June 4, 2013

No Bake | Cherry Frozen Yogurt … summer is for stone fruit #lovestonefruit

“I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice-cream.”
Heywood Broun

Cherry Fro Yo … you could fall in love with the colour alone. My heart skipped a beat when I started whirring the thermomix. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Deep, red, bursting with flavour. It was love at first sight! At first bite too!!

Tis the season for frozen desserts. Mangoes have been around for a bit but they aren’t at their juiciest tastiest best yet. Next came plums, and hot on their heels cherries. Cherries are what win my heart over year after year.

I think they are the best fruit of all; immense possibilities. I’ve had a good run this season already. Other than popping loads into my mouth, I’ve done a crisp and loads of balsamic cherries. They’re a great way to top a dessert, a cheesecake or even a sundae. I topped a dark chocolate mousse with some. Heaven!!

I had about 1/3rd box leftover the other day. A fro yo was dancing in my head after I spoke to the sweet Cookaroo. She was having a field day down south making chikoo ice cream and mango sorbet to beat the heat. I had to make something frozen soon!

There was yogurt hanging in the fridge for a potato salad. That was enough to get me on the frozen yogurt trip. I’ve made a Fresh Cherry Fro Yo 2 years ago, a recipe that cooked the cherries down etc. I decided to go the raw way this time. Something newer, something fresher!

How much can you go wrong with fresh luscious juicy cherries, yogurt and sugar? Throw some kirsch in and you’ll be licking the bowl clean. Just what happened to me. This recipe is headed off to a monthly challenge called ’Our Growing Edge‘ hosted at Bunny Eats Design, a beautiful blog penned by Genie.

Our Growing Edge is the part of us that is still learning and experimenting. It’s the part that you regularly grow and improve, be it from real passion or a conscious effort.

This monthly event aims to connect and inspire us to try new things and to compile a monthly snapshot of what food bloggers are getting up to.

Genie is a graphic designer obsessed with food and bunnies and lives in New Zealand. Her initiative above aims to connect and inspire us to try new things and to compile a monthly snapshot of what food bloggers are getting up to. This is one food experience I just had to share!

‘Heartachingly’, 300g of cherries made just a small quantity of frozen yogurt. It’s ironical that when you make a small teeny amount of anything, it comes out amazingly good! This must have been the best fro yo I’ve made. Best on all counts – colour, taste, depth of flavour, burst of fruit. YUM!!

I can see loads of this beautiful fro yo through summer. Maybe a cherry buttermilk sorbet too. Also loads of red splashes all over the kitchen, tiles and all, while pitting these juicy berries. Beware of the red drips, murderous red! Years of pitting have ensured I wear an apron. The black apron tells no tales! The tiles can be scrubbed clean!

You can make fro yo pops too. I’ve done a plum version of fro yo in an ‘eggless desserts’ feature I did for BBC Good Food this month. It’s the Plum Fro Yo {picture above} and is quite as delectable as the cherry fro yo. The collage below has the different desserts I created and shot for them. The magazine is on the shelves now. A digital version is available here.

Eggless Desserts for BBC Good Food

Recipe: Fresh Cherry Frozen Yogurt

Summary:Refreshing and addictive, this is a great summer dessert or ‘coolant’! Low on calories and high on taste, this cherry frozen yogurt will leave you asking for more … and more!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:

300g hung yogurt {drained overnight}
300gms fresh cherries {pitted}
25g brown sugar
100g vanilla sugar {or more as required}
15ml kirsch

Method:

Thermomix
Pit the cherries and toss in brown sugar. Freeze until hard, about 2 hours.
Freeze the yogurt as well, chopping up after about an hour.
Place all ingredients in bowl of TM, and process at Speed 7 going up to speed 10 for a minute.
Open scrape down sides, and repeat until you get a smooth blend.
Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
Serve immediately else place in a freezer safe bowl and freeze.
Ice Cream Maker
Pit the cherries and toss in brown sugar. Freeze until firm and chilled, about an hour or two.
Place all ingredients in bowl of processor and blend until smooth.
Transfer to ice cream maker and set according to manufacturer instructions.

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

May 23, 2013

No Bake | Simplest & Best Dark Chocolate Mousse {2 ingredient}… with balsamic fresh cherries #chocolate

“I invented it — but it was so easy, I’m embarrassed!”
Hervé This

Dark Chocolate Mousse. Sweet comfort. Chocolat! This turned out to be the simplest mousse ever. One with fewest ingredients too. Just two. OK ~~three~~ four since I added some sugar & a dash of Kirsch. This was something I had longed to make but just didn’t get there. The past few days have been a little busy, a little heartache, too much running around and no energy to bake. At 46C, baking feels a little HOT!

