FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD….

“For me, the cooking life has been a long love affair, with moments both sublime and ridiculous.”
Anthony Bourdain

Rice Noodles with Stir-fried Chicken & Veggies…& a mild chili sauce!

And my search goes on, carrying me further into the far-east in search of pan-asian cuisine. Thanks to Andaliman I’ve figured out that there are many more sauces than I ever thought there existed. AB from HomemeadeS gave me some more direction, & I made a chunky chili sauce from her blog. I’m getting there….this meal tasted really nice & with a lot of flavour! Me thinks it was the sauce that did the magic!

A sauce full of flavour…Not too hot & spicy too!

Sambal (chili sauce), is one of Indonesia’s traditional food seasonings. Almost every region in Indonesia has its own special chili sauce with different taste and ingredients.Sambal is thicker and richer tasting than Mexican salsa. It ranges in spiciness. There are a number of varieties which are popular in Indonesia.

I adapted AB’s sweet chili sauce recipe with shallots, garlic, tomatoes, red chilli flakes & tamarind that figured in its long list of ingredients. I used whatever I could find easily & made a chili sauce which wasn’t sweet but turned out really nice.

Chili Sauce from HomemadeS. Recipe link HERE.

Only changes were red onions (iso shallots), lime leaves (iso kafir), demerera sugar (iso palm sugar/reduced too), & no galangal (since its available here in special stores only & I didn’t have time to go).

Ingredients for the main meal:

Chicken – 3 breasts /cut into bite sized pieces
Garlic – 5-6 cloves (chopped fine)
Button mushrooms – 200gms / quartered
Baby corn – 100gms / sliced
Brocolli -1 small head/ divided into florets
Bok choy – 2 heads /chopped
Bell peppers – 1 red/1 yellow/1 green/ diced
Spring Onions – 4-5 / chopped with greens
Cashewnuts – a handful/ dry roasted
Prepared Noodles (with a little love!)

All chopped up & ready to go…check out the heart!!

Method:

  • Steam brocolli & baby corn separately till crisp tender. Keep aside.
  • Heat oil in a wok & stir fry mushrooms on high till they release their liquid & become dry. Remove from oil & reserve.
  • Add chopped garlic, saute for a minute & add chicken pieces; saute till nicely done.
  • Add 2-3 generous tbsps of chili sauce & lime leaves & give it a good stir.
  • Put back the mushrooms, & also all the remaining vegetables except the spring onions & bok choy. Stir well on high for about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
  • Heat some oil in a big pan & add a tbsp of chili sauce (its not very hot at all), followed by the prepared noodles & stir well.
  • Now add the chicken & veggies to this, & also the spring onions, greens & bok choy. Stir well
  • Top with roasted cashewnuts & serve hot with sauce on the side.

The ‘Kitchen of Love’ invites entries for quote… “an appetizer, dinner dish, or side item that includes at least one food considered an aphrodisiac. As February quickly draws near, so does Valentine’s Day. While commercialism causes the adverse effect for many, Valentine’s Day remains a day for love, etching a small moment for adornment and thoughtfulness into our busy lives. And so, I have decided to host an event that celebrates Valentine’s Day and many food aphrodisiacs that offer endless possibilities to this affectionate day.”…unquote.

This is my entry for the loverly event…& to wrap it up with dessert, do head to Zorra’s site!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

FOOD & CREATIVITY…ART YOU EAT #1-CHOCOLATE!

“Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music.”
Julia Child

My canvas on chocolate…Julia Child’s words ring so true!

Why would I post this cake again? All thanks to an idea from Holly…a mom to 2 sweet boys obsessed with all things cooking & baking. Passionate like me & a buncha foodies on the net!!
Holly’s had an idea: “We all want our creations to look as wonderful as they taste and there are tons of absolutely gorgeous examples out there of the amazing creations that all you beautiful bloggers create. Why not hold an event that shares the decorating and presentation tips as well as the food? After all, if someone is going to try to recreate your masterpiece, shouldn’t it look spectacular too?” YES!!
My mantra…’Do It From Scratch’! It must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too!
Quoting from her blog…”Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus defines artistry as a noun that means “creativity“. Each month we will hold an event that will focus on a different kind of decorating theme, medium, idea, holiday, etc. That way we can all go for variations on a similar theme for that month and end up with lots of ideas to choose from! It should be fun to see all the variations we come up with.“

Great idea…I think food as an art rocks! A platform for creativity & just my kind of therapeutic pleasure!

Have posted the recipe & making of my ‘Chocolate Strawberry Cake’ a few weeks ago. You can find the complete procedure HERE. Pictures of the process follow. This cake has been tried by 2 people I know. Purnima even sent me pictures & she did a SPLENDID job! It was just amazing & I was so glad I shared it!

Chocolate Strawberry Cake…Quite the Ultimate Combination

Since Valentine’s Day is almost here – and because it is what it is – Holly chose CHOCOLATE to kick this off with. This means chocolate in any type, but not cocoa. She wants to see what you can do with the stuff you melt, or chop, or curl, or mould, or whatever.

There you go Holly…this is what I did!
Once the honours were done…peep inside the cake!

The final one…a slice of cake!

I really & truly enjoyed making this cake. It wasn’t a lot of hard work, as I did it in bits & bobs, but the end result was very satisfying. You can do the sponge a day in advance to reduce doing everything altogether. A rested mind gives a fresh perspective & makes a world of a difference!! Thanks to ‘Art You Eat’, this cake is seeing light of day again!!
Posted by Deeba @ PAB

FRIENDSHIP, SPICE & THE CHINESE NEW YEAR!

“Condiments are like old friends — highly thought of, but often taken for granted.” Marilyn Kaytor
STAR ANISE FLAVOURED SWISS ROLL with MARMALADE SAUCE
I took some marmalade that I had made last month & spiced it up with star anise, cinnamon, ginger etc. Let it mature for a day…dreamt of a swiss roll last night & created my own dessert this morning. Very proud of this one because I thought it up in my mind, enjoyed the experience a lot & the roll came out looking quite nice. Tasted great too & is my entry for this month’s THINK SPICE!

MILDLY SPICY MARMALADE SAUCE…Sweet & different!

What would you do if the courier brings you a parcel & you open it amidst great excitement to see some starry creatures staring right back at you. Initial dismay of the star anise type!! Exactly what happened to me a few days ago. Arundati said she was sending me the ‘Arusuvai‘ friendship surprise ingredient looooooong ago…& it finally reached 2 days back (much after curiosity killed the cat in me many times over).

Beautifully packed…with the surprise ingredient, a lovely gift & 2 letters!
(Sorry Arundati, I couldn’t resist the bit about 2 letters!!) Arusuvai Friendship Chain is about sending along a surprise ingredient as a gift to your friends for them to prepare something tasty with it, share the recipe, and pass on other surprise ingredients to more people.

While Arundati was still trying to post her parcel, Sunita thankfully recovered her blog (PHEW) which she deleted in error & posted the spice for Feb…STAR ANISE!! O boy…I thought, maybe I would let this pass. Fate of course had other plans for me when the parcel arrived!! I burnt the midnight oil researching this pretty spice, sniffing it merrily, looking at it in wonder & trying to build the friendship chain!
Star anise, star aniseed, badiane or Chinese star anise, (Chinese: 八角, pinyin: bājiǎo, lit. “eight-horn”) is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening. It is widely used in Chinese cuisine, in Indian cuisine where it is a major component of garam masala, and in Malay/Indonesian cuisine. Star anise is an ingredient of the traditional five-spice powder of Chinese cooking.

Gung hay fat choy
(meaning “May you become prosperous)
While on the topic of this really exotic Chinese spice, wonder if you know that the Chinese New Year begins today, on Thursday, February 7, 2008. By the Chinese Calendar 2008 is the Year of the Rat.

HAPPY CNY TO ALL OF YOU!

This post is becoming longer than I would like it to be, but there seems little way out of this saga. Getting back … thank you Arundati (who’s in the line of fire & she knows it!!) for your favourite spice that awakened the creativity in me. I really really liked the pretty stars & wanted to make a sweet spice sauce for dessert. Here’s what I did.
Ingredients:
Marmalade – 1/2 cup
Star Anise – 3-4 flowers
Ginger – 1 inch piece / crushed roughly as it has to be discarded later
Cinnamon – 1 piece
Freshly crushed black pepper – a twist or two of the peppermill
Water – 1/8 cup (approx)
Method:
  • Mix all of the above & simmer on low heat in a pan.
  • Leave to cool overnight for the flavours to mature.
  • Discard the ginger; remove the cinnamon & star anise & reserve for garnishing.
  • This mildly spicy sweet sauce can be also be used as a topping for ice-cream, dessert sauce for a panna cotta etc too. Star anise has a very mild flavour almost like fennel (saunf).

SWISS ROLL
Ingredients:

Eggs – 3
Castor sugar – 1/2 cup
Flour – 1/2 cup
Star anise powder – 1 tsp ( I ground some in the coffee grinder & sieved it)

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
  • Line a swiss roll tin with non-stick parchment.
  • Beat the eggs & sugar well for about 10 minutes till they become thick & mousse like.
  • Sift 1/3 of the flour into the beaten mixture & gently fold in. Repeat 2 more times.
  • Gently turn into lined tin & bake for 10-12 minutes till light golden brown.
  • While the roll is baking, sift sugar & a little star anise powder over a piece of parchment, slightly bigger than the roll, & place over a cloth kitchen towel.

  • Remove from oven & turn the roll onto the parchment, & peel off the lining (which should be now on top)
  • Roll the kitchen towel with the second parchment & roll on it firmly & leave to cool.

Filling :

Whipping cream – 200ml
Hung curd – 1/2 cup (optional)
Orange essence – 1 tsp (optional)
Castor sugar 2-3 tbsps

Method:

  • Put everything together in bowl & whip till thick.

Assembling the Swiss Roll:

  • Unroll the swiss roll & spread a layer of the marmalade sauce evenly over it.
  • Next spread the cream filling. Don’t put too thick a layer or it will ooze out while rolling it back. Some cream will get left. Reserve it for the topping.
  • Now gently & firmly roll it back & place in a tray with the overlapping end underneath.
  • Drizzle remaining cream over the roll, sprinkle some star anise powder & some orange zest if you have some. garnish with th reserved star anise flowers & cinnamon stick.
  • ( I cut my roll into slices before drizzling the cream; just a personal choice since the excitement generated by the kids prior to serving makes my slices get cut all wrong!)
  • Chill well, & serve with slices of orange & remaining cream.

    A slice on a roll!!

    P.S. Thank you Srivalli for the great chain! I have sent my surprise ingredient to Miri at Peppermill…thanks for adding a link to the chain!

    Posted by Deeba @ PAB

    Strawberries in a Trifle … Quite Literally So!!

    “That most wonderful object of domestic art called trifle…with its charming confusion of cream and cake and almonds and jam and jelly and wine and cinnamon and froth.”
    Oliver Wendell Holmes
    Dressed up with grated chocolate, melted chocolate, sliced strawberries & fresh mint leaves!

    I made these in dessert cups with the leftover sponge that I had frozen. Simple & effective, a rocking good dessert in one of our favourite combinations this season…‘Chocolate & Strawberry’!! Ready in minutes, with nothing very involved, this is indeed a whimsical way of using left-overs!!

    A hearty trifle for Valentines…
    The word “trifle” comes from the old French term “trufle,” and literally means something whimsical or of little consequence. Many puddings evolved as a way of using up leftovers and trifle originated as a way to use stale cake. A proper English trifle is make with real egg custard poured over sponge cake soaked in fruit and sherry and topped with whipped cream.

    A pudding/dessert I made with a layer of strawberry sponge that I reserved while making the Chocolate Strawberry Cake(pictured right). I saved a layer of the sponge because I thought the cake looked a trifle higher than I wanted it to be.

    Ingredients:(Makes 4-6 strawberry trifles)
    Strawberry Sponge:
    Eggs – 2
    Sugar – 50 gms
    Cornflour – 1 tbsp
    Flour – 50gms
    Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
    Pinch of salt
    Strawberry essence – 1 tsp

    Strawberry cream:
    Whipping cream – 300ml
    Strawberries – 100gms / reserve 1-2 for topping
    Castor sugar – 1-2 tbsps
    Grated chocolate,dark melted chocolate,sliced strawberries,sprinkles,mint leaves etc for topping.

    Method:

    • For the sponge:
    • Line & grease a swiss roll pan or an 8″ square tin.
    • Sift the cornflour + flour + baking powder + salt 3 times. Keep aside.
    • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
    • Beat the eggs & sugar well till it holds thick ribbons; about 10 minutes.
    • Beat in the strawberry essence.
    • Gently fold in the flour mix, a tbsp at a time, in figure 8 hand movements so that the beaten air doesn’t escape.
    • Turn into the prepared tin & bake for about 15-20minutes/ until done.
    • Remove from tin after 5 minutes; take off the lining & cool completely on rack.
    • For the strawberry cream:
    • Chop the strawberries into small pieces.
    • Whip the cream with castor sugar till firm. Fold in the chopped strawberries.
    • To assemble:
    • Take a round cookie cutter & cut circles to fit dessert cup. Alternatively, crumble cake roughly & line the bottoms of the cups with half the cake.

    • Put a layer of strawberry cream, followed by another layer of cake.
    • Top finally with the remaining strawberry cream.

    • Border the cream with grated chocolate, drizzle melted dark chocolate over the top & place sliced strawberries & mint leaves. Use sprinkles if you like.
    • Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

    In the shadow of the setting sun!

    This month for Leftover Tuesdays #12, the challenge foodie Pam presents is ‘to create something for your sweetheart and if you can use up some leftover Chocolate in the process your creation with be extra sweet!’ This trifle has got to be it from me. Even the chocolate I used to border the rifle is from a left-over bar of toblerone!! Sending this off to Pam…

    This one is off to Zorra‘s as well for her hearty event…‘A heart for your valentine’. Do drop by her place and check out all the beautiful entries…

    Posted by Deeba @ PAB

    ROGAN JOSH…A popular lamb curry; Served here with stir-fried cawliflower

    ” Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat.”
    Fran Lebowitz
    LAMB ROGAN JOSH…a passionate curry!
    A very popular dish from North India & Pakistan, Rogan Josh is just mildly spicy. It gets its fiery red colour from paprika, & like all popular recipes, has many versions. Here is my own simple rendition of Rogan Josh…mild, tasteful & one we all like very much. I like this recipe for a change because it has no tomatoes & isn’t too laden on calories. Though traditonally cooked in clarified butter or ghee, mine is cooked in sunflower oil. I served it with a simple stir-fried cawliflower (recipe at the bottom).

    Rogan josh is an aromatic curry dish. Rogan means clarified butter in Persian, while Josh means hot or passionate. Rogan Josh thus means meat cooked in clarified butter at intense heat.
    According to Lizzie Collingham’s book Curry: A tale of cooks & conquerors, Rogan Josh was brought to India by the Moghuls. The unrelenting heat of the Indian plains took the Moghuls frequently to Kashmir, which is where the first Indian adoption of Rogan Josh occurred. Evidence of this is the typical absence of onion and garlic in the Kashmiri versions of the recipe as made by Kashmiri Brahmins, who had no qualms about eating meat, but were averse to using these spices in the kitchen.

    Ingredients:

    Lamb – 500gms/ shoulder cut; on the bone
    Whole garam masalas – Cloves -5/Whole pepper-7/Black cardamom – 3/Cinnamon – 1 ” piece
    Onions – 3 medium / sliced
    Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
    Coriander powder – 2 tsp
    Paprika – 1 tsp
    Red chili powder – 1/2 tsp
    Yogurt – 1 1/4 cup / whisked gently with a fork
    Green chilies/Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

    Method :

    • Heat oil. Add the whole garam masalas & fry for a minute or two.
    • Add the sliced onions & fry till golden brown.
    • Add the paprika & give it a good stir.
    • Add the lamb & roast well till nicely browned.
    • Add the ginger-garlic paste & roast again. Add a tbsp of water if required.
    • Roast till the sides leave oil & put in the coriander powder + red chili powder.
    • Now pour in the yogurt in 2-3 goes, stirring in well so the mixture doesn’t curdle.
    • Add salt, stir & reduce heat to simmer. Cook covered under pressure/in a slow cooker till lamb is tender.
    • Open only once it’s cooled down a bit. If the gravy is too runny, simmer for a while till it thickens up.
    • Add a green chili or two for flavour if you like. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
    • Serve hot with naan, chapatis or rice.

    Recipes vary widely across different locations and traditions, but all include lamb, onions, oil or ghee (clarified butter), and a mixture of spices. These may include paprika for its red colour, aniseed, cloves, cumin, cinnamon, and many others. Many variations have ginger, garlic, and yoghurt, and some use tomatoes.

