Christmas Leftovers - Panettone Bread Pudding

Ok - I started writing this post a while back but never finished it! So, unfortunately the subject is a bit dated...Christmas!!!!!!!

The history on this one ....My mother-in-law loves Panettone and since she and my father-in-law have spent a fair amount of time in Europe, we decided to get an Italian one..(well, from the Italian deli). We were also going to have 6 people in the house over the Christmas period so we splurged at the Italian deli and got a huge one! By huge - I truly mean HUGE and was wondering how we would finish it. It turned out to be very delicious and would have got over except for the fact that I was dying to try a Panettone Bread Pudding recipe I found in a magazine several years ago.

The pudding looked beautiful coming out the oven and smelt delicious. I had a bite...and oops, disliked it! I felt so sad that it did not turn out well coz the smell and look were umm....yummy AND, I had been treasuring this recipe for years, waiting for an opportunity to make it!

Anyway, I asked my sister-in-law to taste it. She liked it and said it was fit to be served. Okaay.. I was still unsure but went ahead and served it to everyone else. Some had it with ice cream and some without. Guess what, they all liked it!?! The pudding was almost over and honestly, I was shocked. Perhaps the lesson is - I don't like bread puddings! I have never had one before, so I did not know what to expect..!

Ingredients

1 loaf panettone (32-35 ounces) cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

4 whole eggs

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Butter for baking dish

Method

Heat oven to 325F. Place panettone in a bowl. In another bowl whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolk, sugar, zest and vanilla extract. Pour over the cubes of panettone and let soak for 5 minutes, stirring 2-3 times gently. Pour mixture into buttered baking dish and bake for 60-70 minutes.

Midnight Dreams.....

I know, it's been ages since I've posted. Many excuses for that and lot's of catching up to do. So, may as well get on with midnight dreams! Midnight Dreams is a result of dreaming about dessert and making do with the ingredients at home. Thus, an easy, last minute dessert.

-And to those still thinking about the fact that I dream of food :) , yes - sometimes I do dream about food. Come on, it's better than dreaming about my year end statement of benefits from the insurance company (I did dream about that too!). This year end has brought lots of odd dreams but as usual, I digress.

Ingredients

Blackberries - as many as you like..

Mascarpone - 250gms

1 Egg White

30 gms Caster Sugar

Crushed Vanilla Cookies or any sweet cookies

Honey

Method

Mix the mascarpone, egg white and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Then layer in the blackberries, crushed cookies and cream anyway you like it. Drizzle some honey over the last layer of blackberries and it's done. Simplicity!

Leftovers - Spinach & Potato Roll

One of these days I was determined to make a meal with whatever ingredients I had at home i.e. no running out to the shop and buying some missing ingredient. Oh well, okay - I'll admit! I was being lazy about planning a proper meal and just wanted something warm to eat with whatever I had at home.

I had -

Spinach leaves - half a packet

2 medium sized boiled Potatoes (leftover from the day before)

1/2 slab of store bought Paneer

1/2 a medium Red Onion

An open packet of Garlic & Coriander Tortilla

2 green chillies

Chopped Garlic - in the bottle

Sandwich Masala (contains Jeera, Black salt, Black Pepper, Fennel, Tuj, Clove, Badiyan, Sindha Namak, Amchur, Chilli, Salt)

The experiment begins -

I washed the spinach leaves thoroughly. Diced the red onion and green chilli and sauteed lightly in about 2 tsp of olive oil. I then added the spinach leaves for about a couple of minutes until they started to wilt. I then added in about 1/4 cup of water and poured the mixture into the blender and pureed it. Next, I chopped the potato and paneer into small cubes and sauteed lightly with a tsp of garlic, 2 tsp of Coriander powder and 2 tsp of the Sandwich masala. I could have used the more commonly available Chaat masala but had the bottle of untested sandwich masala lying there and it seemed to just beg me to use it ;) ..Anyway, I added salt to taste, scooped the spinach mixture into the pan and heated it all together for another 2 minutes. I then warmed the tortillas in a separate pan, put one in a plate, spooned some of the paneer/potato mixture into the tortilla and rolled it.

Honestly, I was thinking...should have smashed the potato instead of cutting ...and that spinach may just taste horrible ...it looks dry from the ends but if I stuff more in, it will fall out. So, I added a little cheese to the ends of the roll and was very skeptical about the taste! Luckily...it turned out delicious! Not too 'spinachy', not too runny, a little spicy and while a proper paratha would have tasted better, the tortilla did just fine! Did not really need the cheese either. Whew...sometimes I can cook :)

Blackberries - Are they cupcakes or muffins?