I craved chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate. The bookmarked folder threatens to burst with a collection that spans a few years. When I need to immerse myself in food, get away from the real world, I know I can dive into the folder. It’s a great place to get lost in.

So much inspiration, so much food for thought. Chocolate recipes are aplenty. This particular Heston Blumenthal mousse recipe inspired by Hervé This has always seemed challenging and unreal. Somewhere deep down I didn’t believe that chocolate mousse can be created with just chocolate and water. Nah!! Impossible!!

Monsieur Hervé This, a French physical chemist with a PHD in molecular gastronomy, invented the recipe for Chocolate Chantilly, or this simple chocolate mousse. His main area of scientific research is molecular gastronomy, that is the science of culinary phenomena. Some of his discoveries include the perfect temperature for cooking an egg, and the use of an electrical field to improve the smoking of salmon. He also found that beating an egg white after adding a small amount of cold water considerably increases the amount of foam produced.

This is the simplest chocolate mousse. Since it uses just two ingredients, chocolate and water, use the best quality chocolate you can lay your hands on. The trick is to whip it just until it begins to thicken and hold soft peaks. Over whipping results in a grainy mousse. If it does get grainy, you can heat the mixture and begin whipping again! So forgiving!! {You can see Heston Blumenthal making this mousse here.}

This is the chemistry they didn’t teach us in school! Who would have thought that chemistry would enter by way of molecular gastronomy into our lives to make it so delicious? The dark chocolate mousse is fab on its own. Sensuous, smooth, satisfying, intense … everything good quality dark chocolate promises to be.

It’s very unlike me to leave well enough alone. Cherries are in season. While the mousse was chilling, I simmered some cherries with balsamic and sugar. This is a great way to preserve cherries. Makes for a fabulous dessert topping. Chocolate and cherries are a match made in heaven. Oh and BTW, a balsamic cherry sauce pairs beautifully with meat too.

I use the combination every summer. Some of my favourites are Dark Chocolate Cherry Mousse Cake, Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise with Crème Chantilly & Balsamic Cherry Sauce, Nutella & Cherry Chocolate Tart, Mini Quark Vanilla Cheesecakes with Balsamic Cherry Sauce and another Dark Chocolate Mousse with Balsamic Cherry Sauce.

I thought I’d drizzle some low-fat cream over the mousse and top it with the balsamic cherry sauce. Low fat cream NEVER whips up to stiff peaks, especially during the 46C days of the Indian summer. Murphy’s law kicked in. Within seconds of whipping the low-fat cream, it thickened up like no ones business.

When you least expect it, you can see the mountain move!! For the first time in my culinary life, I needed soft flowing cream… and I got stiff peaks! Strange!! So I rearranged the layers in my head. Topped the mousse with balsamic cherries, piped some cream over it, topped the cream with dark cocoa nibs…

Recipe: Simplest & Best Dark Chocolate Mousse

Summary: The dark chocolate mousse is fab on its own. Sensuous, smooth, satisfying, intense … everything that good quality dark chocolate promises to be. Top it with balsamic fresh cherries and take it to even more delicious levels. Mousse recipe minimally adapted from Heston Blumenthal, inspired by Hervé This.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

Dark chocolate mousse
265 grams bittersweet (%70 cocoa solids) chocolate, chopped
225g water
15g Kirsch
2 tbsp sugar, optional
Balsamic Cherry Sauce
400g sweet fresh cherries, pitted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Kirsch
Whipped cream
200ml cream
2 tbsp sugar
few drops almond extract
cocoa nibs

Method:

Dark chocolate mousse
Place a large mixing bowl on top of another slightly smaller one, filled with ice and cold water (the bottom of the large bowl should touch the ice). Set aside.
Put chocolate and water (also sugar and/or liquor if you’re using) in a medium-sized pan and melt the chocolate over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Pour the melted chocolate into the mixing bowl sitting on top of ice and water, and start whisking with a wire whisk (or an electrical hand-held mixer) until thick. Watch the texture as you whip and make sure not to over-whip as it will make the mousse grainy. If the mousse becomes grainy (which is possible at your first try), transfer it back into the pan, reheat until half of it is melted, pour it back to the mixing bowl and whisk again briefly.
Divide into serving cups and chill until set.
Top with balsamic cherry sauce. Pipe whipped cream over. Sprinkle over dark cocoa nibs if desired.
Balsamic Cherry Sauce
Place the cherries with a splash of water in a non reactive sauce pan. Simmer for 4-5 minutes until the cherries begin to get soft. Add the remaining ingredients other that the Kirsch.
Stir for 2-3 minutes over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Strain the cherries out and reserve in a bowl. Return the syrup back to the pan and reduce until thick.
Take off heat, stir in the Kirsch and pour back over cherries. Cool and then chill.
Whipped cream
Place cream, sugar and almond extract in a large bowl. Whip until firm peaks. Place in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
Note: You can make this mousse without the liqueur. Just substitute the amount of liqueur with water, i.e. use 240ml water.

