June 20, 2012

Frozen Dessert | Apricot Peach Sorbet … when life offers you more stone fruit!

“No matter how full I am, I’m always ready to dig into a bowl of icy cool sorbet after dinner.”
David Lebovitz, the Perfect Scoop

Inspiration rules. Sylvie is one of the most talented food bloggers, stylists and photographers I have virtually met, and her blog Gourmande in the Kitchen never ceases to amaze. Those apricots ~~called~~ shouted my name out loud. It must have been more than a coincidence that I carried some rather fetching yet not so sweet apricots home, because I had my answer… Apricot Peach Sorbet.The paintwork has been completed and I if I expected all the stuff to grow feet and saunter back into place, I was dreaming. Torn between apricots, the cocker spaniel, ladders and getting the house into order was a strange dilemma; I had a finger in every pie, but first it had to be the apricots as Sylvies post had me haunted.Ambitious me! I only got as far as the fruit being pitted and cooked. Don’t you just love these beautiful babies? They give up the pits so cleanly and willingly, that I look at peaches rather sternly! Wouldn’t it help if they did it with such ease too? No wine on hand, so the simmering happened in sugar + water with a vanilla bean thrown in.Just a matter of minutes and we had gorgeous apricots in syrup. Cooled and chilled they tasted sublime, but lack of time saw them in the fridge for 2 more days. WORK WORK WORK! The dog had to be bathed as she was ‘smothered‘ in paint, her feet, her ears all ‘painted‘ in dust as she was constantly in and out of everything. She is NAUGHTY at one year but absolutely charming … and now scrubbed clean!The teens just don’t seem to lift a finger these days. Between Castle, Desperate Housewives, Junior MasterChef Australia, MasterChef Australia, more TV, sleeping, eating, going out, all in no particular order, they do NOTHING! Well almost nothing … other than whizzing smoothies and stir fries in the kitchen {read dirty D I S H E S}; also wanting to make Shannon Bennett’s involved Peach Melba…sigh! … which meant that instead of making the mascarpone I intended to serve the fruit over, I was relegated to more clearing and cleaning. The fruit eventually landed up in the freezer, syrup and all, followed rather hastily with some peaches that I had bought too. Some good would come out of it I thought …… and it did! Nothing better to beat the incessant summer heat with a fruity, delightful cold sorbet. I loved the colours, the tangy sweetness that flooded the mouth, the beautiful texture … the ever so slight hint of bitter almond. Beautiful!

#lovestonefruit

Sorbets are quite similar to granitas, both are dairy free and egg free {unlike ice creams which have custard base}. They are both made from blended fruit, fruit juice or maybe a simple sugar syrup. The difference lies in the way the two are made. Sorbets are made by ice cream machines and churned to give a soft, airy, ice cream like smooth texture, whereas granitas are hand made. Granitas are grainier in texture, coarser, full of ice crystals … and both are a wonderful end to a meal.

Recipe: Apricot Peach Sorbet

Summary: Tart, sweet, refreshing, healthy and easy, this apricot peach sorbet is a wonderful end to a meal. Just right for summer! Inspired by Gourmande in the Kitchen

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes {plus cooling/chilling time}
Ingredients:

Apricots in syrup
12 apricots, halved, stoned
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 vanilla bean
Juice of 1 lime
600g peaches, halved, stoned, frozen
50g sugar

Method:

Apricots in syrup
Simmer honey, sugar, water and vanilla bean in a non reactive pan until the sugar has melted. Slide the apricots in and simmer gently for 4-5 minutes, until they are just tender.
Take off heat, add a squeeze of lime, cool and then chill. Discard vanilla bean and freeze with liquid for Thermomix recipe.
Making the sorbet {TM recipe}
Place apricots frozen with syrup {cut up into chunks}, frozen peaches and sugar in bowl of TM, and process on speed 8 going up to 10 for 1-2 minutes, until smooth. Taste and adjust sugar if required.
Pipe into serving glasses and serve immediately, or freeze.
Note: If using ice cream machine, puree the cooled apricots in syrup with the peaches and sugar, and proceed according the manufacturer instructions.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

April 5, 2012

Frozen Desserts| Strawberry Fro Yo ♥ Spring is here ♥ … summer too!

“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.”
Rainer Maria Rilke

Spring is was until here three days ago, and then something happened. Before we could really immerse ourselves into it, we had a summer attack – almost 40C in North India already. That means power cuts, DUST, HEAT and whining kids! Strawberry Frozen Yogurt cheered us up!I’ve been missing {as Mr PAB reminded me this morning} and it’s those dreaded holidays once again! Yes, the ‘not so terrible anymore‘ teen is done with her exams and is home {and hungry yet screaming diet}, and the ‘now threatening to be quite terrible‘ pre teen is on Spring break. Always hungry! “Et tu, Brute?”It’s a struggle to keep the rumbling tummies happy! The lad’s up at 5.30am and sets off cycling with his friends. Comes back in a couple of hours; HUNGRY! The teen emerges out of bed much later; hungry too! She whips up some mean pancakes these days in a matter of minutes, then sits back to indulge. He doesn’t enjoy pancakes but enjoys writing poetry. Was quite obliging this morning and wrote a ‘Spring‘ poem for me in a jiffy, and then gobbled up a couple of Double Chocolate Orange & Oat Energy Bars!In the midst of this, the pooch is now facing her first real hot Indian summer and flops down every now and then. HOT! Hungry too but then again, dogs are always hungry and she is no exception. I have offered Coco the entire range of dog food and she hates it! I now cook her meals as well … and much to my joy, she loves it!She is a real sweetheart and almost as charming as the lad, if not more. She now almost ‘sings for her supper‘ and licks her bowl clean in a matter of seconds {She gets veggies including eggplant, zucchini, beets, potato, carrots, spinach, cracked wheat, dal and eggs all cooked together}, and amazingly she loves it!She’s cute as cute can be. Always ready for a game of catch. Forever N A U G H T Y, and happy to pose for the camera too!Back to the fro yo! Summers here. It’s big time to cut back on calories and revert to low fat food. Fresh exciting zingy flavours are fun. Citrusy marinades, grilled chicken, light salads, fresh fruit, quesadillas, wraps, pasta salads all come to mind. For dessert, fruity frozen yogurts, sorbets, granitas and low fat ice creams really rock! And stuff like buttermilk panna cotta too!This Strawberry Frozen Yogurt was fun and I love the colours. Nothing to it. Just a good balance of flavours and fresh ingredients. I used homemade yogurt hung for 2 days in the fridge to get rid of excess whey and then whizzed in the Thermomix to produce the most sensational fro yo. You can use the same proportions in your ice cream maker. I use frozen strawberries mainly because I am inclined to buy too many boxes and hardly find the time to use the perishable fruit immediately. Besides, the Thermomix is most magical when it comes to ice creams and frozen desserts. Its like having an instant ice cream maker on hand as it blitzes the frozen berries into smooth sorbet, frozen yogurt or ice cream in minutes.

Recipe: Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Summary: Refreshing strawberry frozen yogurt which is great for the season. It’s low on calories and great on flavour. Looks very pretty too.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes {plus chilling time}
Ingredients:

450gm strawberries {frozen}
250gm hung yogurt {hung for 2-3 days in the fridge}
170gm vanilla sugar {adjust if required}
1 tbsp kirsch {optional}

Method:

Place all ingredients in the bowl of your Thermomix and process on Speed 10 for 1 minute at a time, stirring with the TM spatula as required. Repeat 3-4 times until well blended. Adjust sugar if required and blend for another 30 seconds.
Transfer to a freezer safe container. Serve immediately or freeze until required.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

December 8, 2011

Holiday Baking| Savoury Cheese & Garlic Olive Oil Pull-Apart Bread {vegetarian}

“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.”
Thomas Keller

It’s the season to be jolly, and in many ways jolly hungry! Fresh off the success of the sweet apple olive oil popovers and pull apart bread, I was keen to do a savoury version. The dough which came together beautifully for the Apple Cranberry Almond Olive Oil Pop-overs and Pull-Apart Bread delivered its promise in this wonderful Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Olive Oil Pull-Apart Bread.

