Purnima @Fantasy Cooking. Thanks a lot ladies for thinking of me.
The person who receives the award should display the “Yummy Blog !” logo on their blog and also the meaning…which is “Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos“. The receiver should also quote their favorite yummy-licious 🙂 dessert(s) that they have ever prepared/eaten. Don’t restrict yourself to any dessert, chocolate bars also welcome. Also the receiver should pass on the award to four other bloggers whose blog they find “yummy” and let them know about the rules. My fave yummilicious desserts on my blog would be…
Phew, if you’re still here & reading, I got this next award, precious & ‘ever so cute’, from my dear friend Amy of Familia Bencomo…it’s the most cheerful & expressive one I’ve seen to date ! Would like to pass this one to these blogs which I love visiting as often as I can…
Amy @ Familia Bencomo (How could I not pass it to you; sneaked you into the bottom!!)
Thank you for patiently being here, if you are still here that is! This has taken me the better half of today to complete & I have learnt my lesson…not to procrastinate!! HAVE A FAB DAY!!
“A mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart – a heart so large that everybody’s grief and everybody’s joy found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation”
Mark Twain
Molten Toblerone Hearts…beating for Mother’s Day!!
This recipe is fromDhanggit’s Kitchen …just the most beautiful blog for Asian French recipes! I made these Toblerone Mini-cakes, with a heart full of melted chocolate, when the post caught my eye visiting her gorgeous blog.
Take a look at the chocolate trying to step out! YUM!!
Been very very eager to use my metal heart shaped baking tray that a dear friend gave me, & these did seem the perfect answer! These are hearts in both senses…shape & goodness!!
Simple to make … & absolute decadence!!
Make sure you serve them warm to keep the chocolate ooooozing at the heart!! I made these a while ago…while strawberries were in season here; sadly they’re available for a couple of weeks only!
The recipe as taken fromDhanggit’s blog… Ingredients: Egg – 1 Sugar – 25 gms Flour – 20 gms Butter – 50 gms (1/4 cup ) Toblerone – 50 gms (1 small bar) Dark bittersweet chocolate – 20 gms Butter for greasing the ramekins / moulds
Method:
Beat the egg with sugar until it becomes smooth and creamy.
Add the flour and continue beating.
In bainmarie melt the the two chocolates and add the butter until the mixture becomes homogeneous.
Pre-heat the oven at 200° Celsius.
Fold in the chocolate mixture in the egg-flour-sugar batter until it becomes smooth.
Pour in this mixture in a well buttered ramekin.
Cook for 10 minutes. Unmold immediately after cooking. Serve warm…
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL YOU YUMMY MUMMIES!!
Chanced upon an interesting blog event at Ruth’s blog @ Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments…it puts into perspective what I love about blogging most! Bookmarking recipes to try at a later date…it’s just about the best thing to have happened to foodies like me! It’s the pictures, the posts, the personal touch, the banter, the endless chatter & the notes exchanged in real time which adds life to cooking. Here we go Ruth, Dhanggit’s recipe for your Monday round-up. I love the concept behind the event, & also the tagline of your blog…‘learning to cook using fresh ingredients instead of jars of sauces & microwave meals…’…my mantra too!!
“Condensed milk is wonderful. I don’t see how they can get a cow to sit down on those little cans.”
Fred Allen
On a calcium high…Goodness that’s fruity & cool!
This creamy, delicious mango ice-cream’s en route for something I support whole-heartedly & have always believed in…Beautiful Bones: An Osteoporosis Food Event, hosted by one of my favourite bloggers Susan @ Food Blogga. Susan is funny, her posts are evocative, beautifully presented, & come with a fair share of humour, meaning… & much more. Thanks to her, ‘Dermadoc‘ is gaining notoriety as an avid foodie critic too!! Ha Ha…sorry Susan, was hilarious when he dropped by my place a while ago, & then I saw him at Nicismes’ recently too!
I have made this ice-cream twice already to celebrate mango mania in the merry month of May.
Once here…
…&, on popular demand, here again!
