Date Bars

I've been trying to write a blog post all week. Then stopping, deleting what I wrote or abandoning it altogether. And coming back to it later, only to repeat the entire cycle.

To be perfectly honest with you, I haven't much to say. I've had a lot of worrisome stuff on my mind these past several days. Initially I was going to throw in a funny story about my kids and a pair of Goldfish called 'Sparky' and 'Dolphin'. But I'm just not inspired enough today to tell that story. Maybe later. 

 

For now, here's a recipe for Date Bars that will fill your kitchen with an irresistible, buttery, toffee-like smell. Go on, you know you want to try them out.

Date Bars

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 stick butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup, roughly chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease the bottom only of an 8" x 11" dish.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg. 

Fold in the flour and mix well. Add chopped dates and nuts, if using. 

Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake 30 - 35 minutes. 

Let cool completely before cutting into bars. 

Scooby Snacks - an experiment

Meet my 2-yr old daughter: She's loves "Soogie-Doogie" (Scooby Doo) & is crazy about our next door neighbors' dog, Charlie. 

Charlie deserves a special mention here because he is the stuff all bedtime stories, bribes and disciplinarian actions are made of: "finish your dinner & Charlie will come sit with you on the swing" or "Charlie thinks you look so pretty in that dress, please don't take it off" .. and "Ssh! Keep it down, Charlie's napping and we can't disturb him". 

Other than constantly trying to appease "Charlie-Doggie", much like Scooby & Shaggy, my little girl will do anything when bribed with food - especially the sweet kind. 

I try to keep the tendency in check, but a treat once in a while is okay. This week I wanted to do something fun so I searched online for ideas for a  'Scooby Snack'. All searches pointed to the recipe here.

I couldn't be sure if this recipe was actually for kids or meant for dogs. Walnut extract and ground herbal medicine? In a cookie? For kids? 

I don't think so. 

The base recipe sounded mostly like any other recipe for oatmeal cookies and so I decided to play around with it a little create my own version of a Scooby Snack. 

I have lost my sense of smell and taste (again!) so  had to rely on feedback from my 5-yr old. I followed the original recipe - substituting applesauce for the butter and adding hazelnut concentrated flavoring instead of walnut extract. The recipe didn't ask for any baking powder, but I added half a teaspoon, and added 1/4 cup of semi-sweet mini morsels. 

We made a test-batch of 5 cookies. The end result: So-so. 

My son said he could not taste any chocolate. So we went back, chopped up a bar of dark chocolate and mixed that into the batter. The second test batch received better reviews because of the additional chocolate. But I'm guessing, at best - these cookies are just okay. Not really outstanding in any way.

I will re-visit this recipe when I have more time. I'm sure there must be a way to improve it and don't regret having made it - it was a good way to divert the kids with a fun indoor activity while it rained this morning and they weren't able to go out to play. 

The next time around, I want to make a crispier cookie since that is how I always imagined Scooby's snacks to be. 

For now, here's the recipe (adapted from the original here):

Scooby Snack

2 cups, all purpose flour

1 cup quick cooking oatmeal

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp hazelnut flavoring (concentrated)

approx. 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate mini morsels and a 100 g bar of dark chocolate, chopped )

Beat the applesauce, eggs, sugars and flavorings for a few minutes to blend. 

Add in the dry ingredients and blend well. This batter is very, very thick and you might want to add a tbsp or 2 of milk for ease in blending. I didn't, but I will try that next time. 

I scooped out and rolled 1/2 tbsp-sized balls, flattened a little and baked them for 6 minutes in my Bakery Express cookie mould (which is so good that it deserves a blog post dedicated to its review - I've been meaning to get to it and will soon). 

When baking in a regular oven, preheat to 350 and bake for 12  mins.

Baking With Dorie: Lots-Of-Ways-Banana-Cake

One of the very first kinds of cake that I ever made, years and years ago, was Banana Cake. 

It was out of a book that my best friend and I co-owned. Or she owned it and I borrowed it so often, that I began to think of it as my own. To cut a long story short, I was bitten by the baking bug back then and so, feeling over-confident and using my newly acquired 'skill', I made banana cake to take to school.

Everyone seemed to love it. Except a smart-mouth who said, 'You couldn't have made this. And it surely doesn't contain any real bananas: it's just banana extract'. How mean!

