birthday dessert ideas: 2013

Homemade Taco Sauce

Have you noticed we like Mexican inspired foods? I know, every other recipe here is Tex Mex or something similar. It's what we eat, so it's what I share. My daughter loves taco sauce. I'm more of a salsa gal. But Danielle loves taco sauce. We always seemed to be buying it. Then we caught on to how easy it is to make it!

She's the one who makes it now. Sometimes we cheat and just use some homemade Taco Seasoning. Danielle likes it pretty mild but you can change up the spices and make it as spicy as you like.

Homemade Taco Sauce

15 oz. can of tomato sauce
1/3 cup water, more for desired consistency
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
2 tbsp. onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. chili flakes (less if you don't want it spicy)

Mix all together and blend in a blender or food processor. Add water until it is at desired consistency. Cook in saucepan to heat up the flavors. Taste and season as desired.

****Chicken Fiesta Salad

This was probably one of my most favorite salads. It's not just any ordinary salad. It's like a flavor explosion in one salad bowl. Trust me on this one, it's amazing!

It even makes an awesome snack just as a dip with chips! Seriously tasty eats!

Chicken Fiesta Salad Recipe

1 cup Chicken Fiesta Recipe
Organic romaine lettuce or any greens
2 tbsp. Guacamole
2 tbsp. sour cream
2 tbsp. Garlic Aioli
2 tbsp. Taco Sauce

Fill bowl up with tasty greens. Top with remaining ingredients.

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Melting fast!

A couple of Christmases ago, my daughter gave me an electric ice cream maker. On sweltering days like today (41 degrees C) it is a godsend.

For dessert tonight I made a very dark, very rich chocolate ice cream. With ingredients including 70% cocoa dark chocolate, cream and eggs (from our chooks), this ice cream is hardly a dieter's treat. Yet because it is so rich, one is inclined to eat less, so perhaps it is not quite so naughty after all.

This is a traditional ice cream made from an egg custard. You could adapt the recipe to make vanilla ice cream by eliminating the chocolate and adding a crushed vanilla pod to the milk and cream prior to heating.

Please note: this dessert needs to be planned ahead because the chocolate custard must chill fully before being churned in an ice cream maker. I recommend preparing the custard the day before churning, if possible. Also, depending on your ice cream maker, you may also need to freeze the metal bowl ahead of time.

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

1 Cup (250 ml) milk

1 Cup (250 ml) cream

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cocoa, sifted

150 melted dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa chocolate)

Whisk eggs, sugar and sifted cocoa together until well combined.
Combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan and heat to scalding point (very hot to the touch but not quite boiling).
Pour milk mixture into egg mixture a little at a time, whisking constantly.
Return mixture to the saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon. It is important not to let the custard boil as the eggs will curdle.
Gently stir in the melted chocolate.
Pour the finished chocolate custard into a bowl and refrigerate until well-chilled.
Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.
If you don't have an electric ice cream maker, freeze the chocolate custard in a metal cake tin until nearly frozen, then transfer the custard into a bowl and beat with electric beaters until smooth. Freeze again until firm.

Cooking with the Tadka Girls- Pasta in lemon pepper sauce!

Few weeks or maybe a month ago, I read a blog post by a friend in which she had mentioned this book "Around The World With The Tadka Girls [Ruchira Ramanujam, Ranjini Rao]".We spoke about the book to a point where she mentioned it was a good book to have, not only were the recipes good, they were easy to make and the ingredients were all simple ones [most of which we would have around the kitchen]

Two weeks ago,I was at a bookstore, when I called this friend asking about the title of the book. Another friend who was with me exclaimed on seeing the book in my hand. We decided to buy a copy and share the book!

Day before, when I was wondering what to make for dinner, I decided to refer the book. Spotted a Fettucine and prawns recipe, read through it and went ahead to tweak the recipe a bit [since am a vegetarian, i chose to replace prawns with vegetables].. It turned out beautiful, took less than 15mins to cook and I loved the tangy peppery flavours.

The Recipe!

Ingredients-

Farfalle pasta- 1 cup

Onion- 1

Garlic- 3 pods

Thyme/mixed herbs- 1 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Black pepper- 2 tsp

Oil- as much as required

Butter- 1 small cube

Water- enough to boil the pasta in

Vegetables- mushroom, baby corn, carrots and capsicum [green, yellow & red]

Lemon/lime juice- 1.5 tsp

Lemon/lime rind/peel- 1 tsp

Method:

In a pot, add water, salt and oil- add the pasta and allow it to cook. I added the baby corn to this as it takes a while to cook.Strain and keep aside. Dont throw away all the water, keep 1/2 cup aside.