It has been my endeavour to ensure both my kids have always been ‘high on calcium’. Thankfully, it’s become a habit after all these years; the 2 glasses of milk & 2 bowls of home-made yogurt daily are inbuilt into their everyday routine ! I sometimes have to refuse the 3rd bowl of yogurt…such is the love of yogurt! These are simple life-style changes that can be incorporated in everyday meals as an investment in the future! They have now come to love grilled cottage-cheese, the panna cotta (yogurt one too), cottage-cheese cheese cake, fresh broccoli, oranges…all wonderful sources of calcium. I too have 3 glasses (yes 3!!) of milk a day (not a tea person), in addition to yogurt etc. Personally, for me, a glass of chilled milk is a great way to fix hunger pangs…glug it down!!
According to theNational Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) osteoporosis is “a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to break.”May is National Osteoporosis Awareness Month. It is never too early or too late to start your prevention program. Osteoporosis is largely preventable for most people. Prevention of this disease is very important because, while there are treatments for osteoporosis, there is currently no cure.
By about age 20, the average woman has acquired 98 percent of her skeletal mass. Building strong bones during childhood and adolescence can be the best defense against developing osteoporosis later. A healthy lifestyle can be critically important for keeping bones strong. No one step alone is enough to prevent osteoporosis but all four may.
An easy and economical way to boost the calcium content of many meals is to add nonfat powdered dry milk to puddings, homemade cookies, breads or muffins, soups, gravy, casseroles and even a glass of milk. A single tablespoon of nonfat powdered dry milk adds 52 mg of calcium, and 2 to 4 tablespoons can be added to most recipes. You may add: 3 tablespoons to each cup of milk in puddings, cocoa or custard 4 tablespoons to each cup of hot cereal before cooking 2 tablespoons sifted into each cup of flour in cakes, cookies or breads
Enough said… so now onto the ice-cream…the inspiration for which came first from Arundati’s @ Escapadeswhere she had posted an eggless Star Anise Ice-cream using condensed milk. That stuck in my mind! I was also inspired by the Floral Mango Ice-cream that Mike @ Mike’s Tablehad posted…the colours & combination were explosive, but for the eggs. I am quite a non-eggy person, so I put my own ideas & measures together & made this. Lovely & creamy ice-cream…& maybe would do even better in an ice-cream machine (whinge, whinge)…I used my arm!!
Beat the cream & condensed milk well. Add the mango puree & roughly chopped nuts & whisk again.
Put into a plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid & put into the freezer.
Whisk the ice-cream every hour to break the crystals that form from the edge inwards, at least 5-6 times (whinge-whinge), & then leave to set for 6-8 hours or overnight.
Top with slivered pistachios & sprigs of mint! It’s absolutely delicious.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
BLING ON BOLLYWOOD…LAMB CURRY!
Hasta la vista; is a Spanish parting phrase meaning “see you” or “so long”. It literally means “until the seeing”, but is used in the sense “until next time”.My dish here reflects the same sorta feeling. It’s the time of the month again for The Monthly Mingle at Meeta’s @ What’s For Lunch Honey! This time’s special…it’s theBOLLYWOODbling!! Time to show-off colour, polish the family silver, splurge on all things oily & rich…generallyROLL OUT THE RED CARPET!! Also time to fall off my ‘healthy perch’…blame it on Bollywood or blame it on Meeta…I did just that!!
“What we are looking for is a glamorous and elegant dish fit for the red carpet. We love the everyday comfort cooking no doubt about that, but here we want you to dress your dish up in glitter and gloss. Show us your favorite Indian dish fit for a Bollywood (or even a Hollywood) star and share your experience with Indian food with us. “…so says Meeta.
Made a deliciously rich version of lamb curry on the bone, NalliGosht, even simmered it for longer than I did earlier, served it in silver, & sat back & relished the scenes as everyone enjoyed it. This time around, it’s a rich, finger-licking good curry…a pot-boiler for Bollywood with something for everyone! This finger-licking good lamb-curry has been simmered lovingly just for the mingle this month!!
