Needful Things

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar

2012-01-31T16:36:00.000Z

Well, it's been a while. A very long while. Another year has gone by and here we are already well into the new one. What does this year hold for you?

I'm in the middle of completing my dissertation, enjoying the relative freedom from the strict study regime the past years and appreciating the new balance that allows time to enjoy my family, cook, bake and get back to blogging.

These days I wake to a tiny cold nose pressed to my cheek between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. and my daughters' little voice whispering, 'Wake up. I'm so, so hungry'. Hoisting myself out of bed and taking her chubby hand in mine, I stagger into the kitchen to fix her breakfast after which we snuggle together on the couch and watch Mickey Mouse Club House before the others wake up and it's time for all of them to start getting ready for school and work respectively.

Which brings me to my daughters' lunch box. Each night since she started preschool a week ago, before going to sleep, she lists all of the 'so, so, many things' she wants me to pack in there. I think she thinks 'the lunch box' is a portable buffet and must contain infinite choices. When I pick her up from school in the afternoons I'm told how well she eats and how she really seems to enjoy her food. All of this is baffling for me when I consider that the same child has previously never wanted to sit down for a formal meal and would just eat sporadically out of the fridge when hungry. Think 10 mini-meals a day. A trail of half-eaten fruit and small bowls of nuts were left behind in every room of the house. Food always consumed while either bouncing on the chair, running around the dining table in circles, dancing to the tune of Higglytown Heroes, or sitting on the kitchen counter after 'helping' me with whatever I was making.

Sandwich fillings were licked clean, the bread discarded. Pasta & Veggies consumed, chicken ignored or vice-versa. Curries either devoured or hated. And always a stronger preference for sweet treats. It wasn't possible to predict what she would or wouldn't eat. But as long as she was willing to try new things, I never pushed her.

So this transition is pleasantly incomprehensible. Maybe it's the fact that she recently turned four. Big enough to be happy to go to school, assert her independence and enjoy things on her own, totally in her element, without me. I miss her boundless energy, her non-ending stream of stories, incessant chatter, our 'tea parties', her 'cooking' experiments in the kitchen and the silly singing.

Last week my son had a day off from school so we made this banana bread before we picked his sister up. It's an interesting recipe from Orangette that uses no butter or oil and yet resulted in a banana bread that stayed moist for a couple of days and added a delicious sweet element to their lunch boxes. I urge you to try it.

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar

3 medium to large ripe bananas

2 large eggs

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon, ground

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping:

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter or spray an 8" square pan.

In a medium bow, mash bananas. Add eggs and stir to combine. Stir in the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and vanilla. Add 3/4 of the chocolate chips, stir, and reserve remaining chocolate chips. Pour batter into pan.

Mix together topping ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle them evenly over the batter, topping with remaining chocolate chips.

Bake 35-40 mins. Cool on a wire rack for 15 mins before serving.

Baking with Dorie: Peppermint Cream Puff (Ring)

2011-10-03T21:54:00.000+01:00

Okay, so technically this isn't the cream puff ring I was supposed to make and it doesn't even contain any peppermint. It's just a solitary little cream puff.

I was unsure about successfully completing this challenge but after I made cream puffs this morning all I can say is that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. I was not intimidated in the least bit and my choux pastry was perfect. The whipped cream let me down because I couldn't get it to be stiff enough to pipe rosettes and so I spooned some into just one cream puff to take the photo for this post.

Thank you for taking us out of our comfort zones and picking this challenge, Tina!

The recipe can be found on pages 290-2 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. Or you can head over to Tina's post here to get the recipe and view her pretty photos. Please see the blogroll for other participating blogs.

Next up we're making Golden Brioche Loaves, picked by Chaya. If you'd like to be a part of our baking group, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-16T23:15:00.000+01:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T21:29:00.000+01:00

Sunday Sweets: Almond and Chocolate Chunk Biscotti

2011-08-07T19:06:00.000+01:00

There can never be such a thing as too much chocolate. And this choc-almond studded biscotti found no lack of contenders in my house. This was my very first attempt at making biscotti and is also the first recipe I've tried from the newest addition to my collection of cookbooks: Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz.

Ryan, a fellow-baker from BWD, suggested we start baking our way through another book and after much deliberation we decided on this new collection of recipes by David Lebovitz. We'll slowly go through each recipe in the book and anyone is welcome to join in. Details can be found here.

Baking this biscotti turned out to be deceptively simple. I prepared ingredients for half the recipe, shaped the dough into one log and then placed it in the oven to bake for the first twenty minutes. It came out looking perfect. So far so good. But then, given the 90F+ heat, my hot kitchen and the concentration of chocolate in this recipe, I was faced with a gooey mess each time I cut into the log. There was melted chocolate all over the place and it made it completely impossible to get the thinner slices I was aiming for.

Skeptical, and a little frustrated, I popped the slices in the oven for another 20 minutes and mentally prepared myself for the alternatively titled 'disasters in baking' blog post I was going to write about the whole experience. I needn't have worried because whatever they lacked in appearance was more than compensated by flavor. They were a tad bit sweet for me so I would either cut down the amount of sugar in the recipe or simply use bittersweet chocolate. I never expected my kids to care for biscotti so they surprised me by going through the whole batch pretty quickly and, like DL, taking some along to snack on during our very long flight the next day.

This first recipe was chosen by Ryan and can be found on Page 216 of Ready for Dessert. Please hop over to Ryans' blog to check out her take on the biscotti. Next up we'll make Orange Cardamom Flan chosen by me. If you'd like to be part of our baking challenges, please drop us an email at sundayssweets at gmail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along!

Curry-Palooza: Eggplant with Crushed Mustard Seeds & Yogurt

2011-08-05T21:24:00.000+01:00

This week I had the opportunity to try a brand new curry involving certain techniques that I'm not at all familiar with. Margie of More Please picked this rather unusual recipe by Madhur Jaffrey who, I am convinced, has a knack for taking a few simple ingredients and turning them into something amazing. Every single time.

This curry uses 'Paanchporan' - a Bengali spice-mix that I have never used before but discovered is the same thing as 'achari masala/spice-mix' which I have indeed used & am very fond of. I made my own 'Paanchporan' since I had all the whole spices on hand (it requires equal parts of cumin, nigella seeds, aniseed, black mustard seeds and fenugreek). I was skeptical about using such a large (seemingly to me) amount of fenugreek because experience has taught me that it has to be used sparingly or it lends a certain bitterness to curries. The recipe also requires the unusual method of crushing the mustard seeds, mixing them with water along with a bare pinch of cayenne pepper and simmering the eggplant in this mixture. Atypical as it was I found that this technique lent a wonderful 'mustardy' aroma to the curry and gave it a deep, yet unsaturated, note of flavor.

That said, I had a few minor issues with the execution: I diced my eggplant smaller than indicated, so it cooked faster and turned out a little mushy. In addition to which the yogurt split when added and I found that the fenugreek did indeed make the curry a teeny bit bitter so it did not go down well with the rest of the family. Maybe it's my/our taste buds, or maybe it's that I need to improve on the technique of cooking with this particular spice, but I intend to reduce the amount of fenugreek seeds significantly when I prepare my Paanchporan mix next time. It's a shame about the bitterness because, otherwise, I really like the flavors in this simple and quick-cooking curry.

I know for a fact that the other Curry-Palooza members had no such issues & really enjoyed this curry. The recipe can be found on Margie's blog. Please check out the participants' posts by following these links:

Croque-Camille

More Please

Sage Trifle

Curry-Palooza is a monthly event. Members take turns picking random recipes each month & next up it's Camille's pick. I'm hoping she will throw a challenge our way!

If you'd like to join in the fun, please email either Rocquie or myself.

Baking With Dorie: Crème Brûlée

2011-08-01T10:51:00.000+01:00

I've always been intimidated by crème brûlée imagining it to be a very complicated dessert that I couldn't possibly make at home. So I was very excited about this months' pick & was looking forward to halving the recipe and trying at least a few of the variations in the 'playing around' section. But then, too lazy to do the math, I ended up making only the classic version.

Dorie's directions suggest a baking time of 50-60 minutes but the custards were very jiggly at that point and it took me almost double the recommended time to get them cooked. I chilled them overnight and caramelized a few the next morning. How best to describe it? The crème brûlée was wonderfully silky, as delicious as anything I've ever had at a restaurant with its pleasingly contrasting layers of torched sugar and cool custard.

As usual, this is a winner from Baking from my home to yours. The variations of this recipe can be found on pages 393-4 of the book. I'm including the classic version right here. I'm hopeful that others from BWD will have played around with the recipe! For links to participating blogs this week, please go to the comment section of the related post here.

Next up we're making the Peppermint Cream Puff Ring, picked by Tina. If you'd like to be a part of our baking group, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us.

Crème Brûlée

from Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

3 large egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

About 6 tbsp sugar or sifted light brown sugar for topping

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 200F. Put the baking dishes on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.

In a 1-2 quart glass measuring cup or in a medium bowl, whisk th egg yolks, sugar and vanilla together until well blended but not airy. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter or the hot liquid - this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the cream and milk. Give the bowl a good rap against the counter to de-bubble the custard, then strain it into the baking dishes.

Bake the custards for 50-60 minutes, or until the custards are set - tap the sides of the dishes, and the custards should hold firm. Lift the dishes onto a cooling rack and let the custards cool until they reach room temperature.

Cover each custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably longer. (The custards can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.) For the sugar to be successfully caramelized, the custards need to be thoroughly chilled.

To caramelize the sugar topping with a blowtorch, work on one dish at a time. Sprinkle the top of each custard evenly with sugar - about 1 tablespoon for each dish - then brown the sugar, cooking until it bubbles and colors. Wait until the bubbles subside before serving the crèmes.

To caramelize the sugar in a broiler, preaheat the broiler and fill a shallow roasting pan with the ice cubes. Sprinkle the custards with the sugar, put the baking dishes on the bed of ice and run the custards under the broiler. Don't move away from your oven - depending on your broiler, it can take seconds or minutes to caramelize the sugar, and you don't want to miss the moment and ruin the topping. When the sugar bubbles and browns, pull the custards out, remove them from their ice bed and let them settle down before serving.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T05:15:00.000+01:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T05:15:00.004+01:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-07T03:08:00.000+01:00

Baking With Dorie: Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

2011-07-05T05:06:00.000+01:00

Last month all of us in the BWD baking group mutually decided that we needed to adopt a slower pace and bake only once a month instead of every other Monday. For those of us who are trying to cut back on desserts, this is a welcome change!

I made changes to our baking schedule but I forgot to fix a typing error I'd made when listing this months' recipe. This resulted in a little confusion since I had typed 'strawberry rhubarb crisp' and everyone else in the group either baked the strawberry rhubarb double crisp, or planned for it. So this week we have two different recipes, depending on who baked what.

I baked the cherry cobbler, replacing rhubarb with granny smith apples since I can't find rhubarb where I live. I made it in advance & we were travelling the next day so I did the math and made just 1/4th of the recipe. This was perfect because it made only two servings. And the cobbler was wonderful - as usual I loved the note of flavor that the addition of ginger lent to this dessert. The tartness of the apples married well with & was subdued by the sweetness from the cherries and both were cooked to flawless deliciousness under the little balls of whole wheat biscuit dough.