In another pan, add the butter and oil, saute the garlic and onion for a few minutes.

Add the chopped vegetables and saute till they cook

Now, add the salt, black pepper and herbs

Once the vegetables are well done, toss in the cooked pasta and mix well.

Squeeze in the lime juice and add the lime ride/peel[either grate it or chip finely]

Add 2 tbsp of pasta boiled water and turn off heat when all come together.

Serve hot!

****Breakfast Nachos

This pile of supreme awesomeness was my breakfast. Oh yea. I love breakfast burritos. This is the same taste as a burrito but better with a crunch!

Keeping this meat free I used Chipotle Beans on it. This gives it a wonderful smokey flavor that is great with the eggs. I also used our homemade taco sauce. So much better than the bottled stuff! I wish I had my Guacamole or Avocado Aioli in the fridge but I was out. Hubs bought some 100 calorie packs of guac so I just used that. Not as good as mine but it worked!

Breakfast Nachos

Tortilla chips, couple of handfuls
2 eggs
1/3 cup Chipotle Beans
2 tbsp. Taco Sauce
Grated cheese for the top, I used colby jack
Guacamole or Avocado Aioli, optional for the top

17th Birthday Dessert Night

For her 17th birthday my daughter requested a dessert night for herself and around ten of her best friends.

I have rarely enjoyed organising a party so much, largely due to the active involvement and assistance of my beautiful daughter. Em had very clear ideas about the look of the party and the food to be served, and we worked together to bring her ideas to life.

Rather than a one or two-coloured palette Em wanted 'rainbow colours'. After visiting several homewares stores for ideas we discovered the cloth napkins below at Bed, Bath N' Table, which Em immediately felt were perfect. The bright pastel colour scheme was continued with colourful balloons and streamers and even multi-coloured cachous on the cupcakes. The table was set with a pale lemon tablecloth, white plates, dessert spoons, the pretty napkins and real glassware. Colourful solar lights lined the garden beds and a string of coloured light bulbs shone overhead.

The menu of dessert finger food we prepared included:

white and dark chocolate-dipped strawberries
vanilla cupcakes with piped pink buttercream icing (you can find the buttercream recipe here; we added a few drops of cochineal to the basic recipe) and a sprinkle of multi-coloured cachous
little chocolate eclairs filled with chantilly cream and iced with dark chocolate
little lemon meringue tarts filled with home-made lemon curd
tiny melting moments
chocolate brownies
hot chocolate with marshmallows

We had a busy day cooking and getting the house ready, but the enjoyment of the girls who attended (and especially the birthday girl) made all the effort worthwhile.

Mounds Bars

Mounds or Almond Joy?

Hubs likes dark chocolate so he prefers Mounds. I love nuts so I prefer Almond Joy.

These are kinda the best of both worlds. No almonds but there are ground pecans in there. Hiding, but they are in there.

Smothered in dark chocolate. Yup, best of both worlds.

Dark chocolate AND nuts.

Seriously good stuff. They don't last long, trust me.

Mounds Bars Recipe

3 cups finely chopped pecans
1 lb. sweetened coconut
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Dark chocolate chips, about 12 oz.

Mix everything in a big bowl. Form into logs, I got 4 logs. Wrap the coconut logs in wax paper and freeze for 30 minutes to an hour. These actually last in the freezer for a long time if you happen to only make 3 logs worth of Mounds Bars and forget about the 4th one for about 6 months and then open the freezer to a nice surprise. Ahem.

Melt dark chocolate. Cut coconut logs into chunks, not to thin. They are pretty easy to cut with a big knife. Dip the coconut chunks into the chocolate until coated, place on wax or parchment paper. We used some handy dandy plastic dipping tools but a couple of forks work just fine. Cool completely and devour.

Chipotle Bacon Ranch Salad Dressing

I love making my own salad dressings. They are healthier, tastier and you can make them just the way you like them.

You can make it spicier and add more chipotle peppers. It does get spicier as it sits in the refrigerator though. Make it vegetarian and nix the bacon if you want. Make it thinner, thicker, however you like it. It makes a great dressing for egg salad or potato salad too.

Chipotle Bacon Ranch Salad Dressing Recipe

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp. dried dill
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried chives
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste, about 1 - 3 tsp.
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 chipotle pepper
3 strips of bacon

Combine everything in a blender and blend until smooth. If it's not the right consistency, go ahead and add some more buttermilk but it seemed perfect to me.

