A 30th Wedding Anniversary Menu and A Winner for the Giveaway!

So I don't date myself too much here, not MY 30th wedding anniversary, but rather a 30th wedding anniversary party that my parents and I hosted for my aunt and uncle who got married on the same day as my birthday. I was a bratty flower girl at their wedding, and as a surprise to me, they rolled out a birthday cake onto the reception floor which I got to cut, and then I graciously returned the favor by throwing a tantrum for all their wedding gifts.

My aunt, the young bride, who was probably exasperated with me at that point for stealing their thunder, steely bartered one gift to me in exchange for good behavior. Thinking I had won the duel, I smartly marched up and selected the largest and shiniest gift box, only to open it up and find a three speed metal blender.

Defeat.

As pay back, I threw them an impromptu little party last week because my parents were in town unseasonably and my mom always complains how she never gets to do anything for her little sister's anniversary.
Since I now pretty much exclusively cook out of all your blogs, this turned out to be another installment of I Ate Your Food, and since I needed to post my giveaway winner..I rolled it all into one post! Scroll down for the winner...yes, I am evil that way.

Here is the menu that my mom and I drummed up for the party. Our idea was to re-create their wedding reception menu, which none of us could actually remember. Yes, I remember my STEEL BLENDER but failed to remember other details of the evening. My dad vaguely described roast chicken, potatoes and salad and so we ran with it:

Lentil Soup With Sauteed Scallops

Garlic Rolls

Hearts of Palm Salad With Cilantro Vinaigrette

Flavors of India Roasted Cornish Hens With Carrots, Celery and Leeks

Hasselback Potatoes

Broiled Salmon with Spicy Mushroom Sauce and Saffron Rice

Lemon Coconut Cake with Raspberry Preserves

As is the case with all meals, as the dinner progressed, I got caught up and couldn't take pictures of all the items, so I'm just leaving a link to the master recipes that I used =(.

But as is always the case, many thanks to all the talented bloggers out there whose recipes I use with much success.

Lentil Soup and Sauteed Scallops - sourced entirely from Chicho's Kitchen with very little adaptation at all.

My only note would be to serve this soup piping hot. I tried to use a soup warmer thingy seen in the pic that I had bought, and it ended up not working right, so my soup reached the table barely warm, a point my loud guests noted quickly. Grrr....

Garlic Rolls - the detailed and step-by-step instructions on Suhaina and Nag's Edible Garden blogs are testament enough. These were killer rolls, perfect in every way and my favorite part of the meal!

Hearts of Palm Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette - adapted from Food and Wine magazine Recipe by Carolina Buia and Isabel González.

Dressing:

2/3 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 small red onion, finely chopped (subst. for shallots) 
juice of 1 lemon 
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons agave nectar (subst. for honey) 
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste 

Salad:
2 clementine/oranges, peeled and sliced into segments (pith removed) 
1 14-ounce jar of hearts of palm, drained and sliced 
2 bunches Romaine lettuce - rinsed, dried and chopped
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
a few grape tomatoes, halved
 
1.In a blender, combine the ingredients for the dressing except olive oil and salt and pepper. With the machine on, add the olive oil in a steady stream and blend until smooth. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper.
2. Toss together all ingredients for the salad, serve immediately with dressing.


Flavors of India Roasted Cornish Hens With Carrots, Celery and Leeks - I adapted this recipe from Whole Foods website.
I substituted Cornish hens (one per two guests) and the recipe came out perfect.  I added 2 cups each chopped carrots, leeks and celery to the roasting pan with the hens and served the veggies alongside the meat. They still took a good 1.5 - 2 hours to cook, but came out moist and flavorful.


Broiled Salmon with Spicy Mushroom Sauce and Saffron Rice - again entirely sourced from Bong Mom's Cookbook.
I've made this recipe several times now, and I love the mushroom sauce that goes with the easy to bake salmon.

Hasselback Potatoes - these truly deserve their own post, but here is some eye candy to enjoy in the meantime. I adapted the recipe from Seasaltwithfood and added flavored ranch butter to the potatoes as they baked.
They need to be served right away, which I made a mistake on, I made them well in advance, so they lost some of their appeal when sitting out and growing cold.

..and finally dessert. I had to make them cake, in honor for my cake all those years ago, so I chose Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake, which truly was perfect in every single way. What a keeper of a recipe. I ran out of time with this item, so instead of buttercream icing, I just used whipped cream both in the filling and to cover the cake.

Apologies for zero pictures, I kick myself for not grabbing my camera before everything was chopped up and eaten!
And now for the winner of my first ever blog giveaway. The $40 Amazon.com gift card goes to comment #....

........1! As pronounced by random number generator - that is Divya all the way in India who blogs at Easycooking. Congratulations Divya, and thanks to all who participated!

To be honest, I always though the first and last comments were unlucky as they stood no chance against all the other numbers, but I guess that proved my theory wrong! Bang, the first comment got selected, early bird gets the worm...in the form of a gift card =).

It's My Birthday and I'll Have a Giveaway If I Want To....

Because it's my birthday....

I didn't make this cake for my birthday by the way, I made it for the last Wilton Course #2 I attended. But I'm mighty  proud of it.

And because Christmas is around the corner. And I finally got the tree up....

...And because I just realized this is my 101-st post....

One of you bloggers out there will win a $40 Amazon.com email gift card.

Funded by me.

Because even though I use Amazon.com a lot, A LOT, they have no clue who I am.

But I thought I should use them for my party.

Now I know giveaways are supposed to attract readership, so everyone does the multiple Twitter and Facebook re-post and re-tweets and yada-yada postings tied to their giveaways, but frankly, I tried Twitter and couldn't stand it, and I have been too thick or dense to attach my blog to Facebook yet.

Instead I thought this giveaway should just be for other bloggers out there who took the time to stop by and leave a comment about what they would buy if they were the winner.
So make sure you mention your blog name, so I can pay you a visit in return.

Simple.

Easy peasy.
No twitter, tweets, toots, no multiple comments.

And thank you to all those bloggers out there who give me unlimited amounts of reading pleasure, I really and truly have learnt so much from so many of you.

** Re-post - this giveaway is now closed. Thanks for all the entries =) **

Rules -

1. Only one entry per person, please. Duplicates will be deleted.

2. This giveaway is open till midnight CST Monday December 20th, 2010.

3. ONE winner will be picked randomly using random number generator and contacted via email on Tuesday December 21st. If the person does not respond within 36 hours, another winner will be picked...and so on.....

4. The prize is a $40 amazon.com gift card that will be emailed to the winner. According to the website, the gift card can only be used on amazon.com and not on it's other sites like Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.ca. You are eligible if you think this is appropriate for you. 
5. The prize is funded by me. Just because.....I love blogging =)

Copycat Recipe - Cinnamon Rolls

Hope all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving have recovered from this past weekend's food extravaganza, or better yet, have been revived out of turkey induced comas.

This year, I decided not to get crazy busy over the weekend by handing over Thanksgiving hosting duties to my sister-in-law in exchange for Christmas Dinner duty this year. Does anyone smell a whiff of procrastination again?

I even forced myself to sit tight and did not venture out into the maddening crowds for the annual Black Friday (start of the bumper Christmas season) Sales the day after Thanksgiving. And funnily enough, I had a great weekend, just spent sitting around with the family and relaxing.

One thing I did to was whip up a batch of cinnamon rolls/buns for Thanksgiving morning after seeing a imitation recipe in my subscription of Food Network Magazine. I am so thrilled with the results of this recipe, but sadly my photos do no justice to these sweet and pillowy buns.

Cinnabon is a popular pastry and baked goods take-out chain, most often seen in airports and malls and their fluffy cinnamon buns are to die for.

And I may be a little literal in the use of the word die - given they are an easy 880 calories per bun!

So even though we are using a recipe tested by Food Network Kitchen and not endorsed by Cinnabon (their recipe is top secret a la Coca-Cola and KFC), I still tried to do my part in reducing the amount of calories that went in. I've listed the original amounts of butter used (a whopping 12 Tbsp) and then my reduced amounts - yes, even I, of the I-think-pastries-should-be-its-own-Food-Group fame - thought that was just a tad bit too much fat.