Firstly, referring to the title - I started to make cupcakes but since there is no icing, do they become muffins? Am sure there is a technical difference between both (other than icing) but honestly, I have not done a 'Google' search on it yet..I should :)!

Secondly, I wanted to use blackberries in my next recipe and since I don't eat the fruit much, I emailed my friends asking them how they liked to eat the berries....plain, with ice cream, yogurt etc... I received a variety of responses and one friend replied saying with yogurt. Fair enough. Sometime later she tells me her friend likes them in muffins. Makes sense. We exchange a couple of emails, I finally send her my idea for a new recipe... and that's when she emails me back from her BLACKBERRY telling me she thought all this time it was a joke and that I was asking how people would like to 'eat' their Blackberrys i.e. those technical gadgets that most of us can't seem to live without once we get them. Gosh, maybe not so funny now but it cracked us up that day, so had to share :)

Now lastly, am usually slow to post but reading Kate of Aaplemint's recent post inspired me to get a move on posting, as I too have been trying to avoid sweets (healthy recipe to follow in next post..this one is more abt the story). Anyway, what the abstinence from sweets leads to is a hubby who complains that he no longer gets dessert! So, I thought ..why not...let's bake but not eat...can't be that bad. Oh it was baaad....

I made blackberry cupcakes (let's just call them cupcakes for now) and they smelt like all baking does, heavenly and then - I had no clue how they tasted or turned out!! Well, okay. I had a tiny bite. And this time, let's call it a muffin so I don't feel too guilty abt the tiny bite. Besides, what's a tiny bite out of a mini cupcake..oops muffin?! Anyway, no self-tasting and a sweet hubby who had been denied homemade desserts - I needed additional opinions! Thus, a poll was taken at work and looks like the recipe was just fine! Obviously, there were a lot of suggestions that there be a weekly sample tasting session and that I should not stop baking since there are willing testers available Monday through Friday!!! Seriously !!! :)

Okay, enough stories!! Here is the recipe..not earth shattering and definitely not the 'new' one I had suggested to my friend, just a simple, comfortable one...

Ingredients

150g butter, softened with extra for greasing

50g caster sugar

200g self-raising flour

4 eggs beaten

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp almond extract

6-7 blackberries, roughly chopped

Makes about 15 cupcakes

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degree Celsius. Generously grease the non-stick muffin pan. Cut the butter and place in a large mixing bowl with the caster sugar. Beat with an electric whisk until pale, fluffy and combined. Sieve the flour into the mixture and add the eggs and beat together. Stir in the milk, almond extract and the chopped blackberries. Spoon the mixture evenly into the holes in the muffin tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25minutes or until cakes are light golden. If you want to make a large cake, cooking time increases to about hour and half. If the top starts to look dark but the skewer does not come out clean when inserted in the centre, lightly cover the top with foil.

Perception.....

Bananas going to go bad, very thirsty, lots of milk at home - what do you get? Banana Smoothie.

2 Large Glasses :

2 Bananas

2 Tbsp Honey

1 Glass of COLD milk

Run through the blender and taste. Add in more honey (or sugar) if you want it sweeter and add in some more milk if you want it thinner.

The picture above - little more than two glasses of smoothie made - one glass for me and one for hubby... Well, one glass never survived to be had by hubby! I was really thirsty and before I knew it ..there were a couple of small refills and all that was left ... fit into a tall shot glass which only looks huge next to my KLM houses!

Mung Sprouts...yummy??

If you mentioned Mung Bean Sprouts to me before I moved to London, I would had made a long face and said 'yech'..or something like that! I know, they are a great source of protein but I never really had them growing up and when I did (if I did??), they did not make much of an impression. Things have obviously changed since I am dedicating this post to Mung Bean Sprouts!

Soon after we moved to London, a friend took us to a Indian store in Southall. The place was huge, full of Indian goodies and next thing I know, my husband and our friend are having this animated conversation over Mung Sprouts. Seriously, I am staring at the guys and wondering if they've lost it. Am looking at the sprouts thinking, what is this stuff?! Anyway, to cut to the chase, they brought home two packets, cooked it, added in a bunch of stuff and it ended up being one of the most delicious healthy snacks I have had! So, I am now a convert and love making the following recipe whenever I want a healthy, low carb (am guessing), yet filling and tasty meal...gosh that is a tall order, isn't it?!

