The Spoon of Joy.

 Ingredients

2 tables spoon sour cream

2 Table Spoon mayonnaise

2 Table spoon olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp Dijon mustard

freshly ground black to taste

Salt to taste

2 cloves small garlic finely minced

Croutons:

1/2 loaf French bread 1-2 days old

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic pressed with a garlic press, grated, or finely minced

1/4 each salt and black pepper

Salad:

1 large head Romaine lettuce chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

In a  mixing bowl, add all ingredients and chill until serving.

5 Egg whites from  

400 grams caster sugar

15gms raspberry powder

Frozen berries to paint and serve

Pre-heart the oven to 100C.  boil some water in a pot.  Place the egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl and place it on top of the simmering pot and whisk till the time the sugar is melted. Remove from the heat and beat the mixture till you achieved a glossy and fluffy meringue. Mix the fruit powder and swirl to achieve a marbled effect. Pipe it into the tray lined with a baking paper. Bake in the center of the over for 1 hour, after turning off the heat let it cool in the oven for 2 hours. Puree the frozen berries and paint it on the ready meringue and pop it back into the oven for 10 minutes to dry.

 

INGREDIENTS

3 cups strong bread flour  flour

 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp active dry  yeast

1½ cups Luke warm water

In a mixing bowl sieve together flour, salt and yeast. Mix in the water little by little bringing together the flour with the help of wooden frame until the dough starts resembling a ball. Wrap it with cling film for 2 hours, or until the dough rises to double of its size.

Preheat the oven to 450F. turn the flour to a lightly dusted surface and knead the dough for another 10 minutes and shape it in a ball. Place the dough on the middle rack of the oven, and cover it with a lidded cast iron, or a pyrex dish. Remove the lid and return the dough back into the oven for another 15 minutes, or until the loaf turns golden brown, or sounds hollow when knocked on. Cook it on a wire rack for few hours.

1.        

Ingredients

For the Dressing

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

Salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad

4 strawberries  

1 small red onion  

A bunch of gem lettuce

Handful of nuts

Handful of croutons. 

Whisk together all the ingredients for the salad dressing. Wash the lettuce and pat dry. Hull the strawberries and quarter. Thinly slice the red onion. Toss the dressing with the salad.

Serves 4

1 pounds grated carrots

2 tbsp ghee or butter

½ inch cinnamon stick

½ cup raw sugar

4 cardamom powdered

½ cup mix dry fruits, I used almonds, cashews and sultanas.

Bring milk to a boil in a heavy bottomed pan.  Tip in the carrots and the cinnamon stick on a medium flame keep stirring it occasionally till the time all the milk is absorbed. This will take approximately 40 minutes.  Add the ghee and cardamom powder. And keep stirring on low flame for 5 minutes till the time you see the sheen on the carrots. Add the dry fruits and sugar and stir again on slow flame. Serve warm or cold garnished with cream and mint.

Greetings from India. I am just back from home after enjoying the gorgeous and warm weather of Mumbai.  It is amazing to see how Mumbai,  one of the busiest cosmopolitan still holds its old age culture of festivals, food, and of course life in Mumbai can never be complete without the street food. Starting from  Bhel Puri, Pani Puri and Ragda Pattice and lassis. Oh what a paradise of food is Mumbai.

 Among-st these is Gulab Jamun, a must eat traditional  Indian dessert.  These succulent and spongy dumplings carefully blended from a combination of flour, butter and milk fats, smothered in a rose water syrup with the tempting aroma of cardamons  with a beautiful and delicate texture. oh such a royal delicacy. You can eat it hot or cold, serve it as a dessert for parties or get together or simply indulge yourself in. This is such a sinfully wicked gift from Mumbai.  My dad not very easy to please when it comes to food, we carefully buy such delicacies from the most noted ‘Halwai’ from Mumbai and then we have our usual tantrums of not eating Gulab Jamuns with the fear of gaining those extra calories. But this time it was a complete change in  the situation. Yes you guessed it right! my dad gave a seal of approval for this dish and there were none left only after a few minutes when the Gulab Jamuns were still warm.  I have recently started following Sala Kanan from Veggie Belly and happened to find this amazing recipe for Gulab Jamuns, so easy to make but so delicious, we will now never go to any of those specialist ‘Halwai’.

For sugar syrup
2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cup water
4 cardamom seeds, powdered in a mortar and pestle
A drop of rose essence, optional
A small pinch of saffron threads, optional

For the jamuns
1 cup unsweetened milk powder or dry milk (not coffee creamer)
1 tablespoon butter at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons flour
A pinch of salt, optional
1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1/3 cup whole milk

Place the sugar, water and cardamom powder in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and watch for the sugar to dissolve. Once its dissolved, boil for another minute. Turn off heat and add rose essence and or saffron, if using. Set the syrup aside.

Now make the Jamuns. In a mixing bowl, add milk powder or dry milk, baking soda, flour and salt. Mix well.

Then add butter and vinegar. Add milk a little at a time and mix till it forms dough. You may not need all of the milk.

When a soft, sticky dough forms, stop adding milk. Cover and let the dough stand for about 20 minutes.

After resting, the dough will be less sticky, airy and a little firmer. If its too lose, sprinkle a little flour. If its too dry, add a little milk.

Knead the dough a few times.

Dip your fingers in oil or ghee, divide the dough into 24 even pieces and roll them into balls. Dip your fingers in oil as and when needed to avoid sticking.

Heat enough oil to deep fry in a saucepan pan on medium-low heat. Drop a small pinch of the dough in the oil to test the temperature. The dough should sink to the bottom and then slowly rise to the top. If it sits in the bottom of the oil without bubbling, the oil is not hot enough. If the dough rises and browns too quickly, the oil is too hot.

Add the jamun balls a few at a time and fry in oil on medium-low heat. Stir and turn the jamuns frequently so they brown evenly.

When brown, remove from oil using a slotted spoon and drain on several layers of paper towels.

Repeat with all the dough. Let fried jamuns cool.

Add the jamuns to the sugar syrup. Stir gently so the jamuns are well coated in syrup.

Cover and let the gulab jamuns soak in the syrup for atleast an hour before serving. Gulab jamuns will keep for several days at room temperature

The weather has turned  and the evening getting darker, and in the blink of the eye it will be Christmas. We all working to making festive as joyful as we can.   This cheery season is my favorite time of the year. Meeting people for one or the other reason, that brings the spirit of Christmas out in all of us. In the run up to Christmas,  I love to start  the festive evening with  these more fashionable moctails. I choose to  celebrate the holiday season  with this classic berry drink, it fits the Christmas theme so perfectly. Viola, have a Fresh, fruity and fizzy  Christmas with this Berry Moctail. 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cranberry juice

 1 cup orange and passion fruit juice

¼  cup lemon juice

1 cup soda water or lemonade

crushed ice

10  strawberries

10 raspberries

5 blackberries

5 blueberries

Tip in all the ingredients into an electric blender . Blend until smooth. Serve with a fresh slice of lemon and berry of your choice.

There is so much joy, so much excitement in the air, yes it’s the Christmas season, preparing to celebrate the birth of our Messiah! There are plenty many ways to enjoy a holy and a jolly ways to enjoy this beautiful festive season, oh I love writing the cards and wrapping up the gifts for my loved ones! Yes baking mince pies. Setting up the Christmas tree, making it a big event by heating up that creamy hot chocolate, nothing can be more satisfying that seeing that Christmas tree glittering with all the decorations and the gifts boxes beneath.  Well what if I want to go a bit further and make this festive season a bit more celebrating? What if I make a   classic Christmas Coffee? Oh yeah!  I can only find reasons to stir in the warmth of  some coffee into this the Christmas preparations. From wrapping the gifts, to deciding the menu for the Christmas meal, this amazing Classic Christmas Coffee finds its way as we head towards Christmas!  And like Susan Simmer says  ‘A merry coffee to warm the whiskers with’.

This recipe has been adapted from Susan Simmer’s I Love Coffee.

INGREDIENTS

45 ml brandy,

140 ml steamed milk,

2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon  syrup,

¾ cup freshly brewed coffee,

Whipping cream to serve,

Cinnamon stick to garnish,

Combine the brandy, and 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon  syrup in a heated mug or cup.

Add the steamed milk to this.

Fill the rest of the cup with coffee,

In a small bowl, combine the whip cream with the remaining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon syrup and whip until soft peaks form.

Garnish the coffee with whipped cream with the help of a piping bag and serve with a cinnamon stick.