Please head here to find links to what all the other BWD bakers made this week. For the recipe, go over to Ryans' blog The Behr Necessities, or Page 415 of Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next up we're baking Creme Brulee. If you'd like to join our baking challenges please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Curry-Palooza: Cardamom & Black Pepper Chicken

2011-07-01T20:54:00.003+01:00

Since it was my turn to pick the recipe this week, I opted for this simple & aromatic, non-vegetarian curry.

The chicken required little preparation and was quick to put together (other than a 3-hour marination time). I assume it as well with rice as it does with flatbreads or Pitas. Camille served hers with rice & I am assuming from Rocquie's photos that she used flatbread.

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Cardamom and black pepper chicken – Madhur Jaffrey

(Serves 4)

For the mardinade:

6 tbsp onion

2 inch piece fresh ginger

2 large garlic cloves

Salt ½ tsp

Cayenne pepper ½ tsp

Freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp

450 g boned and skinned chicken breasts

To cook the chicken:

150g (5 oz) onions

Corn or olive oil

1 medium stick cinnamon

8 whole cardamom pods

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

4 tbsp natural yogurt

8 tbsp tomato, grated

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp garam masala

2-3 tsp lemon juice

Step one: To make the marinade, peel and finely chop the onion, ginger and garlic and put them into a blender with ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp cayenne pepper, ½ tsp black pepper and 3 tbsp water. Blend to a smooth paste, pushing down with a rubber spatula when needed. Cut the chicken breasts 3cm or 1/8 inch slices and put into a bowl. Add the marinade and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours if desired.

Step Two: Peel the onions and slice into fine half rings. Pour 3 tbsp oil into a wide, non-stick pan set over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Stir for 10 seconds, then add the onions and fry, stirring at the same time, for 6-7 minutes or until the onion turns a reddish-brown color. Add the cumin and coriander. Stir once. Add the natural yogurt, a tablespoon at a time, and stir till it is absorbed. Add the tomato and stir for a minute.

Step Three: reduce the heat to medium, add the chicken together with the marinade, and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until all the chicken pieces turn white. Add 175ml (6 oz) water, salt, garam masala and lemon juice. Stir and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes, stirring now and then.

Serve.

Curry-Palooza is a monthly event & all participants take turns picking random Indian recipes. If you'd like to participate, Please email either Rocquie or myself.

In order to check out the other participants posts this month, please click on these links:

Croque-Camille

More Please

Sage Trifle

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-30T04:52:00.000+01:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-23T00:11:00.000+01:00

Chocolate Fudgesicles

2011-06-17T09:21:00.000+01:00

My kids' idea of summer vacation involves endless supplies of food and entertainment around the clock. Since I try to keep their snacks homemade, I've spent the past several days whipping up simple treats that will last them all week long.

Making ice-cream is a lot of fun even though it gets a little labor-intensive without an ice-cream maker. These fudgesicles, though, were very easy to make and as chocolaty as promised. I found the recipe while browsing on Babble and made a test-batch with half the recipe. They were so well-received that I had to immediately make a second, larger, batch.

I can kiss my diet goodbye because I do not understand the meaning of moderation lately & have had these for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yup, they're that good.

Homemade Fudgesicles

barely adapted from the recipe on Babble.com

makes 6

1.5 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp strong, brewed coffee (I used decaf)

a pinch of salt

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tsp vanilla extract

Place the chocolate chips in a medium, heat-proof bowl.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and cream over medium-low heat. Whisk in the cocoa, sugar, salt and coffee. Once the mixture starts steaming, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour the mixture over the chocolate chips. Wait a minute for the chocolate to melt, then whisk till smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze at least 4 hours.

My Trip to Paris

2011-06-15T20:54:00.003+01:00

This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for over a month. I have no excuse for my tardiness except that I've been both busy and lazy. So I decided to sit down today and finally write about what I did while in France.

Remember the ever-expanding wish-lists I made before I left? I'm sort of embarassed to say I got to do barely three things out of my entire list. I was there for 6 days which I thought would be more than enough to do and see everything I wanted to. But I wasn't counting on how time-consuming my photo workshop would be and how little time it would leave for other things, especially because I had to go back to my apartment and do some (unrelated) course work before turning in for the night. We finished with the workshop around 7 p.m. which meant there was no time for museum visits or many of the other things that I had planned. .

However, the plus point was that I got to spend 3.5 days walking around Paris with 7 amazing women from around the globe who are all now friends. Despite the fact that the workshop around 10 hours a day, the pace was perfect and & we all had fun while seeing the city and learning about photography.

Sophie is very charming, extremely personable and a very encouraging teacher and I came away with a lot of practical information on technical aspects as well as a new perspective on composition.

At least I can now finally move away from the 'auto' modes on my camera and play around with more features. The workshop was definitely the highlight of my trip and I wish I could go back and do it all over again!

On my last day in Paris I took an early morning train to Vernon with a friend from the workshop. We reached at 8 a.m. and decided to walk the 7 k.m. from there to Giverny because we had read so many rave reviews online about how wonderful the walk is.

I wouldn't want to disagree because the village really is charming but we didn't have a lot of time to stop and look around given our intention to get back to Paris on the first train in the afternoon. And, for us, the long walk just meant we would have less time seeing the village and Monets' gardens.

On the way we stopped to talk to this lovely old lady here who told me how she brings apples for this horse every day. . .

When at last we reached Monets' house it was early enough in the morning that hordes of tourists weren't yet there and we could walk around and photograph some of the many, many beautiful flowers.

The house tour itself took no more than 20 minutes & looking out of the windows on the upper floor it was easy to imagine how inspired he must have been by all the colors in his garden.

My favorite rooms in his house were the sunny yellow dining room and the little sewing room on the upper story. The latter offers a broad view of the entire estate and I assume Monet's wife kept an eye on their eight children through the windows while she sewed.

We could have spent the entire day in the gardens photographing the many varieties of beautiful flowers. But an hour after we arrived the place was hit by an onslaught of tourists and it became impossible to walk without bumping into someone else who was stopping to pose for or take photos.

We spent a lovely morning there, regardless, and only wished we'd had more time to explore the gardens at our own pace. We decided then that we'd just have to come back next Spring and spend all day in Monets' gardens, taking photos!

Once back in Paris, time flew. I had just enough time to meet Paule of Promenades Gourmandes and then rush out to buy gifts for my kids before shops closed for the day.

I took a walk to Rue des Rosiers for the second time that day to get some famous Fallafel but was finally rewarded with a sign that said the restaurant would remain closed for another week. There was nothing to do but walk back and grab a quick meal at a small Vietnamese place around the corner from our apartment. My plans to take a last trip down to Trocadero & photograph the Eiffel Tower at night fell completely flat since I lacked the energy to do any more walking that day.

There's always next year . . or the next. I'm sure I'll go back. I must!
I love Paris - just walking around the charming, winding streets and seeing the old with the new. Or the unexpected ...

This is a love affair that's not ever going to end. I can't wait to be back there again . .

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T17:01:00.000+01:00

Baking With Dorie: Quintuple Chocolate Brownies

2011-06-06T16:19:00.000+01:00

Five kinds of chocolate in a fudgelicious brownie.

This is the gooiest, most chocolatey treat I've made in a while. Dense and so fudgy you need to chase these brownies down with a glass of cold milk. But I'll be honest. I don't like the white chocolate frosting and wish I had paid attention to my instincts and left it out. Maybe it's the quality of the white chocolate I used. Or maybe it's the fact that we're not a white-chocolate-loving family.

But don't let me dissuade you. These brownies are good. Very, very good. Chewy & packed with chocolate flavor. I don't think I need to say a lot more to convince you what a great idea it is to bake these.

For the recipe, please head over to Shahieda's blog Decadent Delectables, or to page 99 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. Please visit the blogroll here to check out everyone else's posts.

Next up, we're baking Rhubarb Cherry Cobbler, picked by Ryan. If you'd like to join our baking challenges, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Curry-Palooza: Muttar Paneer

2011-06-04T14:57:00.000+01:00

Muttar Paneer reminds me of one of my closest friends. It used to be her favorite thing to cook. I haven't seen her in a few years so while I was stirring up a pot of it for Curry-Palooza this week, I wondered if she still likes to make it.

I'm not very fond of peas but my husband and kids are. I had a bit of a disaster with the paneer that I ~~burned~~ over-fried but otherwise this was a fragrant, flavorful curry that my family enjoyed very much. My curry had a thinner consistency than the ones Rocquie & Margie made and I served mine with Pita breads instead of Rice. I had planned on making my own Paneer but was then short on time so I used a bag of cubed, frozen paneer. For those who don't know - Paneer is simply cottage cheese that has been drained, pressed into a container with something heavy placed over the top for a couple of hours so that it retains a solid shape. I did a post on making homemade cottage cheese early last year & will hopefully get around to making my own Paneer soon!

Please check out Rocquie's blog for the recipe for Muttar Paneer, or the original source at A Pot of Tea and a Biscuit.

Curry-Palooza is a monthly event & we take turns picking random Indian recipes each month. If you'd like to participate, please email either Rocquie or myself. I hope you will join us!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-01T09:33:00.000+01:00

Baking With Dorie: Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

2011-05-23T19:23:00.001+01:00

I have not done any baking in months. Thanks to a very long & tiresome renovation and the fact that my oven refused to work. So I've been impatient to bake again and to also fall back in step with all the BWD bloggers who have been carrying on without me for weeks and weeks.

No baking and no cooking means a neglected blog . . I keep meaning to come back here and at least write about my holiday but I've been immensely busy. Too busy to write & too busy to keep up with all the blogs that I follow. Has it really been a whole month since I got back? But that's another blog post . . and I promise to get to it this week.

For now, I bring you crumbly, buttery, melt-in-the-mouth, lime-scented shortbread cookies with a surprising crunchiness.

Who would have known cornmeal could take shortbread to another level? I absolutely love these cookies! I substituted lime zest for the lemon zest because limes were what I had on hand & made only half the recipe. My kids have been sick all week so I didn't expect them to have much of an appetite. Had I known what a hit these would be with them, I would have made double the batch!

Rivki of Kosher Cooking for Ordinary People is the host this week. Please head over to her blog for the recipe, or to Page 130 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. Please check the blogroll here to check out everyone else's posts.

Next up we're baking Quintuple Chocolate Brownies, picked by Shahieda. If you'd like to join our baking challenges please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Curry-Palooza: Rajmah

2011-05-06T22:43:00.002+01:00

As far as indian food goes, Rajmah is one of my favorite things to order when we eat out at Indian restaurants. I'm also guilty of throwing in the occasional packet of 'Gits Rajma Masala' into the grocery cart, unhealthy as it might be.

I have actually never tried making it myself & simply presumed that I wouldn't be able to get it right. The thing about Subcontinental cooking is that some recipes seem simple and unassuming yet getting the right flavor can seem so elusive.

For this months' currypalooza I wanted to pick something flavorful yet simple that could be put together quickly. I've been back home for over two weeks but things have been so chaotic that I simply don't have the time to make anything labor-intensive in my not-yet-quite-functional kitchen. Blogger croquecamille had introduced me to the Quick Indian Cooking website and after testing out one of the other recipes there last week, I decided to pick Mallika Basu's Rajmah curry for this challenge.

Since it uses canned kidney beans, it was a snap to make this morning though I let it simmer longer than needed so that the masalas would really infuse the beans. The only down side of using canned beans is that they tend to remain quite bland regardless of how deeply flavorful the base-curry itself is. However, simmering them on low heat for almost an hour seemed to do the trick for me. And the resulting curry was almost like the one I eat at restaurants. I had been aiming for a thicker sauce and had added only just enough water to cover the beans. This was a mistake and I should have simply added more and gotten a slightly thinner sauce. That said, the flavors in this curry were spot on & we enjoyed it as part of a more elaborate indian-themed meal this evening.

Please head over to Sage Trifle to check out Rocquie's version of this curry and for the recipe please follow this link. Currypalooza is a monthly event and we take turns picking random Indian recipes instead of following any particular book . I hope others will join us!

post-note: I've been unable to upload photos because blogger keeps telling me my post cannot be saved. I'm publishing this without them for now & will try uploading tomorrow morning.

Baking With Dorie: Great Grains Muffins

2011-04-25T18:53:00.000+01:00

I'm sitting out this weeks' challenge as well - unfortunately my oven has a malfunction & isn't working.
Please check out the other bakers here & head over to Laurie's blog for the recipe.

Countdown to Paris

2011-04-13T03:00:00.005+01:00

Two days to go!

Bags packed - check.

camera packed - check.

enthusiasm - check. (well, almost. currently suffering immense anxiety at leaving my kids behind; especially this one)

My wish-list of things to see has grown. I don't expect that I will be able to do everything because most of my time on this trip is eaten up by the workshop I'm doing with Sophie Pasquet, but there's no harm in expanding the list all the same:

1. re-visit Musee d'Orsay to see their new Manet exhibit

2. Institut du Monde Arabe

3. Sainte-Chapelle

4. Tour Montparnasse just before sunset

5. check out the exhibit 'Charmed life of the Brothers Caillebotte'

6. bread & cakes at La Fougasse
7. coffee at Merce and the Muse
8. Musee de l'Orangerie

write to you from paris!

Baking With Dorie: Links to BWD bakers this week (Big Bill's Carrot Cake)

2011-04-11T04:30:00.000+01:00

My entire kitchen had to be packed up earlier than anticipated as our renovation comes to an end & so I have not been able to bake this cake despite every intention to make it ahead of time.

A few others are skipping the challenge so please head over here to check out the blogroll & the links to bakers this week. For the recipe, please head over to Rebecca's blog Beurrista or page 254 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T15:22:00.001+01:00

Curry-Palooza: Aloo Gobi

2011-04-01T21:14:00.000+01:00

Rocquie & I have been discussing curries forever.

A new cooking event/group seemed the best idea to take things a step further: Rocquie gets to further explore her love for Indian cuisine and I get to try out new things because I'm not entirely new to curries. So curry-palooza was born & we decided to blog about our endeavors in curry-making on the first Friday of each month. We're not cooking from any particular book and so far the only rules are that we take turns hosting the event & that we will blog once a month. I hope others will join us!

Aloo Gobi is an every day dish and I must admit that I usually turned up my nose at it as a very young child. Since then I enjoy cauliflower a lot better but have not attempted to cook this curry more than once and, needless to say, it was terrible the last and only time I made it. I use my Grandmothers' cooking as a benchmark because she lived with us when I was growing up and all the curries she made were wonderful. I never learned to cook from her while I had the chance and much later, I had to rely on her advice and instructions over the phone but could never quite get my food to taste like the dishes she had lovingly prepared for us.

This recipe turned out to be like a deliciously warm, comforting hug: it is as close as can be to my Grandmothers' version & I was very, very happy to finally get it right.

The recipe can be found here on Rocquie's blog Sage Trifle.

Paris Encore

2011-03-29T06:41:00.000+01:00

(photo credit: taken by my son last summer)

I'm going to Paris again!

Here I am again, less than one year after my previous (and first) visit, counting down the days. Only 18 more to go!

A friend and I made a spur of the moment plan to make a trip to Paris together for une petite vacance & it seems luck was on our side because once the decision was made, everything else fell into place. Our immense excitement overrides any trepidation we might feel over the prospect of leaving our respective spouses in charge of our kids while the two of us enjoy our week away.

On the agenda: staying in & exploring the Marais, strolling through the Marche aux Puces on our first morning there, trying out Poilâne's famous bread (something I missed out on last time), wandering around the city & taking photos with Sophie Pasquet & a group of photographers, meeting the lady behind Promenades Gourmandes, and visiting the home & gardens of Monet at Giverny. So far these are the few big things on my list. In the midst of it all I expect to unwind & get my groove back.

I can only hope the weather cooperates.

I may not blog a lot between now & then but I hope to make some updates during my trip.

à bientôt!

Baking with Dorie: Brrrrrr-ownies

2011-03-28T17:22:00.000+01:00

I couldn't make these because, where I live, peppermint patties have been impossible to find & I wasn't able to make my own (no peppermint extract either).

Everyone else in the group seemed to have loved these. Have a look at the blogroll here to see their posts & for the recipe.

Perigee

2011-03-21T10:25:00.000Z

A lot of people said the full moon looked no bigger than average Saturday night. But to me it seemed so much brighter that night. And as always, spectacular.

Tarte aux Poires (Pear Tart)

2011-03-17T20:41:00.000Z

I've never met Paule Caillat, but when I finally see her next month, I'm going to hug her.

Not only is she wonderful, she has also been so patient with my constant queries these past several months. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to book a class with her but all my planning & frequent e-mailing ended in anti-climax when I discovered I wouldn't be able to take one class I was looking forward to because of non-availability and another clashed with something else I will be doing that same day. When I found out the latter, I was sure Paule might want to whack me over the head with a cast-iron skillet for being such a nuisance. But didn't I already establish that she's wonderful?

She really is. For forgiving me. And for being the source of what has become my favorite sweet tart dough recipe.

The last time I made a tart inspired by Paule, I got the creme d'amandes (almond cream) wrong. Well - almost wrong. I hadn't known what creme d'amandes was and had used the first random recipe that I found through google search. It turns out, a much superior recipe was sitting right under my nose the entire time. If only I had bothered to consult BFMHTY.

So here's my latest attempt at making a tart: I used Paule's recipe for sweet tart dough but entirely substituted the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour this time. The almond cream filling comes from BFMHTY (recipe can be found on Dorie Greenspan's blog ) & is topped with freshly poached pears d'anjou. I resisted the urge to use either ginger or cloves in the poaching liquid because Paule warned that they might overpower the delicate flavor of the almond cream. But I did use a vanilla pod.

The tart shell is par-baked for 7-8 minutes at 350F and then cooled before filling with the creme d'amandes & topping with poached, sliced pears. It goes back in the oven & needs to be baked for 45-50 minutes or until the almond cream is puffed and brown on top.

Taking a bite out of this tart is complete bliss. I especially love the creme d'amandes which came out so much better than my previous attempt! I told Paule that the first time I ever had tarte aux poires was in Disneyland &, while it may have been better looking than what you see here, I cannot say that it came anywhere close to this one in flavor.

Whole-Wheat Waffles & Swallowing the Frog

2011-03-15T09:43:00.000Z

The truth is, I've been kind of distracted lately. I'm burned-out and have the worst case of writers' block ever.

I sit here facing my laptop screen & the words just don't come. I blame it on the weather, the annoying renovation in our house, and the endless academic writing. As far as the latter is concerned lately I'm so un-inspired there too. I sit and stare at blank pages until the last moment imaginable because I know I have to write my essay then & a late submission will mean a big, fat, ugly 'F'. At this point, when I'm so close to the end, this current strategy of procrastination is hardly proactive.

So, what do I do? Instead of writing, I head into the kitchen and mix flour with sugar and eggs to create comforting distractions. I do this almost daily & I take several photos. But they never make their way into a blog post. Because that involves writing. And I just cannot do that lately.

This week I'll have to swallow the frog: I'll push myself to blog about at least some of the things that have appeared in my kitchen the past couple of months. Maybe I can re-direct some energy here. It is most certainly needed because in past months my blog has begun to look like a shrine to BFMHTY alone. And, much as I love Dorie & BFMHTY, I'd really like to blog more often than the obligatory BWD bakes.

Here are some waffles to distract you while I try & get my groove back:

Whole Wheat Waffles
(from the Nordic Ware leaflet that came with my Waffle iron)

3 eggs, separated
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (the recipe didn't ask for this but I added it)
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

Grease & preheat both sides of waffle iron on medium heat for 3 minutes.
Beat the yolks, sugar, vanilla & oil together in a medium bowl. Add half of the milk and stir.
Add dry ingredients and the remaining milk. Mix until just blended. Set aside.
Beat egg whites till stiff & fold into the batter.
Pour 1 1/4 cups of batter into the center of the waffle iron. Cook for 1/2 to 1 minute. Flip to the other side and cook 2-3 minutes. Remove gently with a fork & serve with syrup or fruit.

Baking With Dorie: Honey Nut Scones

2011-03-14T13:22:00.000Z

Monday mornings are my favorite day of the week. It's the only time I have the house completely to myself & so I allow myself the luxury to move about in slow motion; letting dishes accumulate &dust gather while I catch a couple of hours of reading & lazy day-dreaming.

Freezing-cold Monday mornings are perfect for snuggling up on a favorite couch & celebrating the moment with freshly-baked scones and tea.

These scones have just a hint of sweetness & so they'd pair perfectly with any kind of jam. I was out of unsalted walnuts & other nuts so I made mine nut-less. I am sure the walnuts would have added a nice texture & so I'll be sure to make them with nuts next time. I loved them! Soft on the inside with a pleasantly crunchy exterior and barely-there sweetness. A complete winner in my books.

The recipe was chosen by Tina. Please head over to her blog at My Domestic Bliss for the recipe, or turn to page 31 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. This week we were joined by a new member - welcome to BWD Rivki! Please check out the blogroll here to see everyone else's posts.

Next up we're baking Brrrr-ownies (page 103). If you'd like to join our baking challenges, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Baking With Dorie: Brownie Buttons

2011-02-28T20:52:00.000Z

It's been a year of Baking With Dorie. And what fun it has been: to get to know everyone in our small group & to bake through this wonderful book that I can't praise enough for the simplicity of its' recipes. It is absolutely, hands down, the best baking book I have ever used. Whether you are an amateur or a seasoned baker, this book is for you & I think everyone should own a copy!

These Brownie Buttons are, in Dorie's words, sensational. Fudgy yet light as air. Perfect for an any-time snack or a kids' party. I made mine with whole-wheat flour today:

Brownie Buttons

Page 106, Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

Grated zest of 1/2 orange (optional)

1 tsp sugar (optional)

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour

pinch of salt

1/2 stick butter, cut into 4 pieces

2.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

For the glaze:

2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly butter two mini-muffin pans, each with a dozen cups, and place them on a baking sheet.

