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.

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

Grilled Ginger Chicken Yakitori with Leeks - and an old Trip to Japan

In a previous post, I mentioned a tiny Japanese restaurant in the heart of suburban New Jersey that became a firm fave of mine and gave my husband and I a new-founded respect for Japanese cuisine.

Then I actually got to go to Japan and ate McDonalds there for three days straight. More on that disturbing fact at the bottom of this post....

Aside from a delightful rolled beef and spirng onion dish (Beef Negimaki) that we constantly ordered, we would also alternately fluctuate between the chicken yakitori and tonkatsu. The former is chicken grilled in a teriyaki sauce, and the latter is more of a deep fried cutlet.

But in the mad rush that is the home kitchen, I realised I'd never actually attempted making these dishes at home, until Joanne's Regional Recipes came along showcasing Japan, and I thought "Well, now is the time or never!". Or I might have to settle for McD.

I saw a recipe on Food and Wine magazine (my new cooking muse) and I liked how they had incorporated ginger, leeks and bell pepper to this simple grilled dish.

We have the usual cast of characters to make the teriyaki sauce - yes people, we are making our own teriyaki, no store bought here!

Let me introduce you to Mirin, Sake and Soy Sauce - the same ingredients that were used in the Beef Negimaki marinade as well.

Grilled Ginger Chicken Yakitori with Leeks and Bell Peppers
(adapted from Food and Wine magazine)

Ingredients
1/3 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar (you can ramp up to 2 Tbsp as per the orig recipe, I just don't like too much sweetness)
2 tsp grated or crushed fresh ginger
~2 lb boneless chicken (thighs or tenderloin)
Optional - yellow miso paste (3 Tbsp) - I did not use this
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cored, cut into squares
1 leek, white and light green part only, washed thoroughly, halved and cut crosswise

1. Soak bamboo skewers in water for ~ 4 hours so that they do not burn while grilling.
2. Mix sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and ginger in a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat for about 5 - 10 minutes.

3.Thread chicken, bell pepper and leek pieces alternately on bamboo skewers and place on foil rimmed pan. Brush or pour marinade onto the skewers, refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Do not discard marinade, you will want to re-use it for basting while cooking.

4. Preheat oven broiler or fire up a BBQ grill, grill the skewers while basting with the remaining marinade and turning the skewers over so that all sides of the meat and vegetables get cooked. (It took me about 10 -15 minutes in an oven broiler).

5. I served the yakitori with steamed broccoli, boiled potatoes that had been tossed in butter and red chilli flakes, and some fried carrot and celery rice.

Back in the day (prehistoric - I didn't even have a digital camera!) I got to visit the magnificent country of Japan. However, I was also pregnant, and when we reached (literally) the other side of the world, my olfactory system went into overdrive and I very conveniently developed the most horrific case of nausea, which would then plague me for the rest of the pregnancy.

Nice going Ann, way to kick start your vacation in Japan!

Every restaurant sent me into shudders as the new smells and sights put my over-reactive digestive system into tremors. I sadly moped along the roads looking for something  to placate me, and my eyes fell on those golden yellow arches. Yes, people, I dare to divulge that I ate McDonalds (horrors!) for the next three days. Even though we couldn't quite figure out what we were ordering from the bright, cheery menu boards, fries are fries at the end of the day in any continent. Go on, laugh. I'm already planning a second trip to make up, suckers.

It didn't stop me from taking in the sights and sounds (maybe just not the smells) of Japan. I left in awe of the clockwork efficiency of the country and the homogeneous nature of its people. We never felt unsafe, we learnt their systems and traditions quickly thanks to the help of kind passer-bys and we marveled at their stoic and proud heritage.

At the revered Sensoji Temple in Asakusa district. I've always wonderd in Pier 1 carries that lantern in that size and more importantly, what could have happened if it had fatefully fallen on me.

Attempting to not cross a street at Akihabara - the electronics retail section of Tokyo. Very difficult to do, because you get swept in a sea of mankind and they politely deposit you on the other side of the road. Stores displayed every range of electronics from the latest in computerized toilet seats (heat and water strength monitors) to what looked to us like funny miniature walkmans which would then arrive Stateside as Ipods. They were 5 years ahead of us!

At the entrance of the Meiji Jinju temple in bustling Harajuku. Yes, the same Harajaku neighborhood of Gewn Stefani notoriety with its strange mix of British punk teenagers had this ethereal lush green Yoyogi park. The noise of the city is miraculously silenced here and you are transported into another era. Seriously, I kept thinking "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" characters were going to leap out of the trees.

Walk thorough the park for twenty minutes and you come across the majestic Meiji Jinju temple. And guess what, it was apparently "Perfect Day to Have a Wedding" Day in Japan, we walked into FOUR separate Shinto weddings taking place, and the families let us watch. A completely other world and beautiful experience, though I will give a fashion shout out to that priest, take a look at his Lady Gaga-esque platforms.

This bride was going through several kimono changes with her assistants for a wedding photoshoot and gamely let me capture a shot of her. Check out the elaborate hairdo.

Finally, as we were leaving we bumped into an army of little tots, dressed up in regalia escorted by their grandparents for some sort of children's bendiction. This sweet grandma let