The recipe is a cinch, however, it needs about 3 hours for dough rising time, so this isn't something you could just whip up when the neighbors pop over, unfortunately...for them! But trust me, everything else about the recipe is easy. It came together beautifully, even despite my meagre rations of fat and sugar. The buns tasted awesome!

Almost Famous Cinnamon Buns - adapted from Food Network Magazine November 2009.

Dough

1 cup milk (they used whole, I used 2%)

1 entire 1/4 oz packet active dry yeast

1/4 cup and 1/4 tsp granulated sugar, divided use

4 Tbsp melted butter and a little bit more to grease the bowl

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup AP flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Filling

AP flour for dusting

2-4 Tbsp softened butter (they used 12 Tbsp!!)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (they used 1/2 cup)

3 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Glaze (I used only half the quantities of the original recipe, original quantity listed below)

2 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

4 Tbsp melted butter

1. Make the dough: Warm milk over low heat until it reaches about 100 degrees F. Remove from heat and sprinkle yeast and 1/4 tsp sugar. Do not stir, leave aside until foamy. Whisk in melted butter, egg yolk and vanilla.

2. Whisk the flour, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, salt and nutmeg in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add wet ingredients into dry, mix on low speed with a dough hook until thick, sticky and incorporated. Knead on medium speed for about 6 minutes till dough gathers around the hook. Sprinkle in additional flour if necessary up to a max of 2 Tbsp.

3. Remove the dough and shape into a ball. The dough will be very soft and sticky. Butter the mixer bowl, return the dough into it, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise until doubled, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

4. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle with longer side facing you.

5. Filling: Spread the softened butter over the dough. I found it easy to do with the back of a butter knife and patting on dabs of butter and smoothing it out gently. I barely used 3 Tbsp as opposed to the 12 Tbsp called for in the original recipe! Leave a 1/2 inch unbuttered alongside the farthest long edge.

6. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter.

7. Brush the unbuttered edge with a little bit of water, roll the dough away from you into a tight cylinder and press along the wet edge to seal (see pictorial above).

8. Cut the dough roll into equal sized portions, I got 11 rolls.

9.Spray a 9-by-13 inch baking pan with baking spray, place the buns cut side down in the pan and leave space in between. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise till doubled, about 40 minutes.

10. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

11. Bake the buns till golden brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let them cool in the pan.

12. Glaze: Mix the ingredients for the glaze and spoon over the rolls. This is where I probably could have used more glaze, I made only half of the original quantity and the rolls were still very warm, so the glaze got quickly absorbed and did not stay on top as the signature white layer you see on authentic Cinnabon buns.

Made no difference to me, they still tasted divine!

Sending these copycat cinnamon buns off to be Yeastspotted!

Menu Monday - I Ate Your Food

Here is a new feature that I hope to continue, where I profile food via links that I've tried from your blogs, something that I have been doing a lot lately. Most of the time, there has been no adaptation necessary because your recipes are spot on!

My Google Reader (bursting at the seams with over 300+ blog subscriptions) has become my default kitchen aid and sous chef. I enter in an ingredient or search term, get blown over by the results that are brought back, and then pick my way and zone in on the recipe I want to try.

This weekend was no different, except that I was also armed with my copy of Entertaining From An Ethnic Indian Kitchen - a masterpiece recipe collection by Komali Nunna. I bought this book a few months ago when I randomly stumbled across her blog, and I'm constantly blown away by her elegant tablescapes, effortless styling and amazing, personal collection of recipes that she has put together in this beautiful book. I've tried a couple of her recipes already, but yesterday was the first time I made a collection of them including some other items from my favorite bloggers! With the holidays fast approaching, I'll vouch that this book would make an elegant coffee table book or cook book for those interested in regional Indian cooking.

I'm writing the above review based on my own personal and genuine opinions. I bought the book on my own accord and I was not solicited by the author or publishers.

Forgive the mismatched serve ware, I obviously have miles to go before I enter the realm of graceful and stylish entertaining!

I nicknamed this menu "Kerala, Kashmir...and some Cake". Read on...

Starters:

Ginger Chicken Soup with Jasmine Rice - I got this recipe from an old issue of Food and Wine magazine, I'll be blogging it shortly and link the recipe - a steamy chicken broth with slivers of ginger and fragrant jasmine rice.

Chatti Pathiri from Ria's Collection - I made this dish twice from the amazing Ria and I LOVE it. As she aptly described it - this is "Kerala Lasagna" - layers of chicken mince and flour pancakes cooked with coconut milk. Delish! Ignore my sub-standard picture and look at Ria's instead, regardless, I loved this dish, very flavorful and my guests were all enthralled by it.

Entrees:
All from Komali Nunna's book -
Mushroom Pulao - Basmati rice cooked with mushrooms and spices.
Broccoli Fry - broccoli cooked with garlic and red chillies.
Baby Potato Curry - baby potatoes are boiled, marinated in spices and yogurt, oven-roasted and then cooked in a delightful, flavorful gravy. Quite the recipe, but easily the stand-out dish, I had one young guest constantly returning for more helpings! This would also be the nod to Kashmir in the menu title as this is more North Indian fare;-)
Fish fry - Tilapia fillets marinated in an onion and spice mixture and lightly pan-fried (I forgot to place it on the table when I was taking photos).
Cucumber Raita - Yogurt condiment with onion and cucumber.

Mutton Fry - heavily spiced mutton dry curry, another regional dish from the state of Kerala, India - this time I got the recipe from Mishmash blog, another go-to place when I need no-fail Kerala recipes. I added some potato wedges that were lightly sauteed.

Above served with store bought Malabar paratha - Indian flatbread.

Dessert - we had two birthdays to celebrate, so I where else would I go to look for cake? The High Priestess of All Things Baked - Deeba's Passionate About Baking offered up this recipe for Chocolate Genoise Cake with Mocha Mascarpone Cream. Alas, I messed up the mascarpone icing by diluting it too much with cream, all is well, there is no way I would let that go to waste, I sliced up the cake, doused it in the mascarpone cream, and served it tiramisu style! No pictures, unfortunately, we gobbled the dessert down way too quickly!

Thanks to all those talented bloggers out there who tirelessly share their tested and true recipes with the rest of us - I salute you!

Spiced Cranberry Pecan Bread

'Tis the season...well almost, but Thanksgiving is just a week away in our neck of the woods, so it's a shame not to start using up the seasonal produce that starts lining up the grocery shelves this time of year. I randomly picked up a bag of juicy and tart cranberries and a bag of fresh pecans, and then set about wondering what to do with them.

While I was clearing out my unforgiving and ever-growing stash of cut-out magazine and newspaper recipes, I chanced upon a  recipe for cranberry walnut bread with a generous dose of spice, which I thought was uncommon for this combo.

Though I've baked with dried cranberries before, I was a little intimidated with using fresh berries, because they are, well, an acquired taste for sure. Their tartness is a little powerful, but more overpowering is the taste of the skin. However, my fears were allayed a little when I saw that Joy of Baking mentioned that something almost magical happens when fresh cranberries bake, they lose a little of their sourness and their skins almost become sweet.

So I baked.

And magic happened :-).

The result was a soft loaf with a pleasing crunchy exterior and buttery interior - even though you don't use that much butter in the recipe! It is almost cake like the day it is baked, over time, it takes on a hearty bread appeal. I love the crunch of the pecans and the just-right tartness of the cranberries. Looks like I have found a go-to recipe for those lazy afternoons post-Thanksgiving lunch when you wonder what to munch with afternoon tea!

Cranberry Pecan Bread
Before anyone screams plagiarism, this recipe was adapted from one printed in the Houston Chronicle, December 16, 2009 that I had once upon a time furtively cut out and filed away. There was no source cited, the recipe was part of an article about making edible gifts for the holidays. The original recipe used walnuts and had quantities doubled for 2 loaves.

Non-stick cooking spray
2 cups cranberries
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (juice from 1 large orange)
3/4 cups low fat buttermilk
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup pecans (can subst. walnuts/almonds)

For topping:
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray a regular loaf baking tin with the non-stick spray.
3. Toast pecans or walnuts in a saucepan over medium heat, or in a pre-heated oven for about 5 minutes. Watch carefully - they burn quickly! Remove from heat and let cool. After cooling, roughly chop the nuts and reserve.
4. Coarsely chop the cranberries and reserve. I had frozen the cranberries right after I bought them from the store, so I found them easier to work with and chop.
5. Whisk together the orange juice, buttermilk and egg in a bowl. Add melted (not hot) butter and stir.
6.  Combine all the dry ingredients in another bowl - whole wheat flour, AP flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Mix together lightly.
7. Pour wet ingredients into dry, combine with a spatula until just mixed. Do not over-mix.
8. Add cranberries and pecans. Gently combine and pour into loaf pan.
9. Mix topping ingredients, sugar, cardamom and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the batter.

10. Bake until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean ~ 50- 55 minutes.

11. Remove from oven and cool before transferring to a serving dish. Resist the urge to cut the loaf while it is hot, it will not slice well.

This entry goes off to this month's Monthly Mingle - Fruit In Baking, started by the uber-talented Meeta of Whats For Lunch, Honey? and hosted this month by the equally talented Deeba of Passionate About Baking. I love the work of both these phenomenal bloggers, as a fellow friend/blogger once said, you leave their blogs positively inspired!

Boo! Halloween Pumpkin Carving

At a camping trip this weekend, a friend announced an impromptu pumpkin carving competition. Of course, I had to bring my A-game, but sadly, I fell flat on my face. Armed with thumbtacks and a dull knife, I attempted:

1. A Car - specific instructions from The Little Boy. Of course, I went wild and decided to do a car leaping out of blazing flames. Only to have the car roof collapse in mid-carving. I probably would have won the prize for "But What The Heck Is That?" category.

2. A Princess - even more specific instructions from The Little Girl. We chose Snow White this year over Cinderella last year. I managed to butcher poor Snow White's face and even give her a cleft lip in the process. Hey, at least I got her hair nice and poufy.

Morocco, The Caliph's House and Kefta Tagine...Here's Looking At You, Kid.

When I was in the second grade, we had a show-and-tell session at school, which was followed by a parent-teachers conference. At the dinner table that night, my mother calmly asked me to recount what I had told the teacher that morning about the last vacation we had taken.

 "Uhm, I dunno," I mumbled back.

 "Really? Because the sweet lady asked me how our trip to MOROCCO and MAURITANIA had been?!" my mother countered, staring me down from across the table.

 My dad chortled, I feigned innocence and everyone returned to their dinner. The story hasn't been forgotten, and I still get teased about the incident to this day. I, on the other hand, still cannot fathom where those two exotic and yet inaccessible countries had entered into my otherwise staid schema of normal 7 year old activities like dolls, fighting with the neighbors kids and stealing chocolate cake.

Had I been subjected to re-runs of the movie Casablanca as a baby?
I distinctly recall Sesame Street characters from my infancy, but definitely no Bogart.

Had a caregiver incessantly sung "As Time Goes By" to lull me to sleep? Highly unlikely, the constant stream of nannies that had passed through our household had not known English too well to be able to master that feat.

Chalk it up to unsolved mysteries (not so much, my parent's theory was that we had visited Mauritius earlier that year, and unable to bend my tongue around that name, I had come up with two fairly similar but highly unlikely destinations to enthrall my class with), but the fact remains that Morocco and the mysterious splendour that is Casablanca has been high up on my bucket list of places to visit (there is is an insatiable 7 year old in all of us, right?)

So I could totally relate to this months book choice at This Book Makes Me Cook which was The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah. Tahir Shah gets increasingly frustrated with his monotone, humdrum life in England, where the incessant grey skies and the conformity and boredom of his staid life starts to threaten his sanity. Against the warnings of his well-wishers and even family, some of whom ironically wish they could escape the same monotony that Shah detests, he packs up and sets off to Casablanca with his little daughter and heavily pregnant and highly sceptical Indian wife.


Morocco had always been refuge for Shah's wanderlust, he had travelled there as a child, and its mystery, landscape, heritage and culture re-ignites his passion for life and sets him on an even more personal and deeper quest, to retrace the last days of his grandfather's life there.

Ominous signs throughout the authors endeavour would have scared off lesser mortals like me. The day Shah signs papers for a derelict Moroccan mansion known as Dar Khalifa, a suicide bomber ignites a bomb, killing several innocent by-standers and Shah is grazed slightly in a terrorist attack that jolts the otherwise secular country into the throes of fundamentalist strife. It only gets worse, the princely house he has acquired is in a state of complete decay and borders a shanty town or bidonville, complete with rogue characters and a crumbling infrastructure.

The house also comes with three resident caretakers, part and parcel of the deal and who cannot be shaken off, who then appear to sabotage the authors every move to renovate the house, due to their unwillingness to change their ways and their steadfast belief that the house is possessed by jinns, supernatural beings that are honored and feared in North African Islamic culture.


The book is a lively account of everything Tahir Shah, his children and what sounds like his long-suffering wife, go through in restoring the house to some sense of normalcy. It is no lie that we deal with inept technicians and shoddy workmanship at times in the Western World, but they are small fry compared to the cast of characters, some ghoulish and some absolutely comedic, and outlandish scenarios that befalls the author as he tries to convert his dream into reality.


Interspersed with Shah's very light-handed account of his trails and tribulations is a fairly insightful look into how things are done in the mystical country of Morocco and the day-to-day life of its citizens, some of which may seem obtuse and unimaginable in our minds, but is reality in that part of the world.

There is a silver lining to this story, while it may not seem apparent as you read through the book. Here is a glimpse of the renovated house in Casablanca from NY Times and BBC reports of the place, which the author has turned into a bed-and-breakfast type resort.


While I enjoyed the book thoroughly, the parts where the author tries to find out more about his late grandfather and some of his secret dealings felt a little out of place in this story and lacked depth for me.


And to cook something from this book, I chose the tagine, which is the signature dish of Morocco. Typically a stew of protein and vegetables that is lightly spiced, the dish gets its name from the use of a special dish with a turret lid, which slowly re-utilizes the vapors of the food to produce a fork-tender product. In that case, since I am woefully lacking a tagine dish, I should have probably renamed my dish Kefta Calphalon Non-Stick. But, as in my second grade show-and-tell, lets just pretend we went the authentic Moroccan way.


When I went to source a recipe for kefta tagine, my first stop was the remarkable Sousou Kitchen, your one-stop shop for all Moroccan goodies. And if blogging wasn't hard already, you should check her site out, she has VIDEOS of every recipe prepared! I also wanted to incorporate what I had seen at Almost Bourdain's fantastic site, where her spicy egg and meat tagine had caught my eye.


Kefta Tagine (adaption from both Almost Bourdain's Moroccan Kefta Mkaoura and Sousou Kitchen's Kefta Tagine (this is a video link)


For the kefta/meatballs:
1 lb ground beef
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped fine
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 Tbsp olive oil


1. Mix all ingredients except oil, and form small balls. Heat oil in non-stick pan, add meatballs, and toss till cooked and lightly brown on all sides. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and reserve. Wipe pan and re-use for sauce.


For the Sauce:
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 heaped tsp crushed garlic
1 large potato, diced into large pieces
1/2 tsp turmeric
large pinch saffron
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 - 1 cup warm water
chopped parsley/coriander for garnish
Salt to taste
* cooking times are approximate given how thick you want your sauce to be


1. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add onion, saute till they become soft, then add garlic.
2. When the garlic and onions have started to brown, add in the spice powders (except saffron and salt) and stir. Add tomatoes and continue frying over medium heat till the oil starts to separate out. Add potatoes, give them a quick stir fry and then add some warm water to form a gravy. How much water you add depends on your preference as to how "soupy" you want the stew to be. You may have to add some more water later on as the potatoes cook, so do not add too much water at this step.
3. Let the sauce simmer, covered,  for about 10 minutes to develop the spice flavors..
4. Add salt to season the sauce, and add in the meatballs and the saffron. Adjust the sauce consistency by adding more warm water if you wnat more gravy or reducing it further in the next step.
5. Let the sauce cook further, covered, for about 5- 10 minutes to let the kefta absorb the flavors of the sauce.
6. Remove from heat, adjust for salt, garnish with parsley or coriander.
Serve with middle eastern flatbread or rice.

So we read stellar books every month at This Book Makes Me Cook, chaperoned by the very efficient Simran. 