If you are using the zest, combine the zest and sugar in a small bowl rubbing them between your fingertips to blend; set aside. Whisk together salt and flour.

Melt the butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a medium-sized heavy bottomed saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof spatula and keeping an eye on the pan so nothing overheats or burns. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and cool for a minute or two.

Stir the vanilla, egg and zest into the chocolate mixture. When the mixture is well-blended, add the flour and stir only till it is incorporated. You should have a smooth, glossy batter.

Spoon batter into 16 muffin cups, using about a teaspoon of batter to fill each cup 3/4 full. Put 1 tsp of water in each empty cup.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the tops of the buttons spring back when touched. Transfer pans to racks to cool for 3 minutes before releasing the buttons. Cool to room temperature.

To make the glaze: Melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly and don't leave the chocolate for even a minute. As soon as it is smooth, remove from heat.

One by one dip the tops of the buttons in the chocolate, twirling the buttons so that you get a little swirl. Refrigerate 15 mins to set the glaze.

Happy 1st Anniversary to all my fellow bakers! Thanks for being part of BWD this past year.

Please check out the blogroll here to see everyone else's take on these adorable brownie buttons. Next up we're baking Honey Nut Scones. If you'd like to be part of our baking challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T02:54:00.001Z

Baking With Dorie: Cinnamon Squares

2011-02-15T05:59:00.000Z

While I love both cinnamon & chocolate and don't mind combining them together in a dessert, this recipe disappointed me a little (Sorry, Dorie!).

I made the Cappuccino version suggested in the book but even with addition of extra espresso, the cinnamon flavor was too over-powering for my family & even myself. I liked the chocolate & crunchy-sugar-cinnamon-y swirl in the middle of the cake as well as the chocolate frosting & the cake was very moist. But overall, this was not my favorite bake from BFMHTY. Which makes me very glad that I cut the recipe in half and baked mini-cakes. Maybe I wold have liked it better had I made the original version so that is something I would like to try out at some point in the future.

I was aiming to get mini heart-shaped cakes (despite the fact that I'm a Valentine Grinch), but I over-filled my molds and ended up with some mushroom-topped cakes that looked nothing like hearts. Oh well, better luck next time.

Please check out Chaya's blog Bizzy B. Bakes for the recipe (or pages 210-11 of Baking from my hoome to yours by Dorie Greenspan) and the blogroll here to see everyone else's versions. So far they've all enjoyed this cake better than I have. Next up we're baking Brownie Buttons. If you'd like to be a part of our baking challenge, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Late posting my BWD challenge this week

2011-02-14T23:45:00.000Z

My post is already late & will be up in a few more hours.
Meanwhile, please visit the blogroll here to check out other BWD bakers this week.

Nutella-Banana French Toast Strata

2011-02-06T06:38:00.001Z

Can you think of anything more comforting than French Toast on a winter morning? Add Nutella and it goes from comforting to divine.

This is my entry for World Nutella Day which is the brainchild of Sara & Michellae at Ms. Adventures in Italy & Bleeding Espresso. Check out the Nutella Day Flickr Pool or the Nutella Day Facebook Page for more inspiration.

This was a real treat - I added very little sweetener to the egg mixture so the strata was mildly sweet and even my drizzling it with cream & nutella did not send it over the edge. Perfect start to my day!

Nutella-Banana French Toast Strata

(I scaled down the recipe to make an individual portion today)

A loaf of bread (I used Multigrain), crusts removed & cut into squares or rectangular pieces

8 eggs

3 1/2 - 4 cups milk

8 sliced bananas

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp agave syrup

Nutella

Lightly butter the bottom of a 9x13 dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla and agave syrup.

Spread Nutella on half the squares/rectangles of bread and layer them in the dish, nutella side facing up. Layer sliced bananas on top. Spread Nutella on the remaining squares/rectangles of bread and layer them on top of the bananas (nutella side facing down).

Pour the egg mixture on top, pressing gently with a spoon so that the bread soaks it all up. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake strata for 35 minutes, uncovered.

Let stand for 10 minutes. Dust with icing sugar & serve. I drizzled a little mixture of nutella & cream on top before serving.

Baking With Dorie: Coffee Break Muffins

2011-02-01T04:56:00.001Z

It was my turn to pick the recipe this week & I apologize for not posting mine on time: I had un-announced internet outage for the entire day yesterday and it set me behind on everything.

I baked these muffins two weeks ago and was surprised at the mild coffee flavor despite the whole cup of coffee that goes into the batter. They are moist & lovely on their own and especially so with a cup of coffee. But when I made them again yesterday, I felt they needed something extra so I threw on a mixture of chopped dark and white chocolate. The dark chocolate brought out the taste of coffee and the white chocolate added that extra bite and hint of flavor I was looking for. These muffins are so unassuming, so quick to put together and so good.

You can find the recipe on Page 15 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. Please see the BWD Blogroll here to check out other BWD bakers. Next up we're making Cinnamon Squares, chosen by Chaya. If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us.

Coffee Break Muffins

from Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup strong coffee, cooled

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 400F.

Butter or spray 12 molds in a muffin pan or fit them with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, espresso, baking powder and salt. Stir in the brown sugar and make sure there are no lumps.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk the coffee, butter, egg and vanilla till combined. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and with a whisk or rubber spatula gently but quickly stir to blend. Divide the batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 20 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its' mold.

Pepparkakor (Ginger Thins)

2011-01-20T03:31:00.000Z

I have a confession to make: I only go to Ikea so that I can stack up on these delicious crispy cookies ~~& Almondy's Almond Tarta~~ and they're one of those elusive things, like Homemade Oreos, that I'm always planning to make but never get around to.

Faced with a relatively slow day & nothing else to do, I decided to finally look up a recipe for Pepparkakor and give it a try. It took a bit of searching to locate an authentic one here & I adapted it slightly to include orange peel instead of lemon because I wanted to make exactly the kind of cookies I buy from Ikea.

For those who don't know what Pepparkakor is - they are traditional Swedish cookies otherwise referred to as 'ginger thins' because they're very thin & crispy. They're spiced heavier than regular ginger cookies but the spices are not at all overpowering because orange is the major player here.

The recipe yields 10 dozen cookies & I didn't want an inedible disaster on my hands I had to halve it. And since I hadn't planned on baking these cookies, I just had to use what I had on hand and go with it - which meant that I had to substitute molasses for the golden syrup (and cross my fingers that it would work out). But like they say: if something can go wrong, it will. Not only did I add salt to the batter on top of my salted butter, I also misread a step in the recipe and added a tablespoon of cardamom when I should have added 1 tablespoon of cinnamon . . no use trying to pick out a spice after it's been added.

There's no deterring me once I get started, so I decided to just go with the flow and prepare the cookie dough. The worst thing that could happen is that my family would hate these cookies & I'd have to eat them all or feed them to the birds. There are fates worse than consuming a batch of cookies not worth eating.

The dough is very sticky & needs to rest in the fridge overnight. But of course, I didn't have the patience to wait another day before tasting my experiment. So I divided the dough into two, wrapped the discs separately and took one of them out after barely 4 hours of refrigeration. It felt as hard as rock (it's supposed to) & so I figured I would have no trouble with it. I broke off a small bit & rolled it out pretty thin. Got my cookie cutter out & got to work. . so far so good. . and then, I realized it was impossible to lift the cookie shapes off my counter without tearing and ruining them. Too soft, too sticky.

I then broke off another bit of dough and rolled it out thicker. This seemed to work so much better. But, of course, it meant that my cookies would not be as thin and crispy as the original Pepparkakors. But at this point, I didn't care as long as they tasted anything like the real thing.

Since they bake just 7-8 minutes, I didn't have to wait long to find out & judging from the aromas in my kitchen, I was sure I had nailed it. And how right I was - these cookies were simply wonderful. There was no evidence of my 'accidents' while preparing the dough except for a faintly stronger taste of cardamom. Otherwise, apart from the thickness, these were exactly like the ones I buy which was very exciting for me! The discs of dough are waiting in my refrigerator for a second trial & I can't wait to see if I can make them thinner next time. For now these pair perfectly well with my cup of coffee.

Pepparkakor

adapted from Anne's Food

(yields several dozen delicious cookies)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tbsp ground ginger

1/2 tbsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

1/2 tbsp baking soda

150g salted butter (or 1/2 cup + 1/8 cup)

250g sugar (or 1/2 cup + 1/8 cup)

150g brown sugar (or 2/3 c) - the recipe didn't specify so I used light brown

1 egg

zest of 1/2 an orange

150 ml molasses

150 ml heavy cream

4 cups + half of 3/4 cups flour

Day one:

Sift the flour and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix the butter and sugars, add in the spices, egg, molasses, orange zest and cream till smooth.

Mix in the flour till well blended. The dough will be very sticky - divide and roll into 2 or more balls or discs, wrap them in saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Day two:

Preheat oven 350F.

Take out a ball or disc of dough. Break off a small piece at a time and roll out on a well-floured surface (I can't emphasize this enough - don't be shy & just sprinkle the flour on otherwise this dough will really stick). Roll it till it is about 1/8th of an inch. Cut into shapes and bake 7-8 minutes. Remove & place on wire racks till completely cool.

Baking With Dorie: Apple Coconut Family Cake

2011-01-18T03:10:00.000Z

There's something so rustic & comforting about the term 'family cake'. And I expected to like this one very much because of the unlikely combination of apples and coconut. As usual, I wasn't disappointed.

I halved the recipe & used just one large apple for the filling. It may have been too little because my cakes were airy & moist whereas other BWD bakers described theirs as slightly 'mushy'.

I used unsweetened, finely shredded coconut which lent a nice chewiness to these cakes & coconut was the dominant flavor here because I had subbed water for the rum. Once baked, I brushed my cakes with very little thinned orange marmalade because that is what I had on hand.

Verdict: very simple & delicious cake which, if given the chance to sit overnight, will taste even better the next day. Although this might be more of a 'cake for adults' as Tina said because even though my daughter 'helped' me make it (she layered the apples on top and then sprinkled them with sugar) she didn't quite seem to like it very much. Here's a look at one of her creations:

If you'd like to get the recipe for this cake, please head over to Mia's wonderful blog Bright Morning Star, or to page 214 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next up, we're baking Coffee Break Muffins. If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Fig & Frangipane Tart

2011-01-04T10:25:00.000Z

I have been obsessed with the idea of this tart ever since I saw the tour of Paule Caillat's kitchen here.

Paule, the owner and operator of Promenades Gourmandes, offers cooking classes & gourmet walks in Paris. I'd written to Paule during the summer in order to make reservations for my 'Paris Encore' trip in December which, quite sadly, had to postponed indefinitely. When I saw her kitchen & the photos of her fig tart I had to write to her again & ask for the recipe. It looked so beautiful.