Meeta’s been joined this month by the lovely BulbulMankani, author of Bollywood Cookbook . About the book….” The chutzpah of Bollywood is a reflection of how we feel about food. There is a constant celebration, the mingling of colors and flavors, the near excess of emotive breathlessness. There is no better way to sample the high life of India than to see what the Bollywood royals eat and enjoy. BulbulMankani celebrates the sensuality and vibrancy of Bollywood by marrying it with the food of the stars.”
My attempt to mingle colours with flavour…
The recipe then, which is an adaptation to my earlier adapted version of SanjeevKapur’s recipe. Ingredients:
Lamb leg pieces (nalli) – 750 gms (nalli means marrow bones) Onion – 3 large / sliced fine Garlic – 10 cloves / grated fine Ginger – 1½ inch piece / grated fine Oil – 2/3 cup Bay leaves – 2 Green cardamom – 2 Black cardamom – 1 Cloves – 5-6 Cinnamon – 1 inch stick Pepper corns – 5-6 Red chili powder – 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste) Paprika (degimirch) – 1 tbsp (for colour basically) Coriander powder – 1 tbsp Tomato puree – 2/3 cup Yogurt – 1 cup / thick Green chillies Fresh coriander Garammasala powder – 1 tsp Salt to taste
Method:
Clean and wash lamb leg pieces (on the bone).
Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add green cardamoms, black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, bay leaves and sliced onions.
Sauté until onions are light pink in colour.
Add ginger-garlic paste, red chili powder, coriander powder and cook for one minute.
Add lamb pieces. Roast well.
Add 1 cups of water + salt to taste and bring to a boil. Cook under pressure for 20 minutes, until lamb pieces are almost cooked.
Whisk the tomato puree & yogurt in a bowl, & add to the cooked lamb. Simmer for 30-45 minutes till the gravy is thick & red. Add a couple of slit green chillies for flavour. (Deseed them to reduce the chili factor)
Sprinkle garammasala, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with butter naan! ENJOY!! Note: While selecting cuts for this dish, make sure that you select lamb pieces with lots of bone marrow.
Hugs to you Meeta…for keeping the carpet out for late-comers like me. Cheers!!
“I believe the world to be a muffin pan, and there certainly are a lot of muffins here.”
Aaron Funk
Mocha Walnut Chocolate-chip Muffins…
When I read about theSnackshots #3 event hosted by Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet , I was thrilled. Opportunity to try these mocha muffins I had bookmarked long ago, & soon. Michelle asks “What’s the difference between a muffin and cupcake? …A muffin contains less sugar and doesn’t have icing on top, in other words it’s healthier.”
My choice of muffin is deep, dark, decadent & chocolaty; the flavours enhanced with the addition of coffee. Am still trying to place the source on the net; I know I wanted to try these because they used oil instead of butter & were literally popping out of the screen!! They didn’t disappoint at all; lovely chocolaty dark muffins, great taste, moist & soft!! What’s more ? No butter!! Got a whole batch of 12 regular ones, & also almost a dozen mini muffins out of the batter…bonanza!!
Like other quick breads, muffins do best with a light touch. Mix muffin batter gently; stir only enough to moisten the dry ingredients to keep the muffins tender and to avoid the peaked shape. After adding the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, stir just until moistened. If you try to stir out all the lumps, your muffins will have peaks, tunnels, and a tough texture. Most muffins, especially reduced-fat versions, are best served warm from the oven. Reheating briefly in the oven or microwave can revive flavor and texture. You can find more tips to bake perfect muffins here.
The name ‘Muffin‘ either comes from the French word ‘moufflet‘, meaning a soft bread, or from the German word ‘muffe‘ which is the name for a type of cake. There are two types of muffins: English and American. What ‘American-style’ muffins means is that the muffins are made, not from a yeast dough like the English Muffin, but rather they use a chemical leavener (baking powder or baking soda). Maybe it would be better to describe them as a cross between a bread and a cake.
Either which ways, the kids are always happy to have muffins. These chocolate ones were really nice, so the son made me a ‘Happy Happy Day’ card to thank me!!