Ingredients

230 gm Mung Bean Sprouts

1 Medium Boiled Potato

1 Medium Red Onion

1 Medium Tomato

2 Green Chilies (dependant on taste)

2 table spoon Chaat Masala

1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder

1 1/2 teaspoon Dhana Jeera Powder (Cumin & Coriander powder)

1 1/2 Limes (juiced)

Salt to taste

Method

Boil the sprouts in water for about 20 minutes on a medium flame until the sprouts are soft but with a slight crunch. Remove from heat, strain the water out and move the sprouts to a large serving bowl. While the sprouts are cooking, chop the potato, onions and tomato into small squares. Dice the chilies and add all chopped ingredients to the cooked sprouts. Add in the Chaat masala, red chili powder, Dhana Jeera powder, lime juice and salt to taste. Mix well with a spoon and eat away! Hope you convert like I did.

Chocolate Mousse, really?

This is how this one goes -

Friends move into lovely large house. They know they will tire of unpacking over the weekend. So, they have us over for lunch on Sunday. Any chance I get, I like to make dessert and thus, I volunteered (the least I could do)! Now, as much as I thought I would prepare stuff well in advance, I was down to the wire as usual. And then I remembered, no worries - time to try out the Nigella Lawson Chocolate Mousse. Nigella Lawson recently published a book, Nigella Express, that focuses on quick meals. Am sure the book has the recipe but I saw one of her 'express' cooking shows and was fascinated with the chocolate mousse. Think Nigella Lawson is the UK version of Rachel Ray? Anyway, forget silly comparisons and other random thoughts. Back to the point. Chocolate Mousse was made and it was surprisingly like the real thing!

Ingredients

150g Marshmallows

50g Unsalted Butter

250g Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa solids)*

60ml Hot Water

284ml Double Cream

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Fresh Raspberries as needed. Ideal when using the dark chocolate!

* If you don't like Dark Chocolate, use regular cooking chocolate or mix the dark chocolate with some cooking/milk chocolate. This makes the taste less intense, easier for kids to have.

**Also, this recipe makes 6 large servings or 12 moderate to small servings (smaller servings are better when using rich dark chocolate, as the large serving can get too heavy after a nice meal). Mind you, we took a whole hour but we finished of the 'large' serving of mousse!

Method

Cut each marshmallow in half and drop the pieces in a heavy saucepan. Add the butter. Chop the chocolate into smallish pieces and into the pan. Add the hot water and put the pan on the heat, stirring occasionally until everything is smooth and melted. Remove from the heat. Whip the cream with vanilla extract until thick, then fold into the chocolate mixture until totally absorbed and smooth again. Pour into 6 small ramekins or glasses, and cover with cling-film. Put into the fridge to set, this will take at least 3 hours. Be careful as you transfer them to the fridge - klutzy me, I tipped a couple of the glass bowls as can be seen in the picture! :) Once set, top with raspberries just before serving. The raspberries taste lovely with dark chocolate.

Pasta Fagioli Soup (without Pasta!), Roasted Garlic and Salad

I don't even know where to start with this one..... so many thoughts and in some ways - so much unconnected history behind the recipe that follows. So, I may as well get to the recipe quickly. It's healthy, mostly protein and if I may so - delicious! Perfect for these cold days - though, surprisingly - we had a great weekend in London. Almost warm and the sun was shining!

The meal consisted of Fagioli soup, roasted garlic + red pepper 'spread' with bread and some salad on the side. In my books, this meal falls into the express cooking category.

Pasta Fagioli Soup

Ingredients

2 cans of Cannellinni (white) beans - I used dry beans and pressure cooked them in water for about 30 minutes the day before...

1 large can of chopped Italian Tomatoes

5 cloves of garlic, mashed

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh Italian herbs - use your favourite - I used oregano and basil

1 carrot - cut into little squares

Freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

1/4 cup smallest macaroni like pasta - if you want the pasta

Method

In a heavy sauce pan, heat olive oil over low-medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Then add the herbs and black pepper and saute for another minute. Add in the beans and the tomatoes, mix well. If you thinner soup, add some water. Bring to a boil and add in the carrots and then add salt to taste. If you want pasta in the soup, add in just before serving, allowing 5 minutes of cooking time. Garnish with Parmesan and Basil leaves.

This is the only time I would recommend using canned tomatoes - the canned Italian tomatoes seem to be more juicy than fresh ones and have a tinge of sweetness- just the right touch for the soup.