    Serve with a stir-fried vegetable dish on the side…

    Recipe for Stir-fried Cawliflower (Gobhi)
    Ingredients:

    Cawlifower – 1 medium head / cut into florets
    Coriander powder – 1 1/2 tsp
    Roasted cumin powder – 1 tsp
    Asafoetida / Hing – 1 pinch (optional)
    Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
    Red chilli flakes – 1/4 tsp
    Dried mango powder (amchur) – 1/2 tsp (optional)
    Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

    Method:

    • Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan to nice & hot. Add the asafoetida if using, followed by cumin seeds.
    • Once the seeds splutter, add the rest of the dry spices to the hot oil.
    • Fry for a minute; make sure they don’t burn, but release their lovely aroma.
    • Add the cawliflower florets & salt to taste. Leave untouched on high for a minute or so to allow the florets to brown a bit.
    • Stir well, cover & cook on medium high for about 5 minutes. Then simmer for a further 5 minutes or till tender crisp & done.
    • Add dried mango powder if desired & roast well on full heat.

    Another wonderful version of the rather under-rated cawliflower can be found at Manggy’s…it’s somewhat similar but baked! Nice!!
    Posted by Deeba @ PAB

    PANNA COTTA with STRAWBERRY COULIS…Elegant & Sublime!

    “Good food gladdens the heart.”
    Author Unknown

    Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis…

    An elegant, simple Italian dessert. Creamy & incredibly satisfying! Having read about it several times, I always wondered of how beautiful & versatile something like this would be. Somehow never got down to making it till now when strawberries started showing up in the market. Sublime…& a sure winner. DH loved it & the kids found it AWESOME!!

    The pudding before it was sent to chill!!

    I scoured plenty of recipes on the net, & I finally settled for this one from Good Morning America by Chef Emeril Lagasse…I had to do one with strawberry coulis. Coulis is a French sauce which can be sweet or savoury, depending on what it is meant to accompany.There are as many sauces as there are versions of panna cotta on the web. A hot caramel sauce, a mocha sauce, a chocolate sauce, a mango sauce…the list is endless. And then the versions…a chocolate panna cotta, strawberry, mango, pistachio, a cookie base…how much more versatile can an eggless desert get. This is one desert I shall explore more & more!!

    “Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. An Italian phrase which literally means “cooked cream”, it generally refers to a creamy, set dessert from the Northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is eaten all over Italy where it is served with wild berries, caramel or chocolate sauce. It is not generally known exactly how or when this dessert came to be, but some theories suggest that cream, for which mountainous Northern Italy is famous, was historically eaten plain or sweetened with fruit or hazelnuts.”

    Recipe as modified from GMA, which I adapted it a bit here & there.

    Ingredients:

    For the custard:
    Cream – 400ml
    Whole Milk – 1 cup
    Sugar – 1/2 cup
    Zest of 1 orange
    Gelatin – 1 1/2 tbsps
    Water – 1/4 cup/warm
    For the Strawberry Coulis:
    Strawberries – 200gms
    Sugar – 1/4 to 1/2 cup
    Zest of 1 orange
    Water – 2 tbsp
    Method:
    • To make the panna cotta:
    • Combine the cream + milk + sugar + zest in a pan & simmer till it comes to a slow boil.
    • In the meantime, warm the 1/4 cup water & sprinkle the gelatin over it & leave to soften. (Since I increased the gelatin from the original recipe, it didn’t quite soften completely.Also became a dense glob! So I stirred in a little more warm water & then strained it.)
    • Take the milk/cream mixture off the heat. Whisk in the gelatin & pour into ramekins 0r bowls. I saw a recipe in which they even used a cupcake tray!

    • Leave to set/chill for 4 hours minimum to overnight.
    • To make the strawberry coulis:
    • Quarter the strawberries & put in pan with remaining ingredients. Simmer just till sugar dissolves.
    • Remove immediately, cool & blend. Strain & chill.
    • To serve:
    • To demould, place the bowls in warm water for 15 seconds & turn onto serving platter. Drizzle with strawberry coulis
    • OR, Serve in bowls with strawberry coulis on top. (I found this version simpler, though will get proper moulds & try it demoulded again.)
    • Garnish with sliced strawberries & serve.

    Demoulded OR…

    … Served in bowls

    Zorra at Kochtopf has a LOVEly event on for Valentines…‘A Heart for your Valentine‘ & invites us to treat our Valentine with something sweet or savory but always heart-shaped or heart-decorated. Here’s an ‘edible heart ‘ & a sweet one at that for her event…

    Posted by Deeba @ PAB
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