Tuesday 25 December 2018
Sunday 23 December 2018
Banana Wine / Pazham Wine
May this Christmas fill your hearts with
warmth, peace and joy! Have a Holy and Blessed Christmas!
Hi
everybody,
Hope
all of you are ready for Christmas celebrations with family and friends. Here
we are also set for Christmas.
Banana
wine is one of the most requested recipes. When I made it first time, a long
time ago and with a completely different recipe, we didn’t like it at all.
After that I never tried it but after all your requests I thought of trying it
again with a new recipe and this time the wine came out really nice. I used the
small palayan kodan bananas which we get in Kerala for this recipe and that is
the best one to make banana wine. But if you don’t know this kind of banana or
this variety is not available in your place, you can use any kind of bananas.
Banana
Wine / Pazham Wine
Ingredients:
Palayan kodan Pazham (small variety ripe banana) -
800
gm
Sugar - 600gms + 250 gm*
Water - 2 ½ litre
Strong black tea made with 7 table spoons of tea leaves and
500 ml water
Yeast – ¾ tsp
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
Method:
·
Boil 2 ½ litres of water and keep it aside to lukewarm.
·
Make strong tea with 500 ml water and almost 7 table spoons
of tea leaves. Strain the tea and keep it aside to cool.
·
Mash the bananas and 600 gm sugar in a food processor. Mix it
with lukewarm water.
·
In to this add the strained strong black tea, lemon juice and
yeast. Mix everything well and transfer the mixture to a sterilized glass bottle / bharani,
cover it and leave for 21 days stirring daily.
·
After 21
days, strain the mixture through a cheese / muslin cloth in to a clean dry
bottle.
·
Do a
taste test and if you feel like sugar is less you can add the rest of the 250
gm sugar and mix well.
·
Keep this
again for 21 days untouched. After 21 days strain the wine again, pour it in to
clean dry bottles and use.
Note:
I only
added 600gms of sugar in the beginning. But after fermentation I felt the sugar
is very less and added another 250 gm of sugar after straining. So if you like
sweet wine you can add the total 850 gm of sugar in the beginning itself.
Saturday 17 November 2018
Chewy Coconut Cookies
I
think these cookies are adult favourites as children mostly prefer chocolate
chip cookies or cream biscuits. Here we both like these cookies but our son
doesn’t like it at all. If you like coconut flavour I am sure you will love
these coconut loaded chewy and delicious cookies. I really love the combination
of coconut and cardamom flavour. So I sometimes add cardamom powder and it
tastes heavenly!
Chewy Coconut Cookies
(Recipe from here)
Ingredients:
All-purpose
flour - 1 1/4 cups
Baking
soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt
- 1/4 tsp
Butter
- 1/2 cup
Brown
sugar - 1/2 cup, packed
White
sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg
- 1
Vanilla
essence - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom
powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Flaked
coconut - 1 1/3 cups
Method:
- Preheat oven to 175˚ C / 350˚ F.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cardamom powder (if using); set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then mix in the coconut.
- Drop dough by teaspoonful’s onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly toasted.
- Cool on wire racks.
Labels:
Bake,
Beverages,
Cookies,
Kid's Delight,
Snacks,
Valentine’s Day Special
Monday 15 October 2018
Creamy Chicken Orzo Soup
Orzo, is
a type of short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice. You
can make some delicious salads and soups with orzo. One of our recent
favourites is this Creamy Chicken Orzo Soup. It comes together pretty quickly
and is very filling too. I only made half the amount of the recipe and it was
perfect for all three of us. You can even add mushrooms or celery to this. If
orzo is not available you can use mini macaroni or any other type of
short cut pasta.
Creamy Chicken Orzo Soup Recipe
Serves 5-6
(Recipe from here)
Ingredients:
Olive oil -2 tbsp
Boneless Chicken breast - 450
gm
Garlic - 1 clove minced
Onion - 1/2 cup, diced
Carrots - 1/2 cup, diced
Dried Sage - 1/4 tsp
Dried Parsley - 1 tsp
Dried Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Chicken broth – 4 cups
Water - 2 cups
Orzo - 1 cup
Heavy cream – 1 cup
Green onions - 1/4 cup,
diced
Method:
- In a large pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken breast and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until no longer pink in the middle, about 6-8 minutes per side. Remove from heat and shred.