Roasted garlic with Red Pepper Spread

Take as many garlic cloves as you think you will enjoy; cut off the top 'hard' part and rub olive oil over the freshly cut ends. Wrap in foil, put into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes at 150-180 degrees. I popped in the bread to warm at the same time. When you pull out the garlic cloves, quickly check that they have gone soft. If soft, they are done. Let them cool for a few minutes and then squeeze the garlic from the skins. Mash the roasted garlic slightly and add crushed red pepper, mix well and have with some warm bread. It warms the body and if I can stretch the imagination for garlic lovers - warms the soul :) !

Panini for Dessert?

Yes, Panini for dessert. It's a Chocolate and Strawberry panini and fits my current theme ... quick, easy and something new! I saw this on FoodTV during my NY trip and could not wait to come back home and try it. It's a success with kids but us adults have been loving it to :)

Ingredients

1/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommend Nutella...mmmm!)

12 (1/2-inch) thick slices pound cake loaf (known as sponge cake in the UK)

6 fresh strawberries, hulled and very thinly sliced

Butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray (optional)

Vanilla Ice cream (optional)

Method

Heat a panini grill to medium. Even a 'George Foreman' grill will do. Spread the chocolate-hazelnut spread over 1 side of all of the pound cake slices. Arrange the sliced strawberries over 6 cake slices. Cover with the remaining cake slices, chocolate side down. Spray the panini grill with nonstick spray and grill each panino until the pound cake is crisp and golden and the fillings are warm. It takes about 2 minutes depending on your grill strength. Cut each panino in half and serve. For those who like the hot with cold taste, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries. You know me...I can't keep away from ice cream!

You can also try the recipe with bananas if that's the preferred fruit.

Flat Bread with Mushroom & Corn ...and one with Crab..?!

Without Cheese, With Cheese

Another quick meal - Seems to be a recurring theme with me nowadays and here is the genesis of this one.... It was a Saturday night and we decided to eat home. I wasn't really up for cooking. Thus, I tried to think of the simplest unconventional (i.e. anything but the usual) meal I could put together with whatever I had bought at the grocery store that afternoon. So, here goes.... I made flat bread with mushrooms and sweet corn with some salad on the side. Ummm...was tasty!

Ingredients

2 Flat breads (already had garlic and parsley added to it)

Sweet Corn

A box of Chestnut Mushrooms thinly sliced

1/2 Red Onion thinly sliced

Green Chillies - chopped

Emmental Cheese - grated

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan, then add in the chillies and onions and saute for about 2 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 4-5 minutes until partially cooked. Remove from heat and spread the mixture over the flat bread; add the corn, sprinkle cheese, add salt and pepper to taste and pop into a 200 degree (Celsius) oven for about 10-15 minutes.

As you can see, there isn't much of a science to it. When using frozen corn, ensure it is defrosted so the water does not run into the bread as it melts, making the base soggy.

Since the flat bread was a hit with us, the next time round I made a CRAB VERSION for my husband. I used the same flat bread which had parsley and garlic already added to it. I spread crab meat (found easily at Waitrose) across the top, some chopped spring onions, chopped red pepper, chillies and Emmental cheese and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Voila - I had a happy husband! :)

Cupcakes - A new discovery in London

One Fine Saturday Morning......

I was going to buy some strawberries from Partridges in Chelsea (a last minute request from a friend to bring two boxes over for lunch) and I walked right into their 'farmer's market'. I had forgotten about the farmer's market (since farmer's markets to me mean the one on Portobello road or Borough market).

Anyway, though I was in a rush, I could not help looking at all the stalls and guess what I find - some lovely cupcakes! The stall was run by Crumbs and Doilies. They sold only mini-cupcakes in about a zillion flavours and toppings...chocolate, lemon, carrot cake, gummy bear, sprinkles...you name it. Gotta try these........mmmmm..lip smacking and cute..quick pop into the mouth!

More from the Holiday but New York this time!

Before Spain, we were in New York for a couple of weddings. It was so great to be back...surrounded with endless sky scrapers, endless sea of people and the endless electric buzz that is New York City!

At one of the weddings, we had this beautiful, creative dessert that I just had to share.... the menu below describes it...

..and here is a picture of the deliciously creative dessert!

After rehearsal dinner on a Friday night, we went out and ended the night in NY style i.e. with a quick bite to eat at what was it - maybe 2 or 3am?!? Yeah, I can still stay up that late ;)
There are loads of places to get food at that hour but a strong favourite (at any time of the day really) is 'The Kati Roll Company'. It is located in the West Village on MacDougal (& Bleecker...the cross street). They have mouthwatering rolls...Achari paneer, Aloo masala, Beef Tikka, Chicken Tikka, Shami Kebab and 'Unda' (Egg). If ever in NY, you must try these! It's mostly a take out joint though there is some seating and somehow, we always manage to score a place. There is another branch in mid-town (times square) which is a favourite with the office lunch crowd. And ok - I admit, the paratha is a bit oilier than one would like but guess that's what makes it so tasty!