In the years between then and now, I've made banana cakes and banana bread dozens of times. But never without thinking of that smart-ass comment.

And I thought of it today as well, while I assembled the ingredients for this weeks Baking With Dorie challenge. 

I chose this weeks' challenge as well and I am so glad that I picked this recipe. Let me just say I love the dense sweetness of this cake.

I halved the recipe and made a single layer, dusted with icing sugar. 

The moment I smelled this cake baking, I regretted not making the whole recipe and smothering it with chocolate whipped cream as I had originally planned. 

It is wonderful on its own but begs for a scoop of ice cream.

It does seem a bit lonely out there on its own, don't you think? 

This cake is really good. 

Contains real bananas. 


Toasted coconut too ;-)

Lots-Of-Ways-Banana-Cake

(Pages 205 & 206, Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan)

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1.5 sticks butter

1 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup sweetened , shredded coconut. preferably toasted.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter till creamy. Add the sugars and beat for a few minutes. 

Add the eggs and vanilla. The mixture will be silky smooth - add banana and lower speed. 

Mix in the flour and coconut milk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in toasted coconut. 

Pour into two 9" pans and bake for 45 mins. Cool for 5 minutes in pan before inverting on wire rack to cool. 

Dorie suggests lots of ways to serve this cake. I chose the simplest possible & dusted with confectioners sugar. 

The next challenge will be posted on April 26th, and fellow blogger Elizabeth has picked The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart (pages 331 & 332) for the next recipe. 

If you'd like to join the challenge, please drop me an email. 

Broccoli Chicken Cups

To be completely honest with you, I haven't really been able to get my act together since I moved exactly a month ago. 

I had thought of several new things to try out in my kitchen and then blog about, but time just seems to get away from me these days. I'm back in school after a 3-month break and am now trying to work on my non-existent time-management skills. 

Even simple tasks are over-whelming lately & so the thought of having people over really throws me over the edge. Although I love the whole process of entertaining, I find it nerve-wracking. Especially because I belong to the school of thought that "more is less". So I am very capable of adding last-minute things to the Smorgasbord and making DH run to the grocery store at the last minute for some essential ingredient for an unplanned-for addition to my menu. 

And so I am that person standing over the stove, stirring a pot of something or the other while throwing orders at the rest of my petrified family to run around fetching things for me seconds before our guests arrive. 

We had a replay of all of the above this past weekend because it was a people-filled one both days. I had a huge assignment due (for school) right before the weekend started so, much to my disappointment, out of the ten things I had planned to make; I could only manage a few (read 7 - why are you surprised? didn't I say, 'more is less'? ).  

These Broccoli Chicken Cups were one of several appetizers made (but the only ones photographed) and our friends loved them so much that they took along all the leftover ones home with them. I managed to sneak away just two - so I could take a photo of them in the morning! 

The recipe is adapted from Taste of Home. 

Broccoli Chicken Cups

2.5 cups roasted chicken, shredded

1 can (10 3/4 oz) reduced-fat, reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup chopped fresh broccoli

2 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 small carrot, grated

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, minced

1 - 1.5 tsp freshly crushed black pepper

12 frozen low-fat puff pastry squares

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the Parmesan cheese. 

Gently press puff pastry squares into muffin cups coated with cooking spray.

Spoon chicken mixture into pastry cups. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 

Bake 25-30 minutes. Serve warm.

 

Lets Talk Chai

I'm a bit of a Chai snob. 

I normally decline offers of Chai that other people have made by either pretending I'm not a tea-drinker or by exaggerating my caffeine-intolerance. Most of the time I get away with it (Ssh! Don't tell anyone!). 

Chai, for me, has to be a strong brew and not predominantly milky. If I'm making it only for myself, I flavor it with cinnamon or green cardamom (I love Masala Chai for this reason). 

Not everyone gets it right. My husband, who is too polite to decline a offensive to the senses  cup of tea when offered, will always drink up any weak, watery, colorless concoction. But he invariably always asks me to make him a 'real' cup of tea as soon as we get back home. 

 

Here's how I make Chai with tea bags. 
For 1 strong cup of Chai, you need:


2 tea bags
2 tbsp regular or low-fat evaporated milk (don't use regular whole milk or low-fat milk if you want a creamy cup of Chai)
boiling water
sugar to taste
 
Place the two tea bags in a cup. Pour boiling water over them to come up 3/4 of the way up your cup/mug, cover with a saucer or small plate and let steep for exactly 3 minutes. 

Covering is optional, but I feel like it traps in more flavor. 
Uncover, remove tea bags (squeeze well before you do), add sugar and evaporated milk. Stir, serve. 


If you like spiced chai, like I do, throw in your flavoring of choice with the tea bags before adding the boiling water so they can steep together. Use a stick of cinnamon or 2-3 pods of green cardamom, crushed. Remove & discard spices before serving. 

Dark Chocolate Dipped Apples (Magazine Mondays #1)

This is a really good twist on your regular candy apple. 

I made these for my kids several weeks ago, right before we moved. And since it was meant to be a submission for 'Magazine Mondays', I needed to locate the Heart Healthy magazine I got the inspiration for these apples from in the first place.  

No such luck. I packed the magazine away or threw it out? some time before we moved and, as of yet, I've been unable to find it. I finally located the recipe online on the Heart Healthy Living website.



I didn't add the nuts or cranberries because I didn't have any almonds and these were meant for the kids so I was pretty sure they would not at all like the addition of cranberries. I was glad I stuck to plain chocolate because the kids loved these apples and I can see many, many chocolate-and-chopped-almond-covered Gala apples in their future (and mine). 

The original recipe can be found here. 

If you want to go with plain chocolate: 

Wash and dry the apples and insert a wooden Popsicle stick into each after removing the stem. 

Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler. Dip the bottom of the apples in the chocolate, set on wax paper to cool for at least 20 mins in the refrigerator. 

Meanwhile, melt white chocolate in a small pan. Place in a small zipper bag (corner snipped off). Hold the apple upside down with the stick, drizzle  white chocolate over the dark chocolate. Place back on wax paper and let cool in the refrigerator for half an hour, or until the white chocolate sets.

Aloo Paalak: Potato and Spinach Curry

While I was preparing dinner last night, I reminisced fondly how my grandmother would always scold me over the mess I made in the kitchen while I cooked.

According to her, I used too many utensils due to my constant need to measure things precisely and, in doing so, cluttered up her kitchen. I've improved only slightly over the years and so she wouldn't be too impressed if she were to see me now!

She lived with us while I was growing up, and the kitchen was her personal territory. Her repertoire was limited to very basic, every day food but the amount of love and attention she paid to its preparation belied the simplicity of her meals. 

Aloo Paalak is one dish that she makes extremely well. It is a very simple one to prepare but regardless of how many times I've made it; I still can't get it to taste like my grandmothers version. I'm not saying it's not good - it just doesn't taste like hers.

Lately I miss her immensely and don't know when I will be seeing her next so for now, Aloo Paalak mingled with comforting memories will have to do. 

Here's the recipe: 

Aloo Paalak

Spinach, 1 kg

Potatoes 2 medium, peeled and diced

Onions, 3 medium, thinly sliced

Tomatoes, 2 medium

Coriander powder, 1 tbsp

Salt, 1 tsp

Red chili powder, 1/2 tsp

Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves), 1 tbsp

1-2 tbsp cooking oil

2-3 green chillies (stems removed) and approx. 2 tbsp chopped, fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Rinse Spinach well, pat dry and chop. Don't discard the stems - they contain a lot of flavor - chop along with the Spinach leaves.

Fry the sliced onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Add the tomatoes, coriander powder, salt and red chili powder along with a splash of water and stir fry over medium high heat until the tomatoes are pulpy and the oil has separated.

Add chopped spinach, stir fry for a couple of minutes.  Fresh Spinach releases its own water, let it cook in it over medium heat till the water is reduced.  Add approx. 1.5 cup water and simmer for a few minutes till the spinach is tender. Add potatoes, reduce heat, cover and simmer around 15 mins or until the potatoes are cooked (shouldn't be mushy or falling apart). 

Increase heat and stir fry a couple of minutes to dry  any excessive  water. 

Sprinkle the Kasuri Methi and mix well. Throw in the coriander leaves and green chillies, cover and turn off the heat.

Allow the aromas from the coriander leaves and chillies to infuse for a few minutes, serve.

Baking With Dorie: Gingered Carrot Cookies

My love for ginger is second only to my love for garlic. 

Which is why I picked Gingered Carrot Cookies for this weeks Baking With Dorie (BWD) Challenge. Dorie describes these cookies as "a delicious case of trying to make one thing and ending up with another." And that is exactly what they are: more cake-like than cookies; with a wonderfully chewy and soft texture. 

The recipe is really easy to put together. Susi warned me that unless I own a KitchenAid, my arm would get a real work out mixing the very thick dough this recipe yields, but I had no trouble at all: I used my hand mixer to blend the butter, sugars and egg with the dry ingredients and mixed in everything else with a spatula. The dough really is very thick, but was very soft and not at all dry which I had expected it to be.

My only complaint is: I was disappointed that the flavor of ground ginger didn't come through much stronger. After I tasted the first batch I had baked, I wanted to go back and add chopped candied ginger to the dough, but was actually too tired to do so. I made the cookie dough late last night & had already pre-scooped tablespoonfuls (dropped on a parchment-lined tray and then covered) for hassle-free baking early in the morning. It just seemed like too much work to go back and experiment with or 'correct' the dough. So I let it go this once but intend to try it with the candied ginger next time.

How I digress! On to the recipe: 

Gingered Carrot Cookies

From Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan (Page 162)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1.5 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)

1/2 coarsely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.


Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes, then add the eggg and beat for another minute. 

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in the vanilla. Continuing on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches. Beat only till they disappear into the mix. Don't overbeat to incorporate flour - you will end up with a very thick dough. Mix in the carrots, coconut, raisins and pecans.


Spoon the dough onto baking sheets in heaped tablespoonfuls, leaving an inch of space between them. 


Bake 16-18 minutes. The cookies will be light brown and just firm on top. Cool on wire rack. 


Makes approx. 30 (I got 40 because I didn't make very heaped tablespoonfuls).

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[The next BWD challenge is Lots-of-ways-Banana-Cake, Page 204 & 205. If anyone is interested in joining us for the next challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com]

Salted Mandarins

One of my memories of winters back home, while I was growing up, involves sitting in the sun and eating sections of mandarins dipped in salt.

Each time I come across mandarins I am tempted to eat them that way. The flavorful combination of sweet and salty is a real treat for the palate. 

I would have never thought of dipping them in brine and now believe I will no longer eat them any other way.

This recipe is adapted from a beautiful little cookbook I own called Salt & Pepper. Try it out next time as a simple end to a meal, or all on its own as a snack. 

Salted Mandarins

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon fleur de sel

2 mandarins, peeled and sectioned with pith removed

Stir the water and fleur de sel together in a bowl until the salt dissolves. Place the  mandarin sections in the bowl and toss well to coat. 

Lay the sections on a wire rack to air-dry for 5-6 hours or until their skins are tight. 

Serve.

Lokoum a.k.a Turkish Delight

I read 'The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe' when I was 9. 

Needless to say I fell in love with Magical Narnia with its talking animals and mythical creatures. 

The Witch tempted one of the characters, Edmund, with Turkish Delight and was eventually able to bring him over to her side once he succumbed to the addictive confection. 

"It is dull, Son of Adam, to drink without eating" said the Queen presently. "What would you like best to eat?"

"Turkish Delight, please, your Majesty," said Edmund. 

The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle onto the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened, turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight. Each piece was sweet and light to the very center and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious. He was quite warm now, and very comfortable.
 

I still remember how strong my mental image of Turkish Delight was; I imagined it to be fantastical: sweet, cloudy, melting in the mouth. . . it wasn't until almost two decades later that I finally got to try Lokoum for myself, on a trip to Istanbul. 

It is everything it promises to be; although it might just have been a little  bit more amazing in my 9-yr old imagination! I love it in all its varieties (of which there are several), the one with Pistachios being my favorite. 

I would have never thought of making it myself. But I came across a blog called Home Baked while randomly browsing one day and read about Hannah's Home Baked Challenge for March which was 'food inspired from fictional books'. Right away I thought of the Narnia Chronicles and Turkish Delight. And so I wanted in!

I was all set to make the Turkish Delight on Sunday - well in advance, according to myself, since I mistakenly thought the deadline for posting the challenge was March 25th. A casual look at Hannah's blog made me realize my mistake: it was due before midnight on March 21st. What made it worse was that I had forgotten my camera at a friend's place over the weekend and wouldn't be able to get it back for another day. So, even if I made the Turkish Delight, I wouldn't be able to take photos. 

So I decided to relax about the whole thing - try the recipe when I got the camera back and just blog about it later. 

And so here, I am. A day late. On to the recipe: