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.

summer sorbet

Guess what i got for my birthday!?

An ice cream machine!!

And now im on a kinda mission too create ice creams and sorbets..

White wine,blueberry & raspberry sorbet

doesn't sound to bizarre i know but it was awesome!

It had a mulled wine colour,but tasted so refreshing!

To make the sorbet you will need:

1 cup of raspberries
1 cup of Blueberries
1/2 cup of caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 white wine

And this is how i made it:

In a pan mix the water and wine & sugar.

to this add the berries and simmer gently until the berries start to burst.

when the berries start to lookmushy take the pan off of the heat.

put a seive over a bowl,and pour the mix into the seive,feed the mix through the seive until you are left with pulp,discard the pulp.

allow the syrup to chill,then place into your ice cream maker and churn to your ice cream makers instructions,or use my "fork method" which you willfind in my lastpost.

remove the sorbet,scoop and enjoy.

p.s:
this is best enjoyed when siting in your garden,with your best sun hat on!

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!

Spicy summer courgettes

Britain is getting warmer,and the markets are getting fuller,my pockets are getting emptier,and my kitchen fridge is crammed full of food!

I bought some courgettes the other day,Locally grown organic ones,they smelled lovely!

Some fresh coriander and a helping hand from my dry store,We had a mouth party going on!

It's times like this i wish scratch and sniff went cyber! 

It doesn't look much, I know,But the flavours are absolutely mouth watering!

The warm flavours of the cumin and coriander seed,then the cool refreshing coriander herb on top

compliments the Courgette and potatoes perfectly.

Now im going to shut up,And give you the recipe

This is enough to serve about 8 people!

You will need:

5 large courgettes 

2 medium potatoes

2 medium onions chopped

4 green chilli's chopped

8 cloves of garlic chopped

A thumb size piece of ginger chopped

250g chopped tinned tomatoes

tspn tumeric

tspn hing

tspn garam masala

tspn cumin seeds

tbsp veg oil

salt to taste

Corriander to garnish

Slice your gorgeously delicious Courgettes,peel and slice your potatoes to about the same size and 

set aside.

In a large pan,heat your oil,Add your cumin seeds and cook until

the seeds turn a darker brown. Add your onions and ginger and sweat,then add your chilli's

and garlic and cook until golden brown.Add your hing and turmeric then

Add your tomatoes and heat through.

Add your potatoes and cook for 5 minutes,then add your courgettes and stir,

Add salt,to taste and then cover with a lid until the potatoes are cooked.

sprinkle with Garam masala &freshly chopped coriander.

plate up with fresh chappati's,a cooling yoghurt dip,kick back,relax and enjoy :)

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?

Eggsellent Recycling Recipe

Easter egg wrappers litter our dining room,whilst the smell of the delicious content,haunts those cravings we all have!

Whether it be the Dark Decadence of a Greens & Blacks Easter egg,Or your Bog standard Milky buttons one,We all adore them!

(Apart from my dad)

But there comes a point in everybody's life,where chocolate eggs just get BORING!

So what do you do?

Leave them sitting there for your next pig out?

Give them to the neighbours?

Well, me?

I melted mine and made Easter  nests...With the help of my lovely 2 ft something assistant.

Lets call it,Recycling.

I take a egg i got bored of,melt it,& Create Cuteness. ( Along with mess)

yes indeed...


So here I share with you,Mine& Mr 2 ft somethings
Easter Nest Recipe,
Well its not really a recipe but  hey,Try it out sometime :)

You will need:

One Medium Easter Egg (Or your desired amount of cooking chocolate)

4 nests of Shredded Wheat

First Take le Egg,And break up into pieces,Zap in the microwave to melt

Meanwhile Break up your shredded wheat 

Add your chocolate to the shredded wheat and mix until fully combined

Spoon into Cupcake cases,decorate with a mini egg

& a cute chick (It Is Compulsory),Enjoy.

poor Chicken licken :(