- In the same pan, add garlic, onions, and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes until aromatic.
- Add in sage, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper and cook until onions are translucent, another 3-5 minutes.
- Pour in chicken broth and water and bring to a boil.
- Add in orzo and cook on a low boil for about 10 -15 minutes or until orzo is tender.
- Lower heat and add chicken back in, and heavy cream. Let simmer 5 minutes until bubbly and thickened.
- Top with green onions and serve warm.
Wednesday 3 October 2018
Chocolate and Coffee Mousse Entremets’ with Chocolate Mirror Glaze
As always an intention of a short break somehow gets extended
to several months!! After a great eight weeks of summer vacation we
came back last month. By the time I settled down, my son’s mid-term
exam had started! Anyway to compensate for the five
month long gap, today, I have come up with a lengthy dessert
post for you all :) :)
An
entremet or entremets is in modern French cuisine a small dish served between
courses or simply a dessert. It is a multi-layered mousse-based cake with
various complementary flavours and varying textural contrasts. Entremets are
the perfect dessert for someone who likes a little bit of everything. This
dessert consists of a brownie base, two types of mousses and a mirror glaze.
The recipe is long, but with a little patience and planning ahead of time, it
is quiet easy to make. As you all know I am a huge fan of making individual desserts and
hence I set this in small dessert rings but you can just as easily
set it in an 8 inch cake ring or loose bottom cake tin. This was an
experimental trial for our wedding anniversary last month. Both the mousse
recipes are from previous posts of mine. This is the first time I am trying my
hands on chocolate mirror glaze. We really loved the different textures and
flavours in this dessert. Do try this on your special day and let me know the
outcome....
Chocolate and Coffee Mousse Entremets’ with Chocolate Mirror Glaze Recipe
Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients:
White sugar - 1 cup
Butter - ½ cup
Cocoa powder - ¼ cup
Vanilla essence - ½ tsp
Eggs - 2
All-purpose flour - ¾ cup
Baking powder - ¼ tsp
Salt - ¼ tsp
Walnut halves - ¼ cup
Method:
- Melt the butter or margarine and mix all ingredients in the order given.
- Bake at 350˚F (175˚C) for 20 to 25 minutes in a 9 x 13 inch greased pan.
- Once the brownie has completely cooled cut out 6 rounds with small dessert rings (I used 2.5” rings).
Coffee Mousse
Ingredients:
Egg yolk - 1
Sugar - ¼ cup (50g)
Corn flour - ¾
tbsp
Warm milk - 1/3
cup (80ml)
Vanilla essence - ¼
tsp
Instant coffee - ½ tbsp
Rum / Coffee Liqueur - 1 tbsp (optional)
Gelatine powder - ¼
tbsp
Cold water -
1 tbsp
Whipping cream - ½
cup (120g), 35% fat, chilled
Method:
- Stir egg yolk with sugar until creamy and pale yellow coloured. Stir in corn starch. Gradually whisk in the warm milk until completely combined.
- Place the yolks mixture into a small saucepan and cook over low heat while stirring until boils and thickens.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla essence and instant coffee. Let it cool.
- Dissolve gelatine in 1tbsp cold water and let it swell for about 5 to 10 minutes. Place over low heat just until the gelatine dissolves and then pour it over coffee mixture. (You can also add 1tbsp of rum or coffee liqueur to the mix if you prefer)
- Whip the cold whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gradually incorporate into coffee mixture.
- Pour this mixture evenly on top of the brownie layer in the cake rings and refrigerate until set while you are making chocolate mousse.
Eggless Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients:
Milk - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp
Cornflour - ½ tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Gelatine -1 ½ tsp
Cooking chocolate - 40gm, grated
Coffee powder - ½ tsp
Vanilla essence - ¼ tsp
Cream - ½ cup, whipped till fluffy
Method:
- Mix cocoa powder and cornflour in ¼ cup milk in a small bowl to a paste.