Paule wrote back & told me the tart was a simple sweet tart dough with crème d'amandes - which she said was butter blended into equal amounts of almond meal, sugar and 1 egg & I could use any fruit on top. I had to do a little research to find a recipe for crème d'amandes which I had initially thought would be almond pastry cream. But another look at the ingredient list told me it wasn't. And so what she probably meant was Frangipane.

Once again, there were so many recipes for frangipane that it was hard to pick one to work with. So I just went with the first and simplest one that showed up in my google search (found it at About.com) and made the Frangipane before I started working on the tart shell. Here's the recipe I used:

Frangipane (makes enough to fill one 9" tart shell)

barely adapted from About.com

1/2 cup ground almond meal (I ground my own almonds - I think it took about 120g to make 1/2 a cup)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (I could have used a little more)

1 egg

3 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla vanilla extract

Blend the butter with the almond meal and sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla extract, mixing till smooth. Set aside.

Now there's no reason for me to look at recipes for sweet tart dough anywhere when I've had such great success with Dorie Greenspans' Sweet Tart Dough. However, Paule was the inspiration for this experiment and her recipe involves a completely different, very intriguing technique which I've really wanted to try out since I saw it on David Lebovitz's blog.

The recipe requires butter, water and oil to be to be heated in the oven after which flour is thrown into the melted mixture and everything is stirred together till it's smooth. There's no need to chill the dough or to even roll it - all you have to do is simply press it into a pan and bake. You don't even have to add baking weights because all it needs is a few pricks with with tines of a fork. That's all. really.

It is so simple to make and yields such a beautiful, flaky pastry shell. This dough will not let you down. Try it out the next time you decide to make a tart.

Paule Caillat's French Pastry Dough

(by David Lebovitz)

(do head over to his blog to see DL's photo tutorial here)

90g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 slightly rounded cup all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 410F.

In a medium-sized oven-proof bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar and salt.

Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and begins to brown just around the edges.

Carefully remove the bowl from the oven (be very careful here - it really sputters!), throw in the flour and stir it quickly. I used a whisk initially & worked it until I had large clumps of dough - then I switched over to a spatula and gave it a stir or two after which it formed a perfect ball of dough.

I divided the dough into 4 & transferred it to my mini-tart molds, patted it down with the spatula and then worked with my fingers to press it up the sides. I allowed the shells to cool and then pricked them with a fork before par-baking them for 5 minutes. One of the shells had puffed up a little when I took it out, but I simply patted it down with the back of a spoon.

Once the shells were completely cool, I divided the frangipane between them and baked them for 15 minutes (Paule's instructions were to bake the tart for a total of 30 mins, adding the fruit after 10 minutes - but I was using small molds so I increased the amount of time). I then layered the sliced figs on top and baked the tarts for 30 - 35 minutes. I think I over-baked a little, since I wasn't sure how long to bake them. And so my tarts looks nothing like Paule's tart, but I loved creating them.

Baking With Dorie: World Peace Cookies

2011-01-03T14:58:00.002Z

It is so hard for me to describe these fabulous & famous cookies and so I can only summarize by saying that these are the most wonderful chocolate cookies I have ever had.

Closely related to sablés in texture, these cookies are light and sandy but with a stronger burst of chocolate flavor. The tiny bits of hand-chopped chocolate & intense cocoa flavor make them seem almost like a fudgy brownie. In fact the thicker they are sliced the more fudgy-brownie-like they taste because their middles are soft & the edges crispy. I'd say this is a rather sophisticated, yet unassuming cookie.

Since I have zero will-power, I halved the recipe & wanted to use a Lindt Chili Bar in place of the dark chocolate required but then I discovered I didn't have it on hand like I usually do. So I added in just a little over 1 teaspoon of ground Chipotle Chili Pepper. That may have been a little bit too much since I had halved the recipe - of course that didn't occur to me while adding it in.

I had a few problems with the dough - it came together really well because I used softened butter. But after the dough had been shaped &refrigerated and I began slicing it, it would split in half. I pressed the sliced & split rounds together and baked the as they were while I refrigerated the log again. Eventually the problem solved itself when I sliced the cookies very thick which also meant very fat cookies. But I'm not complaining!

I have to say the chipotle pepper added a deceptive heat to these cookies and, for me, it was an interesting blend of flavors. I should have added a little less chili powder because it pricked a little at the back of my throat. But here's the real surprise: my kids ate them. Not one each, but several - and they think 'the chili pepper is kind of nice' but 'these cookies are so, so good - they would be even better without the chili pepper'. I guess I was really pushing my luck with those chilies, wasn't I?

That said, I'm not done talking about these cookies yet. I wanted to compare them to chocolate sablés and figure out which I like better because I really couldn't decide.

Here are the sablés I used for comparison purposes:

One bite is never enough to decide. I took several:

Was I any closer to deciding? No.

The verdict: I love them both! The sablés taste far more buttery and were slightly little less sweet than world peace cookies.

The addition of fleur de sel intensifies the cocoa flavor in the world peace cookies which, along with the hand-chopped dark chocolate, satisfies every chocolate craving I could ever have. They're not really like shortbread but taste more like double chocolate chip cookies with a pleasant saltiness.

Thanks for picking this recipe Rebecca! It was a wonderful way to roll in the new year. You can find the recipe for World Peace Cookies on Rebecca's blog Beurrista or pages 138-9 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next up we're making Apple Coconut Family Cake. If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Happy New Year to you all & I hope 2011 brings peace to all mankind!

Baking With Dorie: Sablés

2010-12-20T12:19:00.000Z

I love Sablés - especially chocolate ones. But since we're baking World Peace Cookies next & they're almost Sablés-like (and may I mention they are the best cookies, ever!), I decided not to tinker with this recipe too much and wait to get my chocolate fix next time.

So I went ahead with the spice version suggested by Dorie Greenspan & while I was fumbling around in my kitchen cabinets looking for coarse sugar, I came across a packet of peppermint candy & thought what fun it would be to roll these cookies in crushed candy . . forgetting the fact that the candy would melt in the oven . . . and so 20 minutes later I was scraping all of this from the bottom of the cookies . .

Just remind me to stick to the recipe next time!

That said, the cookie dough was slightly tricky. I haven't made this kind of cookie in a while & Dorie's instructions said to not over-mix the dough. So I was over-cautious but then I was using a hand-held mixer so I had to beat just slightly longer than I was supposed to, and my resulting cookie-dough was just a little smoother than it was probably meant to be.

I divided the dough and used just one half to make cookies this morning. They're really good: buttery (though not very crumbly because I figure I overmixed the dough), sandy, and taste somewhat like a snickerdoodle. But since I'm not very fond of snickerdoodles, I have a feeling I would have loved the lemon version more and intend to try it out some time between now and the next BWD challenge.

Please do check out the other BWD bakers here. For the recipe, head over to Laurie's blog Cookin' up North, or page 131 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next up, we're baking World Peace Cookies, picked by Rebecca. If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Baking With Dorie: Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake

2010-12-06T16:44:00.000Z

Cheesecake had never been my forte until I discovered Dorie Greenspan. And so I felt pretty confident about tackling this recipe when Jen picked it for this week. Besides, what was not to love about the thought of apples, cinnamon and brown sugar in a cheesecake?

The only thing was - I didn't want to make a big cheesecake, but then I also didn't want to do the math & divide this recipe in half. What's a lazy girl to do?

I didn't divide the recipe in half but baked 6 mini-cheesecakes in my muffin tin as a trial version & saved the rest of the filling to use later tomorrow. I expected an epic fail once I realized that I was out of sour cream & had to substitute with yogurt. I was sure something would happen to compromise the texture of the cheesecakes & sat around with fingers crossed the entire time they were baking.

I need not have worried because the texture turned out to be everything it promises to be: creamy without being too dense, and the surprise layer of caramelized apples is deliciously pleasing.

This may not have been one of my prettiest BWD bakes, but whatever it lacked in visual appeal is made up for by its' apple-infused dreamy-creaminess.

Thanks to Jen for picking this recipe this week! Please head over to Jen's blog for the recipe, or to pages 238-9 of Baking: from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. Do head over to the blog roll & check out how the other BWD bakers' did this week.

Next up, we're baking Sables (picked by Laurie). If you'd like to join our baking challenges, please drop me a line at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Taste & Create: Aloo Fry (a Potato Curry)

2010-11-24T21:56:00.000Z

This is my first time participating in Taste & Create & I've been paired with Padmajha of Seduce Your Tastebuds. Padmajha has a treasure of Indian vegetarian dishes featured on her blog and I would have loved to try some of the ones I've never heard of before. But I had to pick something simple due to time constraints & so I went with Aloo Fry.

This is a simple, flavorful side dish that requires little preparation. I followed Padmajha's recipe exactly and the only minor changes I made was to add a squirt of lemon juice to the potatoes at the end. The other thing I did differently was that I waited till the onions were light brown before adding the whole spices (mustard seed, coriander seed, cumin - and a pinch of kalonji/black onion seed, which was my own addition) - quite simply because I thought if I added them in the reverse order, the spices might burn by the time the onion was browned.

You can find the recipe for Aloo Fry here.

I figured Taste & Create was a good way to shake me out of my complacency & try out new recipes. I'm looking forward to my next challenge next month! You can find out how it works here.

Baking With Dorie: Applesauce Spice Bars

2010-11-24T06:47:00.002Z

I finally made these! After looking through everyone else's blog posts this week, I knew I was going to love this bake & I was sure to double the glaze, as suggested by the other BWD bakers.

These bars came together in no time at all, which made me realize I could have tried to make them sooner. And they were fabulous! Ultra-moist and almost spice-cake like, the glaze is what sends these bars truly over the edge and makes them completely irresistible.

Thanks for choosing such a winner Chaya ! Please head over to Chaya's blog for the recipe, or to Page 117 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next up, we're baking the Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake (Pages 238-8). If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Baking With Dorie - Links to BWD Bakers this week (Applesauce Spice Bars)

2010-11-22T16:49:00.000Z

I'm late with my bake again. I've been far too preoccupied lately & haven't had the time to bake or blog. I promise to have it up tomorrow!

Meanwhile, here are the links to all the other BWD bakers:

Beurrista
Bright Morning Star
Cookin' up North
Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog

Gluten-Free Baking 101

My Domestic Bliss

The Rookie Baker

The challenge was chosen by Chaya this week. Please head over to Chaya's blog for the recipe, or to Page 117 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next up, we're baking the Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake (Pages 238-8). If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Baking With Dorie - Links to BWD Bakers this week (My Favorite Pecan Pie)

2010-11-08T10:18:00.001Z

Despite my best intentions, I've been unable to bake Dorie Greenspan's Favorite Pecan Pie today. I hope to do a rewind post in two weeks. Meanwhile, here is the list of blogs participating this week (the other bakers will do rewind posts later), please be sure to check them out:

The recipe was chosen by Tina of My Domestic Bliss this week & she tells me it's a winner! Please head over to Tina's blog for the recipe, or Page 327 of Baking: from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next up, we're baking Applesauce Spice Bars (Page 117). If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

An appeal for Help

2010-10-31T22:52:00.002Z

This post hasn't much to do with food. But it does have to do with something that breaks my heart.