There is yet another  internet Book Club that also Cooks Their Books (who knew?) and they sweetly asked if I could be a guest judge over at their place as they read Madhur Jaffrey's Climbing The Mango Trees.
Confused? Yes? No? Read my guest post over at their place , and then you can also read our reviews too.

Molten Lava Cakes ...with not so much lava

Sweet Punch time again! And this month's delicacy is the molten lava cake, an incredibly sinful dessert that is chock full of butter, eggs, sugar and a smattering of flour. The cakes are baked just enough to set the exterior, leaving a hot, gooey, chocolate interior that goes oh-so-darn-well with vanilla ice cream.

Of course, I had big plans for this dessert, but as is the case at my house, every time I pop something in the oven, someone unexpectedly arrives at the door, in this case, a neighbor of mine. When I realized the baking time was done a FULL 5 minutes later, I yelped and left my startled neighbor outside and rushed to the oven, to find my molten lava interiors were not so molten anymore.

The little cakes still turned out superbly despite the unwarranted extra bake time, yielding a crumbly soft exterior with a dense and rich chocolate core. Fabulous! Thanks Sweet Punch and Divya for giving me yet another no-fail recipe, one which is so quick and easy to put together. Since the bake time is so short for this dessert,

I'm wondering if anyone has tried a make-ahead option, where you could prepare these in advance, leave them in the fridge and then bake while your guests get ready for dessert so they can be served piping hot? The only qualm I had was if the airy souffle-like texture would get ruined if made in advance. If anyone has tried this, do leave me a line =)!

Molten Lava Cake Recipe source - showmethecurry.com


Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate – 4 oz (113g)
Butter – 4 oz (113g)
Eggs – 2
Sugar – 1/3 cup (75 g)
All-purpose Flour – 1/4 cup (40g)
Butter – for greasing ramekins


1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat Eggs and Sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Once chocolate is melted, remove pan from heat and add in butter. Mix until the butter melts fully.
4. Add chocolate/butter mixture into the eggs, add all-purpose flour and mix until well incorporated.
5. Butter bottom and sides of ramekins (small glass/porcelain bowls) and pour in mixture about 3/4 way full.
6. Place ramekins on a baking tray and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 C) for 10 – 15 minutes. Shorter for gooey (molten) inside, longer for stiff inside.
7. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

El Submarino - How to Make Hot Chocolate the Argentinian Way

The weather has turned unseasonably cold here in the Southern US. We were sitting in our patio last night having BBQ, which we though was appropriate for a fall evening, fire and all, except our friends - the friendly mosquito brigade - were not informed of the change in weather plans, and they decided to swoop down on us before they ...well, I dunno...where do mosquitoes go for the winter? Florida? ....and sent us scuttling indoors for safety.

Colder evenings and mornings do call for one of my favorite drinks - Hot Chocolate, and I'm giddy with excitement over a new way to prepare it that I gleamed from a recent trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Before travelling, I was perusing websites of the city and came across a lot of people discussing their undying love for Argentinain Hot Chocolate, so I made it a point to take some snaps of their preparation - cutely named El Submarino - or "The Submarine" at one of the numerous cafes dotting the city, where I was lucky to find ONE waitress who knew a little English and could explain what I was attempting to eat or drink. Students, grab your notes!

1. Get a glass of hot, scalding milk.

2. Grab a bar of chocolate, dark seems to be the variety they use. I'm partial to milk chocolate, though. Ignore ooeey, gooey chocolate dessert the significant other is scarfing down. Is scarfing a real verb?

3. Carefully place chocolate bar in milk. Pose, for posterity sake.

4. Actually, students, that was a mistake. You are supposed to DUNK. Think Kobe Bryant. But in Argentinian.

5. Swirl with spoon and watch the ensuing chocolatey, frothy goodness that evolves. Is chocolatey a real adjective?

6. We enjoyed said El Submarino beverage at the very pompous sounding Establecimiento General De Cafe where I was lucky to get a menu with pictures, because my Spanish would make your ears hurt. That's probably one of the waiters fleeing the cafe while I was trying to order off the menu.

Establecimiento General De Cafe

Reconquista 591 (Esq Tucuman)

Buenos Aires,

Argentina