- Boil the rest of the milk with sugar in a heavy bottomed pan.
- Add cocoa and cornflour paste to the boiling milk, stirring continuously.
- Add grated chocolate. Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes till chocolate dissolves. Add coffee and remove from fire.
- Put 3 tbsp water in a small pan. Add gelatine. Dissolve on low heat. (For china grass mix it with 1 cup water and heat till it dissolves).
- Mix gelatine solution with the chocolate custard. Chill in the freezer for about 20 minutes till a little thick but not set. Beat the thickened chocolate custard.
- Beat cream and essence till slightly thick and fluffy. Add whipped cream to chocolate mixture. Mix gently.
- Pour this mixture evenly on top of the coffee mousse layer in the cake rings.
- Freeze these rings really well while you are preparing the mirror glaze.
Chocolate Mirror Glaze:
Ingredients:
Sugar - 210gm
Water – 1/3 cup / 75g
Cocoa Powder - 70g
Thick Cream - ½ cup + 4 tsp /
145g
Gelatine - 3 tsp
Cold Water - 3 tbsp
Method:
- In a medium bowl, bloom gelatine in cold water and keep it aside.
- In a saucepan, combine 1/3 cup water, sugar, thick cream and cocoa powder. Combine everything with a balloon whisk and cook on medium heat and slowly bring it to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes stirring continuously until mixture slightly thickens.
- Remove chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in bloomed gelatine until thoroughly combined.
- Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, and allow mixture to cool to lukewarm before using. Stir the glaze occasionally as they cool, so they don’t form a skin on top.
- Remove mousse from freezer and carefully slide the mousse from the dessert rings. Place it on a parchment lined cookie sheet, elevated off the sheet using small jars or cooling racks.
- Pour glaze generously over mousses, taking care to ensure there are no bare spots left. Allow the excess glaze to drip off for 5 or 10 minutes, then gently scrape the edges to remove any remaining drops.
- Carefully transfer cakes using a small offset spatula to cardboard cake rounds or small pieces of parchment paper for easy movement.
- Transfer the glazed mousse to the fridge to set for a few hours before serving.Any leftover glaze can be scraped up and refrigerated in an airtight container for later use. When you are ready to use it, warm the chocolate glaze to lukewarm. Strain it through a fine mesh strainer before using, otherwise tiny air bubbles will show on the glaze.
Labels:
Bake,
Brownies,
Chocolate,
Christmas Specials,
Coffee,
Desserts,
Valentine’s Day Special
Monday 16 April 2018
Cherupayar Wine Recipe / Green Gram Wine Recipe / Mung Bean Wine Recipe/ / Mung Dal Wine
Are you surprised or
intrigued to read today’s recipe name? Even I was amazed when I got a request
from one of my readers, for germinated green gram wine. It was the first
time I was hearing about green gram wine and never in my wildest thoughts had I
ever imagined of making wine with green gram / cherupayar. But he assured me
that someone in Kerala makes the wine from germinated green gram and whoever had the wine said it
is one of the tastiest. He requested me to ferret out the recipe from some
source. The idea circled in my head
for several days and I searched all my recipe collection and over the internet
too without any luck. This forced me to put on my thinking cap to
develop my own recipe and experiment. So I made a small quantity of wine
without germinating the green gram / cherupayar and guess what, it was a huge
hit!!! This wine is one of my best experiments and whoever has tasted it
so far have told me it is one of the best and tastiest wine! I will
definitely try with germinated green gram next to see the difference
in taste.... If you love homemade wine do try this recipe and let me know the
result; I am sure you will love it :) :)
Cherupayar Wine / Green Gram
Wine / Mung Bean Wine
Ingredients:
Cherupayar /Green gram / Whole
Mung Bean – 250 gms (1 cup)
Sugar- 625 gms
Lime juice and zest of 1 lime
Yeast- ¼ tsp
Raisins- 50 gm, chopped
Water- 1 ½ liters
Method:
- Wash green gram and keep it in a strainer to drain it completely for at least 1 hour.