Now that the Pakistani flood waters have receded, all the news cameras have rolled away and any little world interest that there was, has faded. But the wreckage and desolation remain. Those in affected areas are still in dire need of all the assistance they can get. The situation is anything but over.

Back in August, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon described the Pakistani floods as 'a slow-motion tsunami. It's destructive power will accumulate and grow with time. . . Make no mistake: this is a global disaster, a global challenge. It is one of the greatest tests of global solidarity in our times'.

Diseases are now on an alarming rise (cholera, skin diseases, diarrhea, malaria, respiratory-tract infections, dengue fever - to name just a few). More than 20 million have been affected by the floods and the UN estimates that 10 million are still in need of shelter, food , clean drinking water and other basics.

8 million children and over 500,000 pregnant women are at risk because of deadly water-borne disease. 105,000 children younger than 5 years of age might die of malnutrition over the next 6 months.

What if it were your child up there? Or here:

or worst of all, what if this were your child?

Would you not want someone to help him?

At the onset of winter millions are still in temporary shelters, without warm clothing or food.

Please, please: if you have warm clothing or blankets to spare, or an extra can of food (only beans, peas, corn or fruit - expiration date at least a year away), call up your local airport to check if the Pakistan International Airlines has a collection point in your city, and please drop off your donations there. Every little contribution counts and whatever you donate will be forwarded to Pakistan free of cost by the airline. You could find more information on their website.

People in Pakistan need your help.

Timing is crucial - Whose suffering will you help stop today?

(All photos are courtesy of Google Images).

Baking With Dorie: Pumpkin Muffins

2010-10-25T14:00:00.000+01:00

There's nothing better than sleeping in late on a rare morning, and then heading down to the kitchen to bake up a batch of muffins that you can eat straight out of the oven; snuggled on the couch with your cup of coffee.

That's what I did today - trying to stretch out the quiet contentment of the sunny morning before my toddlers' friend arrived for a play date. I had figured these muffins would be a perfect snack for the kids and so I sprinkled them with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds for toddler-appeal. It worked as far attracting their attention was concerned, but unfortunately I found both kids making a mountain out of crumbs a few minutes after they sat down to eat these muffins.. ! I guess you just can't win them all.

But that is not to say that these muffins aren't good - they are moist and have just a subtle hint of spiciness and mild sugary sweetness with an agreeable blend of textures ranging from the soft chewiness of the raisins and pecans to the pleasing crunch from the sunflower seeds. I liked that these muffins were delicately spiced, tender and not too sweet - perfect with cup of coffee. And so much healthier than our previous bakes!

Thank you for choosing this recipe this week Elizabeth!

For a gluten-free version of this dessert, please visit Elizabeth's blog Gluten-Free Baking 101. For the original recipe, visit Chaya's blog at My Sweet and Savory or Page 13 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

To check out the other BWD bakers, visit the blogroll here. Our next challenge is 'My Favorite Pecan Pie' picked by Tina of My Domestic Bliss. If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Devils Food Cake with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-10-19T21:10:00.000+01:00

My sons' evolving preferences over the years have me confronting increasingly challenging trials in birthday cake-decorating. In fact this is the first year that I completely failed him on that account. It would have been so much easier to just pick up a cake from a bakery but I take birthday cakes very seriously and what I lack in decorating talent as well as punctuality, I make up for with the sheer determination to make my kids birthday cakes that they will remember throughout the year.

But despite my best intentions, I just couldn't deliver this time: there I was at 4 a.m., just having finished frosting a 2-layer 9x13" cake, struggling to 'draw' Ben 10 with tinted buttercream, and failing. Miserably. An hour, and several errors later, I gave up and scraped the offensive Ben 10 figure off, replacing it with candy cake decorations. I then dropped it off at the school, sending up a prayer that the cake itself would appeal to my picky sons' taste buds.

Once he got home from school, I was rewarded with the very rare compliment that 'everything about the cake was so, so delicious' as well as a request to make it again over the weekend. The second time around, I decided to keep it simple and made a 2-layer 9-inch cake. It took us a couple of days to eat through it, and it seemed that the flavors just intensified the longer this cake sat around in the fridge.

The cake recipe can be found on Gourmet here.

The brown sugar cream cheese frosting is a twist on the classic cream cheese frosting and is one of my favorites ways to frost cupcakes. It comes from Joy the Baker and it paired so well with the chocolate in the cake, that I may never use any other kind of frosting ever again!

Baking With Dorie: Kids' Thumbprints

2010-10-11T15:42:00.000+01:00

My daughter and I are the real peanut butter lovers in our house. So my reason behind choosing this recipe was just so I could have some fun making these with her. Halfway into rolling the cookie dough into balls, I realized this had been a bad idea because my daughter insisted she was handling play-doh and soon everything was going to end up all over the kitchen floor. So I took over the dough and allowed her to poke holes into the center of each cookie, using a wooden spoon. I had to make them a little larger than teaspoon-sized because my daughter kept smashing them while trying to poke the hole! The end result was a little messy looking cookie, but we did have a lot of fun baking them together.

These buttery, shortbread-like cookies were a big hit with my toddler, her favorite part being the strawberry jam center.

Kids' Thumbprints

from Baking: From y home to yours ,by Dorie Greenspan, Page 163.

1.5 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup peanut butter - crunchy (Dorie's choice) or smooth

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg, separated

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 large egg white

1 1/2 cups roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted), finely chopped

about 3/4 cup jam or jelly (cherry, raspberry, strawberry and blueberry are particularly good)

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter and sugars together on medium speed until very light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg yolk and continue to beat until well blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until incorporated.

Put the 2 egg whites in a small bowl and beat them with a fork until slightly frothy. Put the chopped nuts in another bowl.

Working with a teaspoon of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms to form balls, turn them in the egg whites till completely coated and then drop them into the nuts and roll to coat. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Steadying each cookie with the thumb and finger of one hand, use the pinkie of your other hand (or the end of a wooden spoon) to poke a hole in the center of each cookie. Be careful not to go all the way down to the baking sheet.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway mark. The cookies will be lightly golder. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to a rack.

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets before baking a new batch.

Put the jam or jelly in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil, stirring, over low heat. Using a small spoon, fill each thumbprint with hot jam. Allow the cookies - and especially the jam - to cool to room temperature, at which point the jam will form a shiny , nonsticky finish.

Thank you to all the BWD bakers for baking along with me this week. Please check out the blogroll here to see everyone elses's thumbprint cookies, and please note that the gluten-free version of these cookies will be up on Elizabeths' blog Gluten-Free Baking 101 tomorrow (Tuesday). We are baking Pumpkin Muffins next, picked by Elizabeth. If you'd like to join our baking challenge, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Pecan Pie Mini-Tarts with Yogurt Cheese Pastry

2010-10-06T14:40:00.000+01:00

I'm in love with the buttery smell that comes from my hands and fills the air when I make tarts and pies.

And despite all my best intentions not to do any rich baking, here I was again - leafing through my cook books yesterday and stopping at each mention of these sinful treats. . . I spent the past week mostly away from the internet - just to make my days a little less complicated, to kick back and enjoy a rare break in routine and to, once again, make time for things I enjoy best.

And that brings me to these mini-tarts. The pecan-pie filling is crusty on top, chewy-gooey on the inside. They are a snap to make and I found them too tempting not to share.

Pecan Pie Tarts with Yogurt Cheese Pastry

(Page 26 of 101 Things to do with Yogurt)

For the Tart Shells:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar

3 ounces (6 tbsp) yogurt cheese

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup flour

For the Filling:

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

2 tbsp butter, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar

To make the tart shells:

Preheat Oven to 350.

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the mixture forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Flour hands and shape dough into 24 balls. Press dough with fingers up the sides of a mini muffin tin to fill each muffin cup. Set aside.

Filling:

Stir together the ingredients in a small bowl until mixed.

Fill each tart shell about 2/3 full and bake 25-30 minutes. Cool tarts in pan for 5 minutes and then remove to cooling rack.

Dust with powdered sugar or top with a dollop of whipped cream to serve. Makes 24 mini-tarts.

Go on - take a bite . . .

A Taste of Yellow: Brazillian Coffee Bananas

2010-10-01T22:35:00.095+01:00

I wanted to make something for LiveStrong Day by participating in the Taste of Yellow blogging event hosted by WinosandFoodies.com. I came across this blog only today and wanted to be a part of the event. The rules are simple: photograph a yellow food and somehow feature a heart into the photo.Easy.

The harder part was to decide what to make, and what to include in this post. Food-blogging and stories related to chronic disease don't go hand in hand. As food-bloggers we tend to stick to recounting our cooking adventures, and it isn't possible for a reader to look at a food blog without imagining happy times and the joy of sharing a good meal with friends and family. The reality of the writer can sometimes be different and at some point in our lives, each one of us has experienced trials, problems or the heartache of losing a loved one.

October 2 this year is LiveStrong Day - and the Taste of Yellow blogging event is a small way to contribute to the effort of the LiveStrong Foundation to spread awareness about Cancer, as well as the need for Cancer-research for new drugs and treatment. It gives food bloggers an opportunity to not only support the cause, but also to share personal stories and to dedicate the hearts in these posts to family members or friends touched by Cancer.

My heart goes to those I personally know - some having succumbed to, and some struggling with the disease. .

This is my first time participating in the Taste of Yellow event and I chose to make something simple that I could fix immediately. This tasteful little dessert is as simple as it gets:

Brazillian Coffee Bananas

(from Bananas, Page 52)

4 small, ripe bananas

1 tbsp boiling water

1 tbsp coffee granules

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp Greek Style Yogurt

2 tbsp toasted, slivered Almonds (I skipped these)

Peel and slice one banana. Mash the remaining bananas in a bowl. Dissolve the coffee in the water and stir into mashed bananas.

Spoon a little of the Coffee-Banana mixture into 4 small dishes, and sprinkle with brown sugar. Top with a spoonful of yogurt. Repeat layers until all the ingredients are used up.

Use a tooth-pick to swirl the last layer of yogurt for a marbled effect and finish off with a few sliced bananas and slivered almonds. Serve cold, within an hour of making.

Baking With Dorie: Banana Cream Pie

2010-09-28T18:06:00.000+01:00

I have to confess that when Rebecca chose this recipe for this weeks' BWD challenge, I groaned a bit inwardly thinking we were tackling yet another super-rich dessert & I have the hard-to-lose weight to prove the damage some of these recent bakes have done!

However, I've never made a banana cream pie before so I was excited to try and started planning my bake over a week ago. I was a little torn between trying the original version & a variation I had dreamed up. I even asked Dorie for advice and she steered me back on track and urged me to try the original recipe and play around with it later, when I have more time. And boy, am I glad that I followed the recipe exactly - because this is not a run of the mill Banana Cream Pie: the pastry cream is layered over sliced bananas and is rich but not overly sweet - the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg take the flavor up a notch without overwhelming it. It is topped with a cloud of barely-sweet whipped cream with a hint of tanginess from the sour cream. All of that goodness scooped into Dorie's flaky good-for-everything pie crust : in one word, sublime.