Paneer Kati Roll

Aloo Kati Roll

The other place I really like (especially in the hot NY summer) is Jamba Juice. It's a chain of juice/smoothies stores that started out in California. Delicious smoothies, health booster shots (not that I believe in those) and good old down to earth fresh juices. They have got to have the best blend of orange and carrot juice I have ever had!

Not to be missed - especially on warm days when the juice is so refreshing and soothing!

Marbella Club

Spain again - Had a lovely drink at the Marbella Club beach side bar. Citrus, banana...completely tropical. Ideal for the hot weather!

Luckily, the bartender spoke a little bit of English and between pointing at bottles and drawing the portions, I think I have the recipe for a soothing tropical cocktail.

1 part Grenadine

1 part Banana Liquor

1 part Campari

1/2 a glass of fresh Orange Juice

Shake well with ice. Garnish with Orange and Strawberry and drink up!

P.S. Guess I've never mentioned the reason for 'cocktails ' in the blog name. Well, it's very simple - I like cocktails and unlike the US, seem to encounter lots of creative cocktails in London. They look exotic and taste fantastic! The only cocktail ingredient I have not found often in London, is Guava. Aah..but I can always buy Guava juice at a store and make my own at home ... then again...too much work for just one drink!

Spain.....

Mushroom and Prawns in butter sauce

Ok. Am not going to bore you with every detail. One of the highlights of our trip was dinner in a small city called Logroño. It's in the Rioja region and is a modern city, with a small historic quarter...ok..ok. All that's from the guidebook! We were staying about 20-30 minutes from the city, almost in the middle of nowhere at a beautiful winery. Anyway, one night we decided we wanted to get some local food and were directed to Logroño.

Calle Laurel, Logroño

In Logroño, there is a street called Calle Laurel that is filled with Tapas bars. It was a fantastic experience - the sights, sounds and smells! The area was filled with Spanish tourists - no one spoke a word of English and we spoke no Spanish...yet, had an amazing time eating (and ordering food)! Each tapas bar is known for a specialty and you order food and a small glass of wine or beer and then move to the next bar. We tried some delicious grilled mushrooms with prawns (I had to figure out how to order them without prawns), then we tried some typical pocket bread kind of sandwich, then meat skewers (not me) and yummy - patatas bravas (spicy potatoes) !!! There were lots of other types of food but we were so stuffed ...we decided to leave the rest for another trip ;)

It was such an amazing authentic experience; the food was delicious, the people friendly, the atmosphere buzzy! The two pictures above is probably where we really struggled on how to order our 'Rotos' i.e. sandwiches. They had four kinds, squid, sausage, egg/cheese and mushroom. Don't ask how..we managed to get one sausage and one veggie!

Meat Skewer

Craving a basic meal

Am back and have a few holiday food pictures to share. But before I get to those - With over a week in Spain, we came back craving for some basic Indian food.. Dal-Rice!!

I made yellow dal and jeera rice the first night back. The second night (first day of work, a long day at that) we decided to have leftovers from the night before. However, I wanted something different and after racking my brains for a relatively quick and healthy add on, I had a eureka moment - how about Masala Papad??!!
The recipe/experiment is just from memory...memories of yummy masala papad served in indian restaurants.

Ingredients

Udad Papad

Red Chilli powder

Dhana Jeera powder

Spring Onion - finely chopped

Tomato - finely chopped

Coriander - finely chopped

Chaat Masala

Salt

Lime juice

Method

Roast the Udad papad - I did it over a the gas burner flame though do know of some people who microwave so they get a absolutely flat papad. I never have much luck and prefer the traditional method. Then I made two versions -

First version - I sprinkled the onions, tomato, coriander, red chilli and dhana jeera powder over the roasted papad. Squeezed lime juice liberally over the mixture to add flavor. The juice soaks into the powdered masala ensuring that the powder does not fly into your eyes when you bite into the papad.

Umm...honestly, I meant to put the lime juice - forgot and there went the red chilli into V's eyes and the light clicked on - I had forgotten the lime juice!

Second version - I kept everything the same except, skipped the Tomato and added in chaat masala.

It sure made the meal a little different from the night before.