Escapee Chicken

Lola is our escapee chook. Where Ninja, Scarecrow and Nightmare are usually content to stay in their (ample) yard, Lola takes every opportunity to escape.

Sometimes she digs under the fence and wriggles out commando-style; other times she flies onto the roof of the henhouse and escapes that way. Not even clipped wings deter her.

I understand her desire for freedom. Despite her obvious intelligence (or maybe because of it) Lola is at the bottom of the pecking order and spends much of her time being pecked at by the other chooks.

Lola's favourite hiding place is under the now enormous tomato bushes. This afternoon I noticed that she has developed a taste for the ripe tomatoes at the bottom of the bushes.

Clever girl!

Flaunting her freedom

Jerk Chicken

You like things spicy? This Jerk Chicken will get you sweating! It had a wonderful flavor though and everyone loved it.

The leftovers were perfect on a salad the next day too.

We ate this with watermelon. That helped to cool things off a bit. :-)

Jerk Chicken Recipe

2 lbs. chicken breasts
Jerk Marinade

Mix marinade and marinate chicken. I marinated them for about 6 hours. Cook in a pan until done or else grill the chicken. Put some of the marinade in the pan with the chicken so it can cook with the chicken. Spicy but super delicious!

First Tomatoes

What is it about the first tomatoes of the season that is so exciting? No other vegetable or fruit seems to inspire such enthusiasm.

Is it because there is such a vast difference between supermarket tomatoes and those that are grown at home? Surely it's also because the first ripe tomatoes in December mean that summer has truly arrived.

The tomato plant shown here is a cherry tomato that self-seeded and is now the biggest, bushiest tomato plant I think I have seen, certainly for so early in the season. Hidden amongst the leaves at the bottom of the plant the tomatoes are beginning to ripen, but you have to go down on hands and knees to find them.

In a month or two I'll be overwhelmed by abundant tomatoes and will be considering how to preserve them - dried, in chutney or in tomato sauce. But for now I am content to eat them straight off the bush, just as they are.

Rocking it, CFG style...

Do you love food?

Do you love to cook?

Do you enjoy eating?

Do you like to party?

Well, if you answered for all or any of these with a big nod of your head, then time for you to read further...

Do you wanna see what it was like last year? at our 8th Anniversary..Here you go

If in case you answered No, well, you are here, so you might as well continue reading, actually just go ahead read it all.. be nice and nobody gets hurt, alright ;o)

The month is December

The date is 22nd

Time: 6.30pm onwards

The venue is Accord Metropolitan Hotel, GN Chetty road.

So what is so big about the day? Well, D'oh. It’s time for you to mark this on your calendar, so you don't miss out on this awesome event..

What is the event you ask? Gosh... its Chennai Food Guide's 9^thAnniversary bash. It is going to be an evening of fun, food and foodies... you will get to meet fellow foodies, chefs, people from the industry, crack up laughing, groove to some cool beats, dig into some amazing food- basically have a whale of a time..

Come join us for this wonderful evening... If you would like to attend, ping me, leave a comment with your name/email id and I shall connect with you Or you could simply click on the link and pick up your ticket.

Early bird tickets are available, but the timer is on.. so don’t waste too much time contemplating. Go for it..

Online payment-- https://getfbpay.in/event/view/1577/

See ya there~

Adios..
Foodie

The Biryani & Haleem Workshop is back... 8th December!!

When you bring two ladies who are passionate about food, and love to experiment you are in for a treat, actually a feast!

Maaria of Adoniya launched a series of Cupcake workshops and now she has gone further extending a warm welcome to Tasneem Ayub [Aunty] for the Biryani & Haleem workshop. Nope, this is not the first one, there was one 2weeks ago which saw 21 people learn how to make the most amazing Biryani and Haleem, straight from Aunty.. Experiments in the kitchen with recipes from cookbooks or the internet is fun, but when you get to learn from someone like Aunty you are bound to go home with a precise recipe and a foolproof method as well. What is more, you will have a blast learning the dishes~ !!

What can i say about aunty.. She is amazing, and food is all about caring and sharing and giving to her!! She has hosted dinner parties, brought over food, sent across food, and shared recipes freely numerous times. We love her food- zafrani badaam, bread halwa, veg biryani, tomato thokku, walnut chutney, Qubani ka meetha and so much more....She is such a sweetheart that if she has a group of veggie and non veggies coming over, she pays so much attention to make sure both groups have enough options... :-)

Have I attended the workshop? Sigh, you had to ask dint you.. Nope. Not because I don't like Biryani but only because I am a vegetarian :-)

Now stop reading and go grab your seat for the upcoming workshop already... Last few seats remain for the biryani and haleem workshop this Sunday at Adoniya Academy!

For more details and online registration visit www.eventjini.com/biryaniworkshopdec

Contact:-
Maaria - 9840285950
Tasneem Aunty - 9884078631

Have a great experience and do tell us about it..

Bric-a-Brac

What is your favourite kind of shop?

I love bric-a-brac or junk shops, those dusty, cluttered places filled with other people's cast-offs, where burnt orange 1970s lamps sit beside hand-made pictures frames on antique roll top desks. Every visit to such shops is an adventure - you never know what treasure you might find.

Proper antique shops that take themselves seriously are so much less interesting, despite their glorious smell of linseed and beeswax polish.

Jerk Marinade

This is an incredible spicy, citrusy, flavorful marinade for chicken, shrimp or pork. I know it looks like a lot of ingredients but you probably have most of them already. Get them together and make this. It's so, so good. The scotch bonnet pepper is super spicy but tastes great with everything. Spice up your veggies and roast them with the jerk marinade.

Jerk Marinade Recipe

Ingredients

1 scotch bonnet pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
2 green onions
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
2 tsp. allspice
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 orange, juice and zest
1 lime, juice and zest

Directions

Puree everything in a food processor. Use with chicken, pork, shrimp, veggies, whatever. Spicy and yum!

Friday Coffee with Friends

When we lived in Melbourne I had coffee with a group of friends every Friday morning. Most of us met when our eldest children were in the same class in their first year of school. We discussed relationships and kids, jobs and local events - all the things ordinarily discussed by mums over a cup of coffee. I still miss Alison, Sue, Margaret, Nada and Anne. I sometimes wish I had a time machine to go back to those wonderful times when our children were small.

When we decided to move to Adelaide in 2008 I wondered if I would ever make new friends as good as my coffee friends in Melbourne.

I remember entering my younger children's new primary school at the end of their first day of school in Adelaide. It was a cold, bleak August day and I walked into the schoolyard anxiously bracing myself to speak to someone, anyone, and introduce myself. I had encouraged my children to try to make friends, and I knew that I had to make an effort also.

The first person I spoke to was Chris, who introduced me to her sister Carly. They invited me to join a group of their friends who regularly met for coffee. I had heard that Adelaide people could be unfriendly and insular, but this was not my experience. This lovely group of women welcomed me with great kindness and generosity.

In the five years since we moved to Adelaide, Chris and Carly have become two of my dearest friends. We still meet for coffee on a Friday morning, along with Gill, Emma, and Andrea. Sometimes we are joined by Char, Amanda, Lisa and others.

I am so grateful to my current coffee friends and coffee friends from days gone by. They have smoothed my pathway through motherhood and and provided much-needed friendship and encouragement.

Peach Blueberry Crumble

Desserts with fruit just seem so much healthier, don't they. I know there is a lot of sugar but this crumble is packed with fruit and an oatmeal topping.

I thought about putting this into individual dishes but ended up just throwing it all in a big pan. Not as pretty but it seemed to work fine.

I think that peaches are my favorite fruit. Paired with blueberries, this was an excellent dessert. Somewhat healthy too.

Blueberry Peach Crumble

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

2 cups blueberries
2 1/2 cups peeled and sliced peaches (5-6 peaches)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour (I used gluten free)

For the crumble topping:

1/2 cup flour (I used gluten free)
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold butter, diced

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine blueberries, sliced peaches, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and flour. Gently toss until fruit is well coated. Let the fruit mixture sit while you prepare the crumble topping.

3. For the crumble topping: in a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Stir together. Mix in the butter with your fingers until the mixture comes together and you have big crumbles.

4. Put the fruit mixture in a 9 x 13 in. pan or you can put it in individual ramekins. Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the fruit. Place the pan on a baking sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

Peaches turns one

“Peaches” is not the 1^stname we thought of. We infact ran through nearly 100 of them, scraping at each of them- Tiranga, 3 Rascals and what not, till finally we landed at “Peaches”, shares Raghu. Hailing from a family where his father was into business, Raghu met up with 2 other friends and after much brainstorming they decided to start the restaurant and see where it is headed.

They were 3 guys who were excited, passionate and wanted to do something new. Subsequently, they met with Chef Kaushik [Eatitude] who helped transform their idea into reality and get going on the restaurant.

After much deliberation, the trio decided to start a “Pure vegetarian” restaurant, esp since Velachery was an up and coming locality and pure veg is a cuisine that will work here. Locality was one thing they dint really have to deliberate over, and they knew there was going to be no compromise on quality of food they served either. Once the idea was in place, plans were drawn, they did a survey over 40days among people they knew and got them to test out the menu as well [12^th to 19^th Sep 2012]. On 20^th Sep 2012 is when the doors opened…

The menu too went through various stages, from being extensive, it was narrowed down, and over time a few dishes were chopped off the list, while others were added in. The restaurant was slowly evolving and getting ready to open the doors to the market. And today, they are a year and 2 months old. Today, they can serve 58 covers and are proud owners of the 1800 sq ft restaurant.

Targetting families who enjoy Indian food, and who are open to world cuisine, they designed the menu and kept coming up with new innovative dishes and festivals. Earlier this year, they had the Burrito eating contest, where a 2kg burrito was to be eaten in the shortest time. And now, they have launched Sizzlers, about 5 of them. We wonder what they are going to come up with next…

Venkatesh manages the kitchen and back end while Raghu manages the front and marketing aspect of the restaurant [thanks to his experience in marketing & servicing].

Some of their signature dishes which we got to taste were

Starters : Bread Mozzarella Sticks, Malai paneer tikka, Aatish-e-aloo and the Mushroom crostini followed by Phuket Paneer and Schezwan baby corn.

Drinks: Florida Sunrise and Lime mint cooker

Mains: It was raining sizzlers- there was the Oriental Sizzler, Italian sizzler, Tandoori Sizzler, Chettinad Sizzler and finally the Big Fat peaches Sizzler. The best of the lot was the Chettinad and Oriental Sizzler. The amazing thing about each of these Sizzlers was that the items on each of them was different, even the wedges and side of vegetables. There was the veg cutlet to the masala vada, the Chinese fried rice+noodles to Indian Biryani and the Italian gentle flavoured vegetables. These should make their way into the menu long term!!

Desserts: Hot chocolate fudge sundae, Banana boat and Mango sundae...

Here’s wishing them a great journey ahead!!! Next time you are around Velachery and in the mood for some good food, albeit vegetarian, head straight down the road next to Phoenix mall about 2kms to Peaches [above Andhra Bank]

You can read my earlier review here

Peaches

No.81, 9th Cross Street,
Rajalakshmi Nagar,
100 Feet by Pass Road,
Velachery, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu 600042
Ph- 044 4201 9454

Disclaimer:
The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember that restaurants and eat outs sometimes change with time, so does their food and service. So, kindly consider these factors while visiting the places. Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I remember grilled cheese night as a kid. It was just me, my dad and my brothers. My dad would cut the crust off of two sides of the bread. He'd stagger the pieces of bread so we wouldn't have as much crust on the sandwich. So nice, right?

One of my brothers would butter the bread, the other would open up cheese slices. Yup, we used the cheese in the little plastic packages. I was the oldest so I'd be the one actually making the grilled cheese. Our little assembly line was fun and resulted in one of my favorite dinners.

Well, my tastes have changed a bit over the years. We no longer use the processed american cheese and I like to keep all the crust on the bread. I also enjoy a little kick with my sandwiches, know what I mean?

This has a lot more than just cheese on these sandwiches but it's still a grilled cheese to me. This is ooey gooey cheesy but with a buffalo kick with the chicken. The veggies give it that bit of freshness and bite. So, so good. Looks like we might have to start a new grilled cheese tradition around here.

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Adapted from Closet Cooking

2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1/2 cup Franks buffalo sauce
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1/2 cup carrot, grated
1/2 cup celery, sliced
4 cups cheddar cheese
butter for the bread

Mix the chicken, hot sauce, ranch, carrot, celery and onion in a bowl.

Butter the outside of each slice of bread. Throw bread on a hot pan, butter side down. Top with a pile of shredded cheese, then a scoop of the buffalo chicken salad and then more cheese. Top with the other piece of bread, butter size up. Carefully flip sandwich until golden brown on both sides an ooey gooey all over.

Every Year

Every year at the start of November I decide that I am going to simplify Christmas. Instead of turkey and ham, Christmas pudding and home-made fruit mince pies, I will serve a suitably summery seafood platter followed by a fruit platter or pavlova.

Then suddenly, in late November or early December, some ancestral spirit (my grandmother, perhaps) possesses me and I long to make Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and home-made fruit mince. Without these things, Christmas just isn't Christmas. (We'll have seafood and pavlova as well, but they won't be the main event.)

As recently as yesterday I was still planning a simplified Christmas, but today the spirit struck. The Christmas pudding is made and simmering on the stove and if time allows tonight, I might even make a batch of Gran's fruit mince.

Ready to boil