I apologize for the late post and am also sorry that despite all my planning, I waited until the 11th hour to make the pie and then I almost ruined it - just look at that pie crust: what is all that speckly stuff??!

I have made the pie crust so many times for previous BWD challenges that I could probably make it with my eyes closed - but I messed up this time. I over-worked it and kind of burned it because I made the pie in such a hurry. My pastry cream was made a night before but when I got ready to bake the crust and assemble the pie on Monday morning I got a phone call from a friend and had to rush to the hospital within the next two hours : I had promised to be present at her birth & it seemed it was time for her to go. So I baked the crust, assembled and photographed the pie - all on fast-forward - before I ran out of the house.

And then I went from baking pies to witnessing miraculous birth. What an exhilarating, intense, lovely and emotional day!

Two sweet endings in one day. Can it get better than that?

For the recipe, please head over to Rebecca's blog Beurrista, or pages 342-3 of Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. Thanks for choosing this wonderful recipe Rebecca!

Next up, we're baking Cherry Fudge Brownie Torte (Pages 284-5 of BFMHTY), chosen by me! If you'd like to join us for our baking challenge, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Late with posting my BWD challenge

2010-09-27T09:21:00.000+01:00

This is just a short note to let you know I've had to get away for something urgent and will be late posting this weeks' challenge. My post will be up tomorrow (Tuesday).
Meanwhile, please check the BWD blogroll here to check out the other bakers, and for the recipe for Dorie Greenspan's Banana Cream Pie, please head over to Rebecca's blog Beurrista, or pages 342-3 of Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Baking With Dorie: Chocolate Chunkers

2010-09-13T13:05:00.000+01:00

Dorie says these cookies are fabulous - and so who am I to argue?

Between you and me, I can't stop snacking on them since I made them yesterday. They're insanely good. Almost like a fabulously fudgey-brownie masquerading as a cookie. With a whopping 19 oz of different kinds of chocolate going into the batter, these are a chocolate-lovers dream come true.

Want to see what I mean by fudgy? Take a look:

And there's not just chocolate - there are nuts and dried fruit going in there too. I mistakenly added 1.5 cups of whole peanuts instead of chopped ones, so there were a lot of nuts in my cookies, but I really enjoyed the added toasty-crunch and the saltiness from the peanuts. The only thing I would change next time is that I would use dried cherries instead of raisins because they would add more color and contrast in flavor.

This was Laurie's first pick - thank you Laurie for picking this recipe! Please head over to Laurie's blog Cookin' Up North for the recipe. You can otherwise find the recipe on pages 70-72 of Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Dorie suggests churning crushed bits of these cookies into home-made ice cream. So I made a pint of Dorie's wonderful & creamy Vanilla Ice Cream (Page 428 of BFMHTY) and added in broken bits of these chocolate chunkers for a twist on my husbands' favorite Cookies n' Cream ice cream. I'm saving it for him till he gets back over the weekend, so I have no idea how good it tastes. But by the looks of it, it's a winner.

Please check out the blogroll here to see what all the other wonderful BWD bakers did with this weeks' recipe.

Next up, we're baking Banana Cream Pie (Pages 342-3, BFMHTY), chosen by Rebecca of Beurrista. If you'd like to join the challenge, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us.

Baking With Dorie: Milk Chocolate Mini-Bundt Cakes

2010-08-31T08:44:00.000+01:00

First of all, I am so sorry for the belated post. My blogger account acted up last night and wouldn't let me publish on time.

That said, weeks' recipe was chosen by Jennifer, The Rookie Baker, and I enjoyed it more than I had expected to. I went the cupcake route (since I don't own a mini-bundt pan) and also skipped the swirl altogether. Un-frosted, these turned out to be a perfect treat.

The chocolate flavor in these cakes is not as overwhelming as I had hoped for it to be, but they are wonderfully moist and have just the right balance of sweetness making the glaze almost unnecessary. I have to stress on 'almost' because I am sure that if I had gotten the glaze right, these cupcakes would have been even more wonderful.

I tried, honestly I did. But all I got was an un-spreadable blob. Let's call it my first BFMHTY-fail. I'm sure there is a way to get it right, but it just didn't work for me this time. See:

Looks more like a thick frosting than glaze :(

But my daughter loved it

For the recipe, please head over to pages 188-9 of Baking: From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan, or Jennifers' blog and take a look at the BWD blogroll to see how the BWD bakers did this week.

Next up, we're baking Chocolate Chunkers (Page 70, BFMHTY) chosen by Laurie of Cookin' Up North. If you'd like to join us, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake with us!

Baking With Dorie: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

2010-08-16T14:35:00.000+01:00

Chaya saved me the effort of making myself a birthday cake tomorrow by choosing this recipe for the BWD challenge this week. It's just what I wanted: simple, non-fussy and, judging by the deliciously caramel-sweet aroma of brown sugar and apples infusing my house, deeply comforting and flavorful.

I'm afraid I can't say much about the flavors because I haven't sliced into it as yet - I'm doing what Dorie suggests and keeping it on the kitchen counter, tightly-wrapped. Till tomorrow. So that I can have myself a birthday cake. And I'm so sure it's a winner, like every recipe of Dories' that I've baked so far.

You can find the recipe on Chaya's blog or on Page 179 of Baking: From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. Be sure to check out the other BWD bakers here and here. This week we were joined by two new bakers - welcome Laurie & Rebecca!

Our next challenge, coming up on August 30th, is Milk Chocolate Mini-Bundt Cakes on pages 188-9 of Baking: From My Home To Yours and has been chosen by Jennifer. If you'd like to join us, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

M&M and Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-08-15T13:37:00.002+01:00

It is my sons' first day at school today. Also his first day in the 1st grade and in a new school.. I felt the same tug at my heart this morning, leaving him in his new class, that I had felt the day I dropped him off at his Kindergarten class for the first time. According to my husband I am quite literally worse than my kids and have more separation-anxiety than they do.

Sigh. Where did my baby boy go?

That's him, hiding his face with his hand and probably thinking, 'Get a grip Mom'.

Okay, I admit - I'm having an emotionally-wrenching kind of day. But lets get over that already. Let me introduce to you my sons' favorite chocolate chip cookies. The ones he requested as an after-school snack today - with 'a glass of really, really cold milk'.

The recipe is very slightly adapted from Dorie Greenspans' 'Best Chocolate Chip Cookies' & is the first recipe of Dories' that I ever tried, a little over two years ago. Much before I owned her book and before starting to Bake With Dorie. I've made these cookies several ways, countless times. My most favorite way to make them is the 'cocoa chocolate' version with peppermint extract - it's like biting into an After Eight chocolate.

But I didn't make them that way today. I had started by wanting to - but when I was measuring out the dry ingredients, I 'forgot' to add cocoa powder and only realized my mistake when the cookie batter came together and it wasn't brown. Oops.

Too late to turn back, so I threw in M&Ms for fun instead of nuts. From the grin on my boys' face, I can tell they're yummy.

M&M and Chocolate Chip Cookies

slightly adapted from Dorie Greenspans' Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, found on Page 68 of Baking: From My Home To Yours

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp peppermint extract

2 large eggs

12 ounces or 2C chocolate chips

1 cup finely M & Ms

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sugars and beat for 2 more minutes. Beat in the vanilla and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Reduce the speed and add in the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Scoop tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each spoonful (these cookies spread a lot).

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes (rotating the sheet at the midway point) or until they are brown on the edges and golden in the middle. Remove from oven, allow to cool on sheets for 1 minute before removing to wire rack to cool.

Channa Daal Curry and Thoughts Worth Thinking. .

2010-08-14T11:53:00.012+01:00

Ramadan is the muslim month of fasting and creating anew ones' intimacy with God. According to Quranic teaching, God is always as close to us as our jugular vein, and His compassion and blessings are especially prevalent throughout the month of Ramadan.

So, the onset of Ramadan is a joyful celebration; a chance to reflect over the past year and renew our pledge to improve ourselves in the year to come. And realizing, in that final moment of hunger and weakness before breaking fast at sunset, that all sustenance belongs to God and it is by His Grace alone that we are able to eat our sunset meal at all.

This year, however, the mood around my Ramadan table is somber. As we break our fast, the thought of suffering in Pakistan (a crisis much bigger than the Tsunami) is not far from our minds. At present one-fifth of the country is submerged under water, the lives of over 14 million people have been affected because entire villages have been wiped out leaving over 250, 000 homeless, an estimated $1 billion worth of crops have been destroyed... To further compound the situation, water-borne disease has broken out. It's all the more painful that this should happen in Ramadan - the holiest month of the year.

It's no wonder I don't have much of an appetite, despite a 14.5 hour fast. Ramadan is a time of charity, but here I am - unable to do anything. To really do anything to help anyone. The realization that I have so much for be thankful for is a hollow one when faced with the other realization that while my family and I enjoy a cozy meal each evening, there are millions who have no access to clean water or nutritious food and that they long for a place called home. .*(please read post note)

Praise be to God who blessed us with food to eat, water to drink, homes to live in and our families surrounding us. . may He have mercy on all the suffering souls and may He accept our fasting, all our prayers and good intentions this blessed month. Ramadan Kareem, everyone.

And now I bring you Channa Daal Curry: a simple, satisfying, every-day curry. I made it today with zucchini although it's traditionally made with either pumpkin or bottle gourd.

Channa Daal and Zucchini Curry

1 cup channa daal, washed and pre-soaked for 1-2 hours
2 cups water
1 cup zucchini, diced (about 3-4 small)
1 large onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced into small cubes
2 tsp minced ginger
2-3 green whole chillies, stalks removed (I used birds-eye because I like the extra heat)
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
1 heaped teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (I actually used only 1/4 because I was using birds eye green chillies)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder2 tbsp fresh, chopped coriander
2-3 tbsp cooking oil

Heat cooking oil in a pan and add sliced onions. Fry around 15 minutes on medium heat, or until golden-brown.

Add all the dry spices, along with a small splash of water (so that the spices don't burn) and stir fry for a minute or so. Add the diced tomato as well as the whole green chillies and cook until the tomatoes are mushy and the oil separates (around 5 minutes).

Now add the zucchini, stirring it well to make sure it is coated with the tomato mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add in the daal, water and salt. Mix well, cover and let cook on medium-low heat for approx. 20 minutes. Test to make sure that the daal is fully cooked before removing from heat.

Stir in the lemon or lime juice as well as the chopped coriander and serve right away. For me, this daal is delicious all on its' own & I eat it with a spoon. But it is served with either Roti (flat bread) or rice.

(Post-note: after publishing this post, I came across a link to a blog listing one of many non-governmental organizations that are helping the relief effort in Pakistan. If you would like to lend a hand, visit the blog here and this organization here, here or here . And here's another very comprehensive list of ways you can help)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-11T15:03:00.000+01:00

How To Eat a Mango - Part 2

2010-08-09T15:52:00.000+01:00

There is no civilized way to enjoy a mango. The sweet, juicy flesh and inedible skin make it a difficult fruit to eat without making a huge mess. And some would argue that getting all sophisticated about consuming mangoes takes away the fun of eating them altogether. And I agree.

