2011 Wrap-Up

Another year comes to an end and it’s time to look back and see how the year was.... 2011 was a fantastic year for my little blog as It got its own domain, a year I blogged the maximum; 100 posts this year from me!, featured four times on the Foodbuzz Top9, a year many of you tried my recipes in your kitchen and send me feedback via comments, messages and e-mails about how you and your family enjoyed those dishes; I got maximum messages for my Kerala Christmas Fruit Cake and Wines...... I am thankful to all of you for trying these recipes and also to all who have suggested my recipes to your friends, readers and family members.... This year I tried out a lot of new recipes and techniques, and took a major step by joining Daring Bakers which opens a window to try out completely new and intricate recipes. I hope next year also I will continue this spirit of blogging...... I am thankful to all my readers, friends and family for having faith in me and encouraging me to come up with more recipes..... This year I thought as a wrap up I will post some of your favorites based on comments I received and some of my personal favorites......

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Sourdough, Letting Nature Do the Work ~ December 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

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Fondant Icing Recipe (Eggless)

"May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,

The gladness of Christmas give you hope,

The warmth of Christmas grant you love."

Merry Christmas to all.....

As a tradition every year, I make Christmas Fruit Cake and decorate it with icing. Earlier I have posted another fondant icing recipe and in the last couple of years I was using the same icing for my Christmas cake. But a lot of my readers expressed concern about using raw egg white and so this year I thought of using another recipe I found in Vanitha magazine, which has no egg in it. It came out very well …. Also please note that I am not a trained cake decorator and have not taken any cake decorating courses ….. So my cake decorations are not perfect … :D

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Banoffee Slice Recipe

Recently on a visit to a book shop, I grabbed a copy of Australian Women’s Weekly… I am a huge fan of AWW and I couldn’t resist this "Little Squares and Slices" book which has a collection of heavenly indulgences, some are very rich and some are very healthy ....  All are completely irresistible recipes.... and as you know, naturally, I will go for the rich desserts first... So I made this Banoffee Slice, as I love Banoffee Pie which I have posted earlier.... both these two recipes are almost same, the only difference is in the method of making Dulce the Leche .... If you have not yet decided on what dessert to make on Christmas, this will be a perfect dessert to include in your menu .... after all it’s Christmas and you can overload yourself with this rich, luscious and decadent little slices without any guilt ;) ;).....

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Diamond Cuts Vilayichathu / Diamond Cuts coated with Sugar Syrup

This is another snack Kerala Christians make during Christmas time. It is a diamond shaped deep fried snack coated with cardamom flavored sugar syrup. It was a regular snack at home when we were kids; and I always used to pick up and eat the ones that are fully drenched in the sugar syrup :)..... Even without coating in sugar syrup it is a great snack especially with drinks....

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Tips for making Homemade Kerala Wine

Since I get a lot of messages and e-mails expressing doubts and seeking clarifications on wine making, I thought of sharing these tips that should help while making wine at home. I am not a trained wine maker or chemist...... These are tips learned from books and several years of wine making......

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Homemade Nellikka Wine Recipe / Amla Wine / Indian Gooseberry Wine Recipe (with out yeast)

How are your Christmas preparations coming up? Have you made any wine or baked your Christmas cake yet? I plan to bake my fruitcake tomorrow... Today’s recipe Nellikka / Gooseberry wine is very familiar to most Keralites.... It is a very common wine like Grape wine back home.... Like my earlier Grape Wine, this is also a “No Yeast” wine.... so it is very mild.... if you desire you can add 1 teaspoon of yeast to make it strong..... However since gooseberry has a lot of medicinal value I prefer to avoid using yeast...  I made this just before Christmas last year.... so it’s got a really nice colour with age.... Do try it if you get hold of gooseberries.....

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Erachi Unakkiyathu / Sundried Beef with spices & Unakka Erachi Chammanthi Podichathu (Thoran)/ Dry Beef Chutney Powder

Unakka Erachi or Sun dried beef is a specialty of Kerala cuisine especially among Kerala Christians but not as popular as unakka meen / sundried fish that is easily available in shops. My grandmother and aunt used to sun dry beef and we used to always get a share of it. With that mom used to make these awesome side dishes that goes very well with boiled rice and kanji (rice gruel) which is undoubtedly an ultimate comfort food. Also these Unakka Erachi side dishes are excellent as short eats with alcohol and Kallu (Toddy)..... I am sure if I have any male readers, they will totally agree with me on this :).....

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Bakery-Style Cinnamon Bursts Recipe

Whenever I ask my son what would he like to have when he gets back from school, I always get an answer like cinnamon rolls or doughnuts! He loves cinnamon flavored buns/ rolls..... So I am always on the look-out for similar recipes..... When I saw these cute Cinnamon Bursts at Betty Crocker’s site I knew he would love them.... it’s tastes very similar to the Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread I posted earlier..... Kids will love this cute flowery shaped buns..... Ideal for a kid’s birthday party..... If you plan on trying these for a birthday party I would suggest making them in 24 muffin cups instead of 12 in the original recipe.....
I was not able to participate in the Sweet Punch challenge for the last couple of months. This month’s Sweet Punch challenge was to bake your choice and I selected this Bakery-Style Cinnamon Bursts as my entry :).... 

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Mutton Biriyani Recipe / Atterachi Biryani Recipe

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There are plenty of ways to make biriyani and every household has their own unique recipe for the same. This recipe was used by my mom and I have always followed it for mutton or beef biriyani. It’s easy, can be prepared ahead of time and baked just before serving. It’s a great dish especially when hosting a party or if you are cooking for the weekend ahead of time like me…

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Homemade Potato Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce & Fresh Mozzarella

I first tried Gnocchi during our recent visit to Italy and fell in love with it … after coming back I searched for the recipe and tried a couple …. but nothing came close to the taste we enjoyed in Rome & Venice… finally I found this recipe in Lucy’s Hungry Carvings which tastes exactly like what we ate in Italy! In the last 4 months I have tried this recipe several times and every time I got soft pillow like gnocchi… Uncooked Potato Gnocchi’s can be make ahead of time and frozen…

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