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

May 16, 2013

Baking | Easy Same Day Focaccia … with some wholewheat too #comfortfood

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
James Beard

Whole wheat foccacia Focaccia … bread that comforts. Just simple bread is good enough sometimes. I am constantly torn between my two crusty favourites, the fougasse and the focaccia, both flatbreads that are hearty, chewy, flavourful and earthy. Breads that bring alive words by Robert Browning “If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” Ottolenghis foccacia is one of my all time faves.

I needed to bake something soothing, something therapeutic. I lost a very dear maternal uncle over the weekend. He was the glue that held my mothers side of the family together. Intelligent, largehearted, a disciplinarian, always there, often intimidating, brutally honest, sometimes scathing, but a place we happily headed to year after year to spend two months of the summer vacations. It was routine, and we loved it as kids.

He passed away in Lucknow, the city of the Nawabs, over the weekend. That left a deep void, and restlessness. I knew I had to bake bread. I find comfort in food. It gives me an escape. Bread especially. Getting the dough going, seeing it rise, punching it down and then popping it into a hot oven. Always comforting and therapeutic.

Whole wheat foccacia

Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. Focaccia is popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables.

I remember making a similar focaccia when the tsunami struck Japan. Roasted Garlic Focaccia for the ‘Fukushima 50‘. Those days were devastating even though we were miles away from Japan. The images that rolled over and over again made life look so vulnerable. I had a helpless feeling then and yes, I baked bread.

I added a little whole wheat to the dough this time. The recipe yields two loaves, or two round breads. I baked one for lunch and left the other to slow rise in the fridge. Baked it the next day. Worked fine. I like to flavour the dough. Garlic and herbs are normally part of my dough as I love the depth they lend.

Depending on time on hand, roasted garlic is my first choice. If not, then I throw in some garlic cloves and the Thermomix blends them in with the flour. You can add minced garlic instead. If you love garlic like we do I mean! Else just skip it!!

The rest is pretty much your palette to play with. Once dimpled and looking pretty, give it a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Then dress it up! You can either sprinkle on some fresh herbs and sea salt, or like me, load the bread a wee bit more. I like to add sliced red onions, olives, jalapenos, pickled peppers, cherry tomatoes, even nuts.

I have two Victoria sandwich tins which are perfect for my bread. It’s a nice accommodative dough and the end result is always rewarding. A focaccia sandwich is the perfect answer for any left over bread. Stuff it with balsamic roasted veggies, a relish, cheese, slices of salami. I sometimes grill it too.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Foccacia

Summary: One of my favourite breads that doesn’t need much advance planning, and never fails to please. This focaccia is part plain flour and part whole wheat.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes plus rising time Ingredients:

360g plain flour
130g whole wheat flour {aata}
30g vital gluten
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 teaspoon yeast
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½tsp teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp sugar
460 ml lukewarm water
45 ml extra virgin olive oil
Topping
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced fine
cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, olives
Fresh oregano leaves

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C. In a large bowl mix with your hands flour, sugar and yeast.
Pour in the water. Add salt, roasted ,if using, and knead in the bowl for 5 minutes. Eventually add more water.
{Thermomix: Place flour, sugar and yeast in TM bowl. Run at speed 10 for 6-7 seconds. Add remaining ingredients, including the olive oil, other than the toppings and run on interval speed for 2 minutes {Don’t leave the machine unattended in interval mode}. Proceed …
Allow to rise covered with plastic wrap for about 1 hour or until it doubles.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Grease a shallow oven dish with plenty of olive oil. Pour the dough into this without kneading any further. {I used 2 round 8″ Victoria sandwich tins}
Generously pour extra virgin olive oil onto the focaccia and press with your fingers to create multiple wells. Add toppings.
The focaccia does not need rising at this stage {but it does not harm it. It will just make it thicker}.
Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes until risen and light golden brown.
Pour over some more extra virgin olive oil if you like.
Eat warm or at room temperature.