Fresh Apple Cake

Apples are in season. My neighbor, Kathy, made this amazing apple cake one weekend, and was kind enough to share two pieces with us. She even included a print of the recipe for us, in case we wanted to know if we were allergic to any of the ingredients, like nuts. Being Indians, I guess we're lucky not to be allergic to most ingredients. The cake was so moist and it had a beautiful glaze over it. We loved it so much that we decided to make a whole batch next time we got apples. And it was simply amazing, just like Kathy's! Special thanks to her.
The recipe was from the Deen family.

No pictures for this post. Sorry. Will post it when I bake this again.

Ingredients:

Honey Glaze:

    1 cup confectioners' sugar
    2 tablespoons honey
    2 tablespoons milk

Apple Cake:

    3 cups diced Granny Smith apples, about 2 apples
    1 cup lightly toasted chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    3 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon salt
    2 cups sugar
    1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
    3 eggs

Method:

Glaze: Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and stir until smooth. Set the bowl aside.
If you don't have readymade confectioner's sugar like me, just powder some regular sugar in a spice grinder, until its fine like dust.

Cake: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a Bundt pan or tube pan. I used a large rectangular pan for lack of these.

In a bowl, mix together the apples, walnuts, vanilla, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer beat the sugar and oil, in a large bowl, until its well creamed for about 10 minutes. Break eggs into this one by one, beating well with each addition. Add in the dry ingredients and mix gently until well incorporated. About 10 folds and that's it, just stop and walk away. You don't want to mix it too much and activate the gluten. Now fold in the apple mixture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to fully cool in the pan, about 1 hour, and then turn it out onto a plate.

Drizzle the apple cake with some of the honey glaze, serve and enjoy!

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Gougères

Due to my love of cheese, I wanted to try an easy cheese puff recipe. I've seen choux pastry being made everywhere - Julia Child talks about it, its an important know-how on Masterchef, youtube, cooking channel, you name it. And to think I haven't tried it even once, was a shame. So I tried these gougères on Christmas eve. This was also an accompaniment to the butternut squash soup which was the second course of our Christmas dinner.

The cheese used to make Gougères vary. I used Gruyère, but some like to use sharp or mild cheddar. You can use a mix of Gruyère and one-third part Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. David Lebowitz suggests using Mimolette but I haven't noticed this at my local grocery, but i'll look for it next time.

Credit: David Lebowitz

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (125ml) water
3 tablespoons (40g) butter, salted or unsalted, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
big pinch of chile powder, or a few turns of freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 cup (70g) flour
2 large eggs
12 chives, finely-minced (or 1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme)
3/4 cup (about 3 ounces, 90g) grated cheese - I used Gruyère

Method:

About thirty bite-sized puffs

Two things to keep in mind when making these. One is that you should have all the ingredients ready to go before you start. Don’t let the water and butter boil away while you grate the cheese. Otherwise you’ll lose too much of the water.

Second is to let the batter cool for a few minutes before adding the eggs so you don’t ‘cook’ them. Make sure when you stir in the eggs that you do it vigorously, and without stopping. This is where my hand mixer with the silicone whisk comes in handy.

If you don’t have a pastry bag with a plain tip, you can put the dough into a freezer bag, snip off a corner, and use that. Or simply use two spoons to portion and drop the dough onto the baking sheet. Or use an ice cream scoop. This recipe can easily be doubled.

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

2. Heat the water, butter, salt, and chile or pepper in a saucepan until the butter is melted.

3. Dump in the flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture pulls away from the sides into a smooth ball. Remove from heat and let rest two minutes.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring quickly to make sure the eggs don’t ‘cook.’ The batter will first appear lumpy, but after a minute or so, it will smooth out. I used a hand mixer with the whisk attachment.

5. Add about 3/4s of the grated cheese and the chives, and stir until well-mixed.

6. Scrape the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a wide plain tip and pipe the dough into mounds, evenly-spaced apart, making each about the size of a small cherry tomato.

7. Top each puff with a bit of the remaining cheese, the pop the baking sheet in the oven.

8. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375F (190C) and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re completely golden brown.

For extra-crispy puffs, five minutes before they’re done, poke the side of each puff with a sharp knife to release the steam, and return to the oven to finish baking.

Serving: The puffs are best served warm, and if making them in advance, you can simply pipe the gougères on baking sheets and cook right before your guests arrive, or reheat the baked cheese puffs in a low oven for 5-10 minutes before serving. Some folks like to fill them, or split them and sandwich a slice or dry-aged ham in there, although I prefer them just as they are.

A bit of troubleshooting: The most common problem folks have with pâte à choux, or cream puff dough, is delated puffs. The usual causes are too much liquid (eggs), or underbaking. Make sure to use large eggs, not extra-large or jumbo, and use a dry, aged cheese, if possible. And bake the puffs until they’re completely browned up the sides so they don’t sink when cooling.

Notes: These smell very eggy, but that's how choux pastry smells like. Same reason why I'm not fond of eclairs. I'll need to find another cheese puff recipe that doesn't require eggs next time.

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Naan

 
Naan is an Indian bread that I've been wanting to try making at home for a long time. It's traditionally made in a Tandoor which is a hot clay oven. Obviously a commoner like me won't have a clay oven at home, so we usually had them at a restaurant. But my mom used to make a similar one at home on a stove top when I was a kid. It used to be one of her specials served with keema matar, made specially for her children. :)
I tried a recipe from vahchef. He shows two options - an oven technique and a stove top technique. Since my stove is electric, I couldn't follow that one, although he says its the better tasting one. I opted for the oven technique and it turned out good anyway. I may try the stove top version when I get a grill.
I served it with Shahi Paneer for dinner.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 3 cups
Instant dry yeast - 1 sachet
Water - 1/2 cup (lukewarm)
Milk - 1 cup
Egg - 1 (optional)
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbsp
Extra flour - for rolling out

Method:

Sieve the flour into a bowl.
Prepare the yeast mixture first. In a small bowl filled with 1/2 cup lukewarm water, add the instant yeast. Stir with a plastic spoon to mix, the yeast will start to get activated. To help this, add in the salt and sugar. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add the milk, and egg if using. Egg will make the naan softer. Also add a tablespoon of oil in the mixture.
Pour the yeast mixture a little at time into the bowl of flour and knead with your hands. The video shows that you need to get a very sticky and smooth dough, so its ok if its sticks a lot on your hands. I did not have to use the entire yeast mixture to get the consistency shown in the video (that's why I use only 1/2 cup water in this recipe). Drizzle some oil over the top so that it doesn't dry when letting it rest. Rest for about 1/2 hour or even an hour, to let the dough rise. In the meantime, I prepared the curry that I would serve with it.
Preheat your oven to the highest possible temparature (broiler mode). Flour your work surface and your hands. Start pulling out portions of the sticky dough and form a rough ball with it. The extra flour will help prevent it from sticking to your hands. Once you've made the balls, cover them with a kitchen towel and rest again for about 10 to 20 mins. Then take eash dough ball and flatten them out with your palm. Keep tossing them between your palms like you would a pizza dough. The video shows you how to do this. Beware he's goofy, so it's hard to take him seriously at first lol!

Place them on a non-stick cookie sheet or on an oiled pan. If you like garlic naan, spread minced garlic over the naan at this stage. Bake it in the oven for 2 and a half minutes. Anymore and you will burn the naan (Oven temperatures may differ so keep a close eye on the first batch to calculate what works best). Take it out and flip it, and place it back in the oven for only 30 seconds. Get them out and immediately dab salted butter on it, if you like butter naan.
Serve hot with your favorite curry.

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Love Letters / Madakku Saan

Madakku saan is an authentic snack from kerala. Its a wonderful crunchy crepe thats just not too sweet but feels good in the tummy. They're also given the nickname "Love Letters" coz of the lovely sweet coconut mixture rolled up like a letter or packed in an envelope. :) It would make a cute gift to prepare for loved ones.

Ingredients:

For the crepe:
Flour/Maida - 1 cup
Water - enough to make a loose batter
1 egg
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch

For the coconut filling:
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Cardamom powdered - 1 or 2 tsp
Sugar - 4 tbsp

Method:

Mix all ingredients of the batter and fry them on a pan (no need of any oil). If it does stick to the pan, then dab a little oil in a gauze or kitchen towel or tissue and just wipe across the pan.
Mix all the coconut filling ingredients in a bowl. Place a tablespoon full of the mixture onto the center of a crepe and roll. Allow the filling to spread towards the ends.

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Better-Than-Pita Grill Bread

Khubz is the Arabic bread known as pita in other parts of the world.
Usually this is made in the traditional wood burning oven. It can also be made in the modern oven.
Since I dont have either, I tried this lovely grilled bread from Epicurious

Credit: Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fast-acting yeast from 1 (1/4-oz) package such as Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water (105-115°F)
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon beaten egg

Special equipment: a lightly oiled ridged grill pan, cast-iron skillet, or griddle

Method:

Whisk together flour (2 cups), sugar, salt, and yeast in a bowl until combined. Whisk together water, oil, and egg in another bowl until combined well, then stir into flour mixture until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, working in just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking, about 2 minutes (dough will not be smooth). Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled bowl, turning to coat, then let rest in bowl, uncovered, in a warm draft-free place 10 minutes.
Note: I required almost 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup oil to get a dough. To be safe and to get the required consistency, first add 1/4 cup each and then add little by little as you go.



Cut dough into 10 pieces and form each into a ball. Working with 1 piece at a time, flatten balls, then roll out into 6-inch rounds (less than 1/8 inch thick) on lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin.



Mine of course turned in shapes other than rounds. To ensure that you get a pocket in the middle, fold it in half as shown below, and roll out again.



Preheat grill pan or skillet over moderately high heat just until smoking, then reduce heat to moderate and grill bread rounds, 1 at a time, turning once, until marks appear and bread is cooked through, about 2 minutes. It will puff up on the hot pan and deflate once taken off the pan. Keep breads warm, wrapped in a cloth napkin.



Cooks' notes: If you have a 2-burner grill pan, you can grill 2 bread rounds at a time.
Bread can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature. Reheat bread, loosely wrapped in foil, in a 350°F oven until heated through.

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Kesari Bath - An Indian Semolina Dessert

I was working from home today. Now as good as that may sound, it actually sucks coz you still gotta work when other entertaining stuff just stares at you and mocks at you! Ok, I give in to the TV and leave it on, mostly mute since I have to be on conference calls. Today's call was a disaster! The neighbour's dog decided to practice its barking skills at the same moment I had to take the call. Since I bought this new Nokia phone (I'm used to Sony Ericsson phones), I simply could not find the damn mute option! And my boss in France was like, do I hear a dog out there? Has anybody not bothered to feed it? Aaaaaaaghh... I decided not to utter a word until my turn in the call comes. God I felt like strangling that son of a bitch (literally it is one, so it may not even think I'm swearing at it grrrr)!
Enough of digression. So I was just stuck with piles and piles of work, so I could not really budge away from my laptop. By evening, I started to get a terrible pang of hunger and needed to satisfy it with somethin nice and sweet and well deserved for all the damn hard work (and embarassment caused by that dog!).
I know I had a cup of rava left and lots of nuts to use up before they go bad. So decided to try the kesari bath! Too bright? I only had orange red colour and a little more than I thought fell into my recipe when I gave it a light tap :-P I think the orange goes really well with my blog's background!



Here's the recipe:
Credit: http://teluguabhiruchulu.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/krishnastami-recipes/

Ingredients:

1 Cup Rava (Semolina)
1 Cup Sugar
5 Piece Pistachios, slivered
5 Piece Almonds, slivered
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
10 Raisins
2 Pinches saffron, soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk
3 tbsp Ghee
Few drops yellow colour (I had only orange red)
2-1/2 Cups water

Method:

Take a large heavy pan and heat ghee in it.
Add rava and roast over low heat for about 7 to 8 minutes until aroma exudes, keep stirring.
Meanwhile, put water on medium-high heat, add sugar and bring it to a boil.
Add this water to the rava, little at a time, mix well.
Combine more boiling water with it if grain is hard.
Add the remaining ingredients except colour, save a little amount of almonds and pistas for garnishing.
Cover and simmer until ghee separates.
Combine colour with it, mix well.
Garnish Kesari Bhath with almonds and pistas.

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Chocolate Pancakes

Made these delicious pancakes for breakfast today. I was all out on sugar, so compensated with sweet cocoa powder (by Cadury's) and brown sugar, and it was fabulous!
I put in all the powders together in a bowl, then added a cup of milk and whisked it a bit. Broke an egg into the bowl and whisked it again. Added melted butter and then started to make the pancakes. Simple!
I will be posting its pictures soon as I have finally bought a DSLR camera.. photographs undergoing post-production processing now.. oh yeah! gonna learn all the details about photography too!

Credit: http://www.versagrain.com/chocolate-pancakes.html
These chocolate pancakes are beautiful, fluffy and decadent! We have more delicious chocolate pancake recipes at the bottom of this page. Plus suggestions on how to make this recipe whole grain without compromising flavor. Try it! And tell us what you think at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients:

(Makes 10)
Time: 20 minutes

1 cup milk, warm
1 egg, at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour(see suggestions)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips (optional)

Suggested Toppings
Fresh bananas, strawberries, whip cream, powdered sugar

Method:

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, egg, and butter.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture. Stir just until moistened (lumps are okay).
Heat a lightly greased griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup pancake batter for each pancake. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of each pancake. Cook 2-3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Serve warm with your favorite topping.
Follow this recipe then experiment with your own ingredients, using our tips and techniques, to create pancakes just for you!



Suggestions (for you) by substituting the all purpose flour for a whole grain flour. Whole wheat flour is an obvious substitute. Worried about compromising flavor and texture? Don't be! There are many types of whole wheat flours that are sweeter and lighter. Hard white wheat flour creates similar results as all white but is much better for you. There are other choices, too, like kamut flour, spelt flour, oat flour, and teff flour. These are all healthier alternatives. So explore...discover...and ENJOY!

Make this chocolate pancakes recipe even better
(for you) by substituting the all purpose flour for a whole grain flour. Whole wheat flour is an obvious substitute. Worried about compromising flavor and texture? Don't be! There are many types of whole wheat flours that are sweeter and lighter. Hard white wheat flour creates similar results as all white but is much better for you. There are other choices, too, like kamut flour, spelt flour, oat flour, and teff flour. These are all healthier alternatives. So explore...discover...and ENJOY!

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Banana Pancakes

Another ripe banana used for breakfast today using this recipe. :)

Credit: http://www.easy-banana-recipes.com/caramel-banana-pancakes.html

Servings: 10-12 pieces (depending how big you make them)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Comments:
Caramel sauce can be prepared days ahead, and kept in refrigerator. When needed, simply warm in pan or heat in microwave. To serve pancakes, place cooked pancakes onto a serving plate, topped with the sliced bananas and warm caramel sauce. Delicious!

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Pancakes:
2 ripe bananas, 1 diced/mashed (for batter) and 1 sliced (for serving)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups fresh milk
1 1/2 tablespoon castor sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon salt
Ingredients for Caramel Sauce:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup whipping cream

Method:

1. Sift flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Stir in sugar and salt.
2. Whisk milk, butter and vanilla essence together until soft. Add to flour mixture and mix until combined, but still lightly lumpy.
3. Add bananas to the batter and mix.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Grease pan with a little extra butter. Working in batches, pour 1/4 cup of batter into pan and use a spoon to spread batter out to a 12cm (diameter) circle. Reduce heat to low. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until bubbles start to appear on surface. Turn the pancake over and cook for a further 2 minutes, or until cooked through.
5. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing pan in between pancakes.