The mini muffins were very cute too. I topped each with a dark & milk chocolate chip the minute they came out of the oven. Perfect little bites!
Ingredients:
Hot water – 1/2 cup Instant coffee/espresso powder – 2tbsp Buttermilk – 1/2 cup Vegetable oil – 1/2 cup Eggs – 2 large Vanilla extract – 1 tsp Flour – 1 3/4 cups Sugar – 1/2 cup Brown sugar – 1/2 cup Cocoa powder – 4 tbsp Baking powder – 1 tsp Baking soda – 1 tsp Salt – 1 tsp Chocolate chips – 1/2 cup Walnuts – 1/2 cup / coarsely chopped / optional ; reserve a few halves for topping
Method:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper liners.
Stir 1/2 cup hot water and instant coffee in medium bowl until it dissolves.
Add buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
Add buttermilk mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts (or pecans).
Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Bake until tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Transfer muffins to rack and cool.
MUFFIN is the way to go!!
As Michelle so rightly puts it… “The beauty of the humble muffin is that it’s so versatile and almost any ingredient is agreeable with the baked bun; from pumpkin and fresh fruit to chocolate chips.”
Snip,snip,snip…all I could hear out in the garden was snip, snip, snip. Sunday morning, me lazing in the study with my cuppa cold milk…one day I like to steer clear of the kitchen in the morning. The snipping didn’t seem to end & I got suspicious. Stepped out to find the gardener trimming away my beloved basil bushes to pretty shapes…I almost passed out! There, lying all around, were bunches of my precious basil! He felt it had overgrown too much & decided it was time to clean it up; for him it was just another part of the overgrown hedge!Leaves galore…
Grrrrrrrrrr…& that’s how Sunday morning began. I made him bag the leaves & then got them in & set to work. In temperatures as high as we have here, leaves wilt in next to no time. The only good thing was that I was coerced into doing something I had been procrastinating about for far too long…I had finished my last jar a while ago.
Convenience reigns supreme; if the pesto is on hand,
then can pasta be far behind?
Ingredients:
Sweet basil – 2 cups approximately Almonds – 1/2 cup , with skins Garlic – 4-5 cloves Olive oil – 1/2 cup Freshly ground pepper
Leafing through pesto…
Method:
Grind the almonds with skins in the food processor in short pulses.
Add the garlic, pulse. Add the basil leaves & pulse again till they are all shredded well.
Now continue to pulse while slowly pouring in the olive oil till it comes together. Add some freshly ground pepper, mix well & bottle. Refrigerate. Makes 2 small jars.
And then came the pasta in a pesto cream sauce…
Ingredients:
Fussili – 250 gms
Garlic – 3 cloves
Cream – 200ml
Cheese – 50 gms / grated
Pesto – 2 heaped tbsps
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
Method:
Boil the pasta until aldente.
Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a pan. Ad the garlic & saute for a minute or so. Add the cream + cheese & simmer till it comes to a boil & the cheese melts.
Add the pesto + salt + pepper to taste.
Once the pasta is done, add to the pesto cream sauce & mix through. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan shavings.
I served this with a tomato-cottage cheese-basil salad, grilled chicken & oven roasted garlic potatoes.
The chicken was marinated in a lovely flavoursome marinade I got off from Amy @ FamiliaBencomo…’MarinataDiavola‘; I didn’t have the rosemary but made it nevertheless. Fabulous fabulous results! Do head over to her place & check out the original HERE!!
My jar of pesto, virtually, is on it’s way to PUTTING UP, an interesting blogevent hosted jointly by Pixie @ You Say Tomahto, I Say Tomayto, & Rosie @ Rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake. They are 2 of my favourite UK bloggers & are very busy in their spot of the globe! Rosie was one of the first bloggers I got to know when I began blogging, & she’s gone from strength to strength since! The focus of this event are the Jams & Preserves. I checked with Pixie, & she confirmed that pesto qualifies. Thanks Arundhati for your suggestion…I’m on my way!!
