Krazy for kulfi

First things first,Rest in peace Summer 2010,you were taken from us so early,so quick...but I know I will see you again.

I really miss Summer,as much as I love Autmn,I miss summer!!

The warm sun rays on my back,ice lolly in my hand.

Ah ice lollies!

Isit wrong to crave kulfi this time of year?

Is it wrong to eat kulfi this time of year?

(Just look at it,how can you not crave it? oh how i love thee my dearest kulfi)

well I made some,and then I sat wrapped in a duvet infront of the blu-ray,and I enjoyed my spoonfulls of gorgeously creamy kulfi,yes I did!

And I made some,I made some Kulfi,and I made it good!

Oh so velvety and flavoursome...Mmmmm.

The only dissapointing thing was,it didn't have the traditional shape,but I am pretty sure that the shape doesn't effect the flavour!

This is how i made it:

• 3 cups Full fat milk
• 1 cup Double cream
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 Dessert spoon Rose water
• 6 Green Cardamom pods
• slithered pistachios (your desired amount for the kulfi,and to garnish)
• slithered Almonds (your desired amount for the kulfi,and to garnish)
• Rose syrup to decorate

I used little tart cases to freeze my kulfi in,because it is very rich,you do  not need loads.
I poured all of the milk,cream and sugar into a thick bottomed pan with the rosewater and cardamoms and slowly reduced the milk by half (It is a very long process,but well worth the wait).

once reduced i alowed the mix too cool,i added in my slithered nuts.
I then added this mix to my ice cream mixture and churned until it was slightly solid,but still very liquidy (if that makes sense at all?)

I then placed this into my moulds and froze it!
best thing about the moulds? they just tear off,brilliant.

Decorate as desired and eat! devour,munch,obliterate...ah you get the point!
for a extra special treat why not decorate with some edible gold leaf?

P.s you do not have to have a ice cream machine,i have just put the mix into a large container and fluffed it up with a fork every now and then,till it is slightly solid then portioned it,this works fine too.

The forbidden fruit....Quince.

In today's news,readers, I bring you the story of the vicious unprovoked attack on a young foodie.

Yes it is true, I was attacked by a Quince.

Not a beautifully fragrant fruit,but a fiery fiend from the gates of hell.

But i give as good as i get,sticky stitches and florescent orange plasters were retaliated with...Vanilla pods,poaching and the freezer.

In the end, both parties came to a mutual agreement,of vanilla and Quince sorbet to be enjoyed by all.

you heard right,Quince and vanilla Sorbet,Drool all you wish,because it was delicious.

They say no pain,means no gain,and well,its true Folks.

Quinces aren't very British,to my knowledge,but they were in convent garden,shipped from china,so I just had to have some.It's all because I had this Quince jelly once with my crackers and cheese,and it was AMAZING!

So I had to take it one step further.They almost taste like Rose,well i've got bad hay fever,so I am guessing they taste like rose,Somebody is bound to correct me (i hope).

So lets get down to Business .

For this Sorbet you will need,

4 Ripe Quince (you can tell when a quince is ripe because they smell amazing,they dont go soft,or change in colour to my 1 off experience)

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 cup of water

Half a vanilla pod

For the Sorbet syrup you will need:

1 cup of water

1/4 cup of caster sugar

You don't need a ice cream machine for this.
I don't have one any more! so I just used a fork and gave my sorbet a quick stir every now and then.

Peel,core and quarter your Quince.

You have to be quick because the fruit discolours super quick.

In a pan heat the water & sugar,until dissolved.Slit a vanilla pod in half and scrape the seeds,and add the seeds and pod to the water.Add the quince and cover with a lid until soft,

Then the magic happens,when you remove the lid after about

25 minutes,the quince have turned a beautiful reddy/pink!

When the fruit is soft,remove the vanilla pod,and leave to dry.remove the fruit and purée.

this is where I cheated, again, I made half the amount of the sorbet syrup,and used the poaching liquid!

it's all flavour, I say!

Then find a suitable container and allow the mix to chill,when chilled,place in the freezer.every half hour or so, agitate the mix with a fork to break down the ice crystals, to give you a smoother sorbet.

Or,you lucky people with ice cream machines,place in your machine and churn until done .

Now please,just take a moment to absorb the awesomeness of my ASDA own brand ice cream scoop.

I bought a Chrome look scoop for £5 odd.

Which turned out to be as useful as a chocolate fire guard,thank your very much tesco's...NOT!

Getting Berry British!

First,my apologies,for my late postings!
Ive been ill,and then we've had a bereavement in our family and I lost my way on the path of blogging andddd the list goes on.


So with highs of 16,Summer is arriving I would say.The Gorgeous blossoms,the fresh cut grass,and the showers of rain,grace us! Oh,it is amazing!Well,its still spring but I aint complaining,Our local market is crammed full of these locally grown British berries!
They're so sweet and bursting with flavour!
i cant wait to see how great they are in a few months time,but i got carried away and bought some already :D


What does one do with berries?
Make cheese cake.
Of course.


I have a confession!
I have been cooking about 5 years now,and I have never made a baked cheesecake!
This was my first attempt  & it was Jolly marvellous!!
(thanks to recipegirl's website!)


In other news folks,Waitrose,Have PINEBERRIES!
I've been reading about these on blogs for months now,and I'm scared.
I've read they're GM then I've read they're not! either way, I'm steering away! :(




Back to my cheese cake.
Mmm? Yes.


500g Crushed ginger nuts (crush until crumbs!)
125g butter, melted
3 large eggs
500g cream cheese
1 tbspn Caster sugar
2 Tbs cornflour
2 Tbs Vanilla essence
Rasberries,blueberries & any other fruit you desire.




Another tip from the recipegirl website,is to line your greased 8 inch cake tin with kitchen foil. This makes it easier to remove the cheesecake.

Mix your crushed Gingernuts with the melted butter,and pour the mix into your tin.

even it our and make sure it is tightly packed.

place a few berries on top.

Mix together your cream cheese,vanilla extract,sugar,cornflour and 

eggs ,and pour this mix over the berries and base.

you can put berries on top too,if your a berry berry person.

Send this beauty to the oven to bake slowly,at 180°c until firm to the touch,

(it will be pretty soft but it shouldn't be wet)

this should take about 45 minutes

Remove and allow to cool fully,before cutting into squares and devouring 

This is the last i saw of these beauties!

It was almost a dream!

p.s these are also great as dessert! you can brûlée them :D delicious right?

Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be...Wearing food!

To the lovely lady who writes KO Rasoi.

You may not know me,or my food.

But we know you...

This is my Entry for the "Wear your food" Competition.

I try not to enter competitions like this,because;

• I don't think my food is worthy
• When I lose... I have to think of someone else with the prize i wanted :(

But,I cant resist!!

 I do love my Bracelets! & well this one...this one is worth losing for...

At least I will be able to sit in a rocker chair when i am 90 odd,and tell random children that i fought for something I really wanted!!

So now i am sitting at my pc,demolishing some Gingernut biscuits (my favourite,yaknow!)

Thinking about how i should write this post!

There isn't much to write...About 20 minutes ago, my kitchen was a war ground,as i worked on my Weapon of Super cute bracelet obtain-ation!

Icing sugar was a flying!

Food blenders was a Buzzing!

And i was ... Thinking....

As i mixed random ingredients from our larder...i wondered what i would create...

What i would call it...

And...Would it be edible?

Well folks,What do i tell thee?

i feel a bit like the guy who invented Frankenstein,Okay i don't but...you know i feel i have accomplished! 

I created this "Cheesecake".

Its a Ginger nut  biscuit and almond base.

topped with blitzed peaches!

Then Lashings of Cream cheese,Whipping cream and Archers are piled on top.

Then i poured melted chocolate over the top!

& topped with CUTENESS!!

So He may not be a REAL Cheesecake...But He will be one day...Just you wait and see!

( If you tilt your head to the left,squint and hop on one leg! you can see the simmilarity!! i even included the fork :$)

I couldn't wait to write this post,I haven't got a clue why!

So i wrote it a few days ago,and scheduled it... in case i forgot!!!

 i made it as neat as i could but me and cling-film,we don't get on! 

I tried to make this vegetarian friendly :D

But im sure you can eat those cute little candy eggs right?

I also used a eastery theme,killing two birds with one stone.*Teehee*

Need to get back on track and get some savoury recipes on here!

Gulab jamun

Say "Hello Beautiful!"

Hello.

Well erm,where do i start...

I am DISGUSTED.

Were having theme evenings at college this week.
Interesting right?

No,Not really...i assure you.

Basically theres 3 groups in my year.
& we all have different theme nights!!

This week is the indian theme.

Ours is Spanish and the other groups is chinese.

We had some "Chefs" From a local "Indian Restaurant",come in to HELP (Destroy).
i felt emotional pain whilst i stood and watched these evil men,in tall white hats slaughter,what means most to me...Food from the mother land :(


I swear on my beloved Saag...they were evil!!


 i was on the sweet section,quite disgusted really.


There was no REAL Indian dessert :(
No Gujrela! No Rasmalai, No Falooda and nooo kulfi :(


So i did what any sane indian would do...Make Gulab Jamun.

When Trouble is on the horizon make gulab jamun.


i think that this is going to be my new theory for life.
*sigh*


To Make The Jammin Jamuns!

You will need:

280g Milk powder

1 Egg

1/2 tspn Semolina

2tspn Bakling powder

Water (To bind the mix into a firm dough)

Also:

580ml Water

500g Sugar

A couple of drops of Rose Water/Kewra extract or orange blossom water 

4 green cardamom pods,crushed.

Grated coconut to garnish.

These are deep fried!

Pretty easy these...i wouldn't make them if they weren't !

Combine the water,sugar,rose water and cardamom in a pan and heat until the sugar melts. take off of the heat.

Mix all the other ingredients into a firm dough and make little balls out of them. I scaled all of mine to 12g.

i managed to get 30 balls out of this mix.Then deep fry the balls.until golden brown. Drain and add to the sugar mix and allow to cool. Remove..coat in coconut..Enjoy!

Our Mixed plate of "Indian" desserts... Interesting.


ps: you can omit the egg :)

When cute became edible!!

I would have posted this Saturday night after our ahem extremely intense shopping trip but I was absolutely shattered!

You would be too if you managed to enter almost every shop and buy something within 4 hours on green street!

Anyway! back to the point,i didn't manage to take step by step pictures as we were pressed for time!! i just chucked it together with the help of my amazing mommykins!
We made this for a friend,well her 4 year old daughter!

(In the making)

i forgot to take a picture of the finished product! so i had to send my camera round to their house ! *doh*

(@ the friends house!)

Its a kinda pointless post but.... 

It had little bits of glitter on! SO CUTE :$

St Patrick's Day

Happy  Lá Fhéile Pádraig, Paddys and coleens!


And for the rest of us...happy St Patricks day!


I don't know much about it,and wikepedia doesn't seem to be much help!
(okay there's too much to read)
but the pubs round here love it!!


So I thought I would dedicate my cupcake batch to them! 
(It's the thought that counts!!)


The Irish accent...Funny thing...But you know what's funnier than that?
I went to France a few years back..and there were a few Irish pubs around.
I had to go in and get some change for my euros! (pubs are the only thing that seem to be open at 8am in France!!!) anyways back to the funny bit!
They were talking French with an Irish accent!
Well i found it totally hilarious,personally.


I didn't have much to hand,so I made do with what I had!!
(& borrowed)
Green gel colouring,Butter icing...Gold coins


Gold coins...okay let me explain.
Irish folk have this thing about leprechauns...hiding pots of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Cute huh?Yeah I always thought I would find the end of the rainbow...standing at my window looking over at the bridge,imagining a 2 ft man dressed in Garden green clothes with a luminous  orange beard and a gold buckled belt!Sitting infront of a huge black cauldron filled with jewels and coins and smoking a pipe..humming the "Hi ho " song!!

(whata cute video!...And at the end..is it me or does the woman eat the kiss with the foil on!!)
oh how i miss being a child... (not that i have grown up much at all!!)
& reading that back now.. I realise how stereotypical i sound :(
im sorry leprechauns! im sure you don't all sit and guard gold pots!! 


Anyways i said borrowed right?
I borrowed this little leprechaun figurine type thing,from my mom's friends! Theyre an Irish family..no leprechauns though!


Let me just show you the picture so you can Admire him!! :D
(check out the bottle of Guinness) 

(please dont ask me what has happened to his eye!!)

Anyways folks!

Im going to tidy up my kitchen..One has a slight habit of making a erm...

Mess!!

Ahem,This is also one of my entries for KO Rasoi's
"Wear your food" Competition!
i went back to read the post,after reading Sanjana's comment.
& i am going to tell a white lie...
i was inspired by this...

But worry not Sanjana...i will return with a worthy recipe

Truly dedicated to obtaining this Bracelet.

Liquid Gold Chocolate Fondants

Guess who’s back, back again...Bigarades back, and well, I’ve bought you a recipe!

No diets were hurt in the making of these I swear!

Okay mine was...calorie overload...I actually felt emotional pain.

I spent half an hour this morning at 6 am, in the gym, burning off those calories my Punjabi parents have forced upon me...okay I lied they didn’t force them upon me but hey who can resist double servings of Saag! (Obviously not me)

Where was I?

Oh yes, in the gym “giving it large” on the fitness freak front.

Those of you who know me, know how much fitness means to me :D (HAAAAAA)

So I stroll into college on this beautiful march day, and find out were cooking chocolate fondants...yes those molten chocolate cakes, the really nice gooey ones, yessss....those ones that could push Mr Motivator over the edge!!

So we had like a free lesson right, we love those at our college.

So we made stuff, like you do *rollseyes*

Oeufs de neige (poached meringue, to my understanding)

Sable biscuit & Balsamic strawberry stacks

Chocolate Fondants (wink wink)

Mango & Passion fruit Bavarois

Eventful day may I just add!

We used to make chocolate fondant where I used to work!

Amazed me it did!

A cake, with chocolate melting in the middle...Dreamalicious baby!

So when we did it at college today my mind went into OVERLOAD!

So I thought hey “hey heyyyy”,why don’t  I share this sinful food with the readers!

So folks, enough of my chronic rambling, I present you with;

Chocolate fondants.

You will need,

2 Egg yolks

4 Whole eggs

80gf Caster sugar

130g Butter

130g Dark chocolate (the bitterererer the bettererer ;) )

30g Plain flour

14g Cocoa powder

You will also need to preheat your oven to 180Deg

I used tin pudding basins,and got 6 large servings from this mix :)

In a bowl whisk together your:

Yolks,Whole eggs,Cocoa powder,Flour & sugar

 Put zee mix to one side,Then in a small sauce pan melt your butter,to your melted butter add your chocolate.melt it slowly,its best to take it off of the heat at this stage,other wise it starts to go a bit crazy and wants to burn

!

Add this gorge! Buttery chocolatey mix to the egg mix.

Now Mix well and leave to cool for about an hour.
(these freeze REAL well!! and are best cooked form frozen in my humble opinion! iv frozen some for mothers day! BONUS!!)

Grease your moulds,fill them with the mix,about 2/3 up the side.

Bake for 9 minutes! (yes that's all it takes to get deliciousness!!)

Dinner party at mine? 

SHIMPLES!

Well you can bake that again!

The snow is falling,jack frost is doing his rounds on the world!your curled up on your sofa at home or,a good read in your hand,a mug of steamy mocha in the other...& then...some gorgeous crunchy biscotti!

What a perfect Snugglathon!

I remember the first biscotti i ever had,it wasn't traditional (to my knowledge) but it was beautiful!
It was cherry & almond! almond flavoured biscotti studded with red & green glacé cherries,as a child,this was as amazing as a nice new car! i wouldn't mind either of those two items at this moment in time,one can only wish!

So once again my inquisitive side got the better of me!
Ive made biscotti before,many times,And the thing i loved most was how you could adapt the flavours to your Mood!i mean hey, we all feel like lemons now and then *sigh*

Lemon & Orange Now that was delicious!

But when bored at home ( yes i was actually at home! giving my college work a break!) i created this amazing new flavour! sounds sad i know! but the passion of creativity was burning through me! (or maybe it was the hot tray i grabbed )
But anyway! back to this new flavour!!

Dark Choc chip,Cardamom & Pistachio!
It really didn't need the chocolate,but i had my 5 year old brother helping me as it was half term,
and he insisted chocolate was a must!

Biscotti is double baked,hence my title!
so you cook the dough as a whole,then slice it and bake the fingers again!
then you air it,til it is dry and crunchy! and enjoy it until your so full,you feel like your going to explode!

Here is my recipe i used!
Due to technical difficulties,(we all have them no and then!)
I have no step by step pictures :(

You will need to preheat your oven to 180c.

140g caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 tspn Baking powder

A small pinch of salt

250g Plain flour

1 tspn cardamom powder

65g shelled unsalted & peeled pistachios

30g dark choc chips

in a bowl mix all of your Dry ingredients apart from your pistachios and chocolate chips!

beat your eggs and add them to your dry mix!

then add your pistachios and chocolate to the dough.

Dont panic!
the dough is meant to be quite wet.

mould your dough into a log shape(you may want to wet your hands before you do this it might help)

Onto a silpat mat or a tray lined with grease proof. Then send it off into the oven,leave it to bake for about 10/15 minutes,until the dough starts to look quite dry.

remove from the oven,and diagonally slice your preferred size of fingers out of the dough.

then place the fingers back into the oven,and cook for another ten minutes,remove form the oven and allow to thoroughly cool.

Kick back,relax and enjoy :)


P.s
The competition i babbled on about!
went great! we got first place!
Were off to hotelympia 2010 in march :D
but i will post back asap :D
especially now im jobless!

Banoffee Pie

 We all love simplicity,good flavour and down right yummyness!! Well i know i do anyways!
So i saw this on a tin of carnation milk once! I always see things like,Banoffee pie and pumpkin pie  as being these American sweet things full of ingredients we dont get in the uk! But i am still going to try making pumpkin pie! So when i saw this i was way chuffed! my whole world lit up! (yes i know i am sad)


The Recipe

• 110 mins
• Serves 12

Ingredients

Base:

• 100g (3½oz) butter, melted
• 250g (9oz) digestive biscuits

Filling:

• 100g (3½oz) butter
• 100g (3½oz) dark brown soft sugar
• 397g can Carnation Condensed Milk

Topping:

• 4 small bananas
• 300ml carton double cream, lightly whipped
• grated chocolate

You will also need:

• 20cm (8”) loose-bottomed cake tin, greased

1. To make the base, process the biscuits until crushed. Stir in the melted butter. Press the mixture into the base and 4cm (1½") up the sides of the tin. Chill the base while you make the filling.
2. To make the filling: place the butter and sugar into a non-stick saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Add the condensed milk and bring gently to the boil, stirring continuously. When the caramel has started to boil, remove from the heat and pour over the biscuit base. Cool, and then leave to chill for about 1 hour, until firm.
3. To serve, remove the pie from the tin and place on a serving plate. Slice the bananas, fold half of them into the softly whipped cream and spoon over the caramel base. Decorate with the remaining bananas and finish with the grated chocolate.

Just to add,I went one step lazier  *hides behind her cheffing certificates*
I used a tin of their caramel Instead of heating the condensed milk through with the brown sugar!
I also whacked some ginger nuts in with the Digestive biscuits.
For you Americans out there,digestives are like Graham crackers.

Oh i actually feel ashamed at my laziness,Okay im over it now.

Bwahaha!



Dont stop here! Read my older posts :D

I wish

I wish i was Ras malai,so i could sit and float in this rose,pistachio and cardamom milk. With no cares in the world,my sole aim to fill the stomach of some hungry person!

Ahh...If i had half as much brain as i was supposed to i would write a blog dedicated to my love of indian sweets!!
From the pistachio barfi to the besan ke ladoo! From jalebis in hot milk to gulab jamans with ice cream! Kulfi,gujrela,ras gulla,ras malai!

Sorry please excuse me whilst i drown in a pool of my own drool.

If you havent already clocked on,I have awful photography skills,my writing skills are probably worse so,you dont really get the true "umph" of these delicious foods i try to explain to you. I wouldmake video but my accent is awful and my videoing skills,Well lets just say my pictures seem professional next to them!

Anyway,enough of this self pity.

I present to you;
The one and only,
RASSSSSSSS MALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI!!!!!

• Paneer
  
• 1 liter blue milk
• 8 table spoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cardamom powder (or just use pods)
  
• thinly sliced almonds & pistachios
• A couple of dashes of rose water
• 
  

• pulse the Paneer in a blender till very smooth. Make into balls of your preffered size and then flatten slightly.
  
• When you have done this setthe balls aside.
• In a pan boil the milk with sugar, till thickened enough to loosley coat a spoon.Add the cardamom and rose water mix well.If using cardamom pods strain the milk. ( Dont stop stirring)
  
• Allow to cool,a little,add the paneer.
  
• garnish with the pistachios and almonds,Chill well and serve!

Here is the paneer recipe i used!


ENJOYYY!!



A realllll bad picture i know :(

Cuppy Cake Adventures

Cuppy cakes

4oz plain flour
4oz Caster sugar
4oz butter
2 eggs (room temp)
Splash of vanilla essence (or almond :D,well anything you please really)
(I also throw in some smarties,or hundreds and thousands now and then)

I usually get 24 cupcakes out of this mix! I also use this mix for my normal cakes,Works a treat!

Cream the sugar,Vanilla essence and butter together until white and fluffy.
Then add the eggs and give another whizz.
Add the flour and fold in gently ( add the smarties or sprinkle now).

Cook in a pre heated oven at 180 Deg. for about 20 minutes!
Check them though i forgot to lol! just until
theyre golden brown and firm to the touch!

take them out and allow them to cool.

Then enjoy,but if you want to ice them heres a recipe for icing i use.
Well more of a frosting lol!

Frosting

250g White chocolate chips/chunks
300g mascarpone

Melt the chocolate over a baine marie. Then mix into the beaten mascarpone!

Its a really rich frosting,and tastes like milky bar!

you can adapt it! Ive whacked fresh raspberries through it before just to break down the sweetness a bit.

No bake Bittersweet mousse ameretti cake

Now that is a mouthful^
But im sure it wasn't as Delish! as a mouthful of this :D



This was basically a last minute idea.It's a extremely rich no bake cheesecake. Its made by crushing amaretti biscuits and then mixing in a splash of Dissarano.Then binding it with butter and some caster sugar.Place that into a spring loaded tin and allow to set. Then lightly toast some flaked almonds and then sprinkle them across the base.
Melt some bitter chocolate.In a bowl whisk some double cream with some Dissarano & icing sugar to stiff

peak,dont over whisk it!! Then fold it into some beaten mascarpone which has had the melted chocolate mixed into it.pour this mix into the mold on top of the base and allow to set.Cut through it using a heavy and hot knife. Serve with fruit or fruit coullis to cut through the richness of it all.

I dont do measurements.Use the eye thats why it is there.sorry :$