Directions to Prepare Caramel Sauce:
1. Place all ingredients in pan and bring to the boil over moderate heat, stirring all the time until sugar dissolves.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often until nice semi-thick consistency is reached.

My note: I did not prepare the caramel sauce, as I already had ready made pancake syrup (Goody Pancake Syrup) which worked well with these pancakes. Good part about this pancake recipe as eggs are not being used in it. So makes it more healthy. :)

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Banana Poori

This was today's breakfast.. or rather brunch.
As I said in my previous post, I had this ripe banana that I had to use before it rots and I would have no choice but to throw it away.
It just the regular chappathi dough to which you add mashed banana in the end. Since it would be too sticky, I kept adding more atta till I got the right consistency to roll it.

Credit: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art24948.asp

Pooris are a delicious deep-fried Indian bread and the addition of ripened bananas makes them even harder to resist. Pooris (or puris) are enjoyed throughout India and are eaten particularly on festive occasions and holidays. This particular recipe is a favorite among both kids and adults alike. This dish is a great way to use over ripe bananas, in fact, the more ripe the banana the better! These pooris can be eaten for breakfast or as a light snack or meal and are especially great for picnics since they travel well.


BANANA POORI

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
a few tbsp of all-purpose flour, as needed
1 large very ripe banana
salt to taste
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
oil for deep frying
water as needed

Method:

Peel and mash the banana, set aside until needed. A fork works really well for this task.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and the salt. Mix together and slowly add the water while kneading until a soft dough is formed. If the dough is sticky, add a little all-purpose flour. Add the mashed banana along with the freshly grated nutmeg and carefully mix them into the dough adding a little extra flour if needed.

Using a clean work surface sprinkled with some all-purpose flour, gently knead the dough and divide it equally into round balls (roughly ping pong ball size). At this point, you can use a poori machine (similar to a tortilla press) or a rolling pin to make the pooris. Roll them out evenly into round circles (4-5 inches in diameter). Heat a deep skillet with enough oil to deep fry. When hot, carefully add the pooris (2-3 at a time) and fry until golden brown. You may need to fry them in batches. Drain well and serve immediately with your favorite sweet chutney and yogurt.

Variations:

Instead of using freshly grated nutmeg, you could add a pinch of saffron or a pinch of freshly ground cardamom instead. You can even make banana pooris using chai masala (¼ tsp) and they will be a huge hit!

You can also caramelize the bananas in a skillet with a little butter. Peel and cut the banana into small pieces and brown in a skillet on medium high heat with a tbsp of butter. You can add a pinch of cinnamon or freshly grated nutmeg along with a tbsp or so of brown sugar. The bananas should break down and caramelize along with the sugar. Mash the mixture if needed. Let the mixture cool entirely before adding it to the dough.

Banana pooris can also be served along with shrikhand (sweetened yogurt).

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Pancakes

Credit: http://southernfood.about.com/od/pancakesandwaffles/r/bl30320v.htm

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Method

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter. If the batter seems too thick to pour, add a little more milk. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side. Recipe for pancakes serves 4.

My note: Make sure that the batter is consistent like that of dosa batter. Not too runny and not too thick to pour. Also if there are a few lumps in the batter, its alright. I melted the butter by adding some thick butter from the fridge into a stainless steep cup, and holding it above the stove flame with the help of a stainless steel deep frying spoon. Some small improvisations to make melted butter in a kitchen without a microwave oven :)
Also I find its better to pur the liquids into the flour mixture than the other way round because this avoids too much lump formation in the batter. And this is the traditional way of making these pancakes. Enjoy!

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