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Eggless, butterless yet light and scrumptious had won me over. The Pioneer Womans Cinnamon Roll Dough which I got from an adaptation from Ginny @ Cooking With Chopin, Living With Elmo for The Secret Recipe Club this month seems to have been one of the best discoveries of the year. It took to the apple stuffing so well, I decided to try my luck with savoury. I sneaked in some butter this time though!I might bake and blog a load of sweet on PAB, but my heart is totally savoury. Nothings delights my palette more than savoury bakes, the success of which are always very rewarding. I enjoyed making this bread, adding some red and green chili peppers that I had preserved in vinegar a few days ago. Tangy, chili, salty … loads of flavour in them. I think preserved olives or maybe roasted bell peppers would compliment this bread too. Served my bread with some fresh homemade tomato soup, chargrilled broccoli with chili & garlic and chicken paillards in compound lime cumin butter. Wonderful! I find that working flavours into a basic dough prior to the rising makes the bread burst with flavour, and just the way the family loves it. I reached out for ingredients I found on my counter, in my pantry, in my fridge… flecks of red and green for the holiday season keeping me inspired!Into the dough went dried herbs {fresh would be wonderful too}, garlic {we are a family that loves our garlic}, finely chopped almonds {just because I think nuts add great texture and taste to savoury breads; walnuts would be great too}. As a departure from the earlier recipe, I kneaded the dough for a minute or two before the final rise as it worked some elasticity into the dough, making it more pliable. {I made the dough in my Thermomix. You could use dough hooks or your processor as the dough is quite soft/doughy/sticky}In other completely unrelated news, my Thai chili plant from Down Under is finally in bloom and I cant wait to ‘harvest’ the first crop. The chilies look purplish at the moment, though I thought they were going to be red! Hmmm…Oh and our little Coco turned all of 6 months old, naughty as can be. She got thoroughly spoilt and completely untrained in the 4 days I was away … uber naughty again but C.U.T.E.!! Sigh!

Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

Prep Time: 3 hours

Bake Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Yield: 2 loaves

Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

A full of flavour, light savoury pull apart bread. Olive oil, red & green preserved chili peppers, garlic and sharp cheddar make this a wonderful light choice for the festive season. {Eggless/vegetarian}

Ingredients

Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

1 portion dough {recipe follows}

200gm sharp cheddar {or mozzarella}

Preserved chili peppers {or olives, roasted bell peppers etc}

50-75gm unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Dough {from The Pioneer Womans cinnamon rolls; can be made a day ahead}

2 cups whole milk, warm

1/2 cup light olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 heaping spoon salt

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tbsp dried Italian herbs {or fresh}

1tsp red chili flakes

1 package active dry yeast

4 cups {plus 1/2 cup extra, separated} all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon {heaping} baking powder

1/2 teaspoon {scant} baking soda

1/2 to 3/4 cup roasted almonds, chopped fine

Instructions

Dough

Mix the milk, olive/vegetable oil and sugar in a pan (LARGE POT).
Sprinkle in the Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute {5-10minutes}.
Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Knead the dough for a minute or two before the final rise as it seems to work some elasticity into the dough, making it more pliable. {I made the dough in my Thermomix. You could use dough hooks or your processor as the dough is quite soft/doughy/sticky}
{At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down}

Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

Grease the sides of an 8" Victoria sandwich tin, and line the base.
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 1/4" thick, and pour over half the melted butter, spreading evenly with an offset spatula.
Grate cheddar all over, and sprinkle over with chopped pickled chili peppers.
Roll the larger end like a swiss roll. With a sharp knife {or floss} cut into12 portions, and place cut side up in the prepared tin all around the edges. There will be gaps in the dough, don't worry. All the gaps get filled in as the bread rises before and during baking. {You could also use a muffin tray. I lined the bottoms with circles of parchment and greased the sides.}
Place a dessert ring/mould in the centre so that the dough doesn't spread inward. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until double, about an hour.
Bake at 180°C 40-45 minutes. Cover with foil last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. Brush with the remaining melted butter as soon as it comes out.
Leave in pan for 15-20 minutes, then loosen the sides with a butter knife and turn out.
Serve warm or at room temperature. {The bread tastes good the next day too, sliced and reheated on a non stick pan with a few drops of EVOO}

Notes

I made half the above portion.

http://www.passionateaboutbaking.com/2011/12/baking-savoury-cheese-garlic-olive-oil-pull-apart-bread-egglessvegetarian-holiday-baking.html