- Boil water and sugar and keep it aside. Add chopped raisins, lemon zest and lemon juice to the hot water and mix well.
- When the mixture becomes lukewarm, add washed and well drained green gram / cherupayar and stir well, sprinkle yeast; mix well and transfer to a sterilized bharani / bottle.
- Tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose.
- Stir this mixture every day for 20 days.
- After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
- Keep this again for 7 days untouched. After 7 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use.
Friday 30 March 2018
Vanilla Bean Condensed Milk Panna Cotta
May the spirit of the Lord fill your home this Easter and all the rest of your days.
Have a Blessed and Happy Easter!
Hope all are ready for Easter celebrations.... Here
is a really delicious and creamy, low fat panna cotta recipe for you to impress
your loved ones….
Vanilla Bean Condensed Milk Panna Cotta
(Recipe from here)
Ingredients:
Low fat whipping cream – 500 ml
Low fat Condensed milk – 200 gm tube (half a tin)
Skimmed Milk – 200 ml
Vanilla Bean Paste – 1 tsp
Gelatine – 3 tsp
Method:
- Place low fat cream, milk, condensed milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat & whisk in gelatine until smooth and gelatine has dissolved.
- Pour into six 1/3 cup glasses, cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight.
- Spoon strawberry topping on top of the panna cotta, serve decorated with fresh strawberries and mint leaves.
Strawberry Topping
Ingredients:
Fresh or frozen strawberries – 250gms
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Cornflour - 1 1/2 tbsp
Cornflour - 1 1/2 tbsp
Pinch of salt
Almond extract - 1/8 tsp
Almond extract - 1/8 tsp
Juice of ½ lime
Method:
Method:
- In a large saucepan toss together the strawberries, sugar, cornflour, lime juice and salt. Allow it to sit for about 30 minutes to allow the sugar to draw out the juice.
- Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and boiling. Simmer 1 minute. The mixture should just barely drop from a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in almond essence. Cool and spoon over cold panna cotta.
Monday 12 February 2018
No-Bake Tiramisu Truffles
Valentine ’s Day is just
around the corner, so here is a quick recipe for you to try out! Tiramisu truffles are a wonderful blend of
Italian biscuits, coffee and chocolate all in one delicious
bite. These truffles taste best when served the next day after making it, which
allows the Savoiardi (ladyfinger biscuits) to
absorb all the flavours and really bring out the true
taste of tiramisu.
No-Bake Tiramisu Truffles
(Adapted from here)
Ingredients
24 Savoiardi / Ladyfinger Biscuits (12 oz or 1 packet)
2 tbsp Sugar
2/3 cup mascarpone cheese,
room temperature
1 tbsp instant coffee
powder
2-3 tbsp Rum / coffee
liquor
2 cups (12 ounces)
semi-sweet chocolate
1 tsp instant coffee powder
(optional)
Method:
- In a food processor, blend Savoiardi (ladyfinger biscuits) until you have fine crumbs. Set aside 2 tablespoons to sprinkle on the truffles later.
- Add the sugar and 1 tbsp coffee powder and whisk until combined.
- In to this add the mascarpone cheese and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the rum or coffee liquor one tablespoon at a time. You need to get a the dough similar to a soft cookie dough. Transfer the mixture to a container and place in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour.
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. Remove the mixture from the fridge (it should be firmer now). Start to shape the mixture into 36 (1-inch) balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Freeze for 10 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and stir in the coffee powder (The chocolate should be completely smooth and velvety).
- Dip a cold tiramisu truffle into the melted chocolate and transfer it back to the baking sheet.
- Sprinkle the truffle with the crushed lady fingers you set aside earlier. Repeat for the remaining truffles.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge for a 5 to 10 minutes for the chocolate to harden. Store tiramisu truffles in an airtight container in the fridge.
- You can bring them to room temperature before serving if preferred.
Labels:
Chocolate,
Coffee,
Desserts,
Eggless Desserts,
Italian,
Truffles,
Valentine’s Day Special
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