But this post isn't really about how to slice and eat mangoes. It's about a cherished memory from an otherwise mostly forgotten part of my life: while I was growing up, it was an unspoken tradition that I would spend some time during the summer each year with my best friend and her family. One morning, during one of my visits at their home, Uncle A. (my best friends' father) asked me if I'd like to have Mangoes, Parathas (flat bread) and Lassi (yogurt drink) for breakfast. I couldn't wrap my mind around the combination of breakfast items - in fact, it was plain bizarre to me. But I was too curious to turn it down.

So we all sat around the breakfast table while Uncle A. showed me how to eat mango with parathas: take a bite of mango, followed by a bite from the paratha... Or scoop some mango flesh into a piece of paratha. Wash it down with a sip of sweet, frothy Lassi. It was strangely delightful. Eating mangoes all by themselves is delicious enough, making a meal out of them was an indulgent treat; the memory of which is heart-warming.

And so, this morning, I treated myself to a healthy dose of mangoes and remembrance of times past. I'm only sorry I didn't have my best friends, R & H to share it with this time around.

Sweet Lassi

1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup ice cubes
3 teaspoons sugar
a pinch of salt

Blend all the ingredients on high speed until the ice is crushed and the mixture is frothy. Pour into glasses and drink right away.

Mango-Almond Kulfi

2010-08-05T23:22:00.000+01:00

I know what you're thinking, 'Mangoes again?'

I realize I sound mildly obsessed, working mangoes into every recipe possible. But it's August now, almost the end of mango season. And I'm reluctant to let go.

Since it's too warm to bake, I decided instead to experiment with making Kulfi. Traditionally Kulfi is made by cooking milk till it is reduced, but this 'cheats version' is ridiculously simple and very close to the real thing. Since the possibilities for playing around are endless, I worked crushed almonds and mangoes into this version. The result: fantastic, of course.

Give it a whirl!

Mango-Almond Kulfi

Add the following to a blender:

1 can (14-oz) evaporated milk
1 can (14-oz) sweetened condensed milk
enough whipping cream/half-and-half to make 1 liter
1 slice of bread, crusts removed
1/4 - 1/2 cup sweet mango
a handful of chopped almonds
1 heaped tsp cardamom, powdered (or seeds from 8 - 10 cardamom pods, crushed)

Whiz everything together until blended. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

I sprayed my molds very slightly with cooking spray and dusted with ground almonds (used my coffee grinder for this) before pouring the Kulfi mixture in.

If you'd like to make a plain version, omit the mango and/or almonds. Personally I like it best the traditional way: with just chopped pistachios and cardamom.

Baking With Dorie: Mango Crumb Cake

2010-08-02T11:50:00.000+01:00

I'm back. The hiatus is over. And I've discovered yet another delicious way to incorporate mangoes into a BWD challenge. This week Tina of My Domestic Bliss chose the Blueberry Crumb Cake and I had no choice but to play around with the recipe.

I have to admit that I didn't plan this one. It happened quite simply because I'm back home after days, had no time for grocery shopping and mangoes and pecans were what I had on hand. I love mangoes. I love streusel toppings. And I love pecans. It couldn't go wrong.

And I was right. This cake is light and super-moist; the buttery, sugary, streusel adds a nice crunch. The flavors from the mango in the cake and the cinnamon in the crust came together to form a complex flavor instead of overpowering each other. For me - the streusel is the super star in this recipe. There is nothing I didn't love about this bake!

Thank you for choosing this recipe, Tina! You can find the recipe on Tina's blog, My Domestic Bliss, or on Pages 192-3 of Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Please check out the blogroll here to check out the other BWD bakers. Our next challenge will be posted on August 16, and it is the Brown Sugar Bundt Cake, chosen by Chaya of Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog. If you'd like to join us, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

Baking With Dorie: Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie

2010-07-19T03:10:00.005+01:00

I'm speechless. Really. 'Sublime' doesn't quite cut it.

This cheek-puckering, silky lime cream with its' hint of ginger surpasses the velvety deliciousness of the lemon cream we made for the Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart.

One of my favorite things about baking is the element of surprise - nothing really matches the fun of trying out a new recipe and then being bowled over by how much you love it. And so I have to admit that the lime cream was a delicious surprise. Combined with Dorie's sweet & flaky pie crust and the cloudy meringue, that does nothing to fight the zingy flavors at play, this pie is awesome. Awe-some. I played around with Dorie's suggestions (but you already knew I would) and added a layer of ginger and lime-infused mango cubes underneath the lime cream, but the flavor from the mango was barely discernible. I didn't mind. Didn't I already explain how the lime cream makes this a sublime pie?

A *huge* thanks to Elizabeth of Gluten-Free Baking 101 for picking the recipe this week. For gluten-free versions of this pie, please head over to Gluten-Free Baking 101. And please take a look at the BWD blogroll to check out everyone else's scrumptious pies.

Our challenge for 2nd August is the Blueberry Crumb Cake and has been picked by Tina of My Domestic Bliss. If you'd like to join us, please email me at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!

You can find the recipe for the Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie on pages 337-339 of Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or right here after the jump:

Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie

from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan, Pages 337-9

For the Filling:

I cup sugar

Grated zest of 3 limes

4 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

3/4 cup lime juice

1" chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 tsp cornstarch

2.5 sticks unsalted butter cut into tablespoon-sized pieces, at room temperature

Getting ready: Have an instant-read thermometer , a strainer and a blender or food processor at hand.

Bring a few inches of water to simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest into a heat-proof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the zest and sugar together between your fingertips for a few minutes, until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lime is strong.

Whisk in the eggs, and then whisk in the ginger, juice and cornstarch.

Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with a whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lime cream till it reaches 180F. As you whisk, you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling - you will see that the eggs will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will become bigger, and then as it comes closer to 180F it will start to thicken and leave tracks. Heads up at this point - the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don't stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience - depending on how much heat you are giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as ten minutes.

As soon as it reaches 180F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into a container or blender. Discard the zest (I skipped this step because I had used a microplane zester & wanted to leave the zest in). Let cool until it reaches 140F, about 10 mins.

Turn the blender/processor on high speed and add the butter, 1 tbsp at a time. Scrape down the sides of the processor as you incorporate the butter. After it is all in, blend/process for 3 mins.

Put the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. (The cream can be packed air-tight and frozen for up to 2 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator).

For the crust: Good for almost everything Pie Dough

1.5 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 sticks (10 tbsp) very cold (frozen is fine) butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces

2.5 tbsp very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening, cut into two pieces

about 1/4 cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a processor fitted with a metal blade; process just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only till they are cut into the flour. Don't over-do the mixing - what you're aiming for is some pieces the size of fat peas, and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add 3 tbsp of water, using a few long pulses to get all the water into the flour. If, after a dozen pulses or so, the dough doesn't look evenly-moistened, pulse in as much of the remaining water necessary to get a dough that will stick together. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a work surface.

Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least one hour before rolling.

To roll out the dough: Have a buttered 9" pie-plate on hand. You can roll teh dough out on a floured surface, or between sheets of wax paper. If you're working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you have time, slide the rolled-out dough into the refrigerator for 20 mins to firm up.

To fully bake the crust:

Fit dough into pie plate, preheat oven to 400F. Butter the shiny side of aluminum foil, fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust and fill with dry beans or pie weights. Bake the crust for 25 mins. Carefully remove the foil and weights. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for another 10 mins. Cool completely before filling.

For the meringue:

4 large egg whites at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

To finish the pie with meringue, preheat broiler.

Whisk the lime cream to loosen it and spoon into the pie shell. Place the pie on a baking sheet.

Working in a clean, dry, mixer bowl whisk the egg whites on medium speed until opaque. With the mixer running, add the sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the whites are glossy and form peaks.

Spread the meringue over the lime cream, swirling it if you like. make sure it comes all the way to the edges of the crust because it will shrink when it bakes (this is important - mine shrunk away from the sides after baking).

Run the pie under the broiler for a few minutes until the meringue is golden and the tips are dark brown (I took mine out a tad bit too early because my oven doesn't have a glass door and I can't see what's happening in there, so was afraid to burn the meringue). Let cool for 15 mins and then refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

Blogging Break

2010-07-12T00:34:00.000+01:00

You know you're in trouble when your 2.5 year old draws a person for the very first time - and it's you, but you're wearing a frown.

So, that's it - I'm taking a break. I have actually been very efficient (even though I've been blogging sporadically) and have quite a few future posts that I drafted & took photos for in advance. I was going to publish them over the course of this month, but I've changed my mind. Apart from the BWD challenge that's coming up next Monday, I will not be doing any posts for the rest of July.

I'll spend this time chilling out with the kiddos, before my son goes back to school in a couple of weeks, and hopefully won't have to hear him whine, 'but I hate it when you're always so busy, Mama!'

See you when the hiatus is over!

Meanwhile, here's an excerpt from something I received in a forward some time back, as well as a very old song that I really love & used to sing to my baby sister as a lullaby many, many moons ago . . :

To my child:

(...)Just for this morning, I am going to step

over the laundry and pick you up and take you to the park to play

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put

that puzzle of yours together

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug

the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you

in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell

once not even a tiny grumble when you scream and

whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one

if he comes by

(...) Just for this afternoon I will let you

help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you

trying to fix them

Just for this afternoon, I will take us

to McDonalds and buy us both a happy meal so you can

have both toys . .

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms

and tell you a story about how you were

born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you

splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you

stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars

Just for this evening, I will snuggle

beside you for hours, and miss my favorite tv shows

Just for this evening I will run my

fingers through your hair as you pray, I will simply be

grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

Versatile Blogger Award

2010-07-09T21:51:00.003+01:00

I was recently presented the Versatile Blogger Award by the lovely Sage Trifle . Thank you so much Sage Trifle! I'm so very flattered!

The guidelines for accepting this award are :

Thank the person who gave it to you

Tell 7 things about yourself

Pass the award on to 15 bloggers whom you have recently discovered, and think are fantastic.

First things first - 7 random things about me:

I love making lists. They make me feel calm & in-control. My day can be pretty chaotic at times so it helps me to sit down, shut out all the noise of daily existence, and focus on making that list!
I don't really like sea-food very much, but I'll try everything at least once.
I think the first ever thing I made in the kitchen, at the age of 10, was a crisps-and-ketchup sandwich: a generous layer of crinkly potato crisps crushed between two slices of bread smeared with tomato ketchup. I don't know what I was thinking.
There is nothing I enjoy better than sitting in a quiet place and reading a book.
I think snowfalls are one of the most magical sights in the world.
If I won a million dollars, I'd buy an apartment in one of the Islands surrounding Istanbul. And one in Paris, of course ;-)
I love people who make me laugh (I wouldn't have married my husband otherwise)

I follow a lot of blogs and I don't always have time to read them all, but I always enjoy posts by the following bloggers when I do eventually manage to make the time to do so. Here's a list of fantastic food blogs I have discovered in the past two months or less, I hope that you'll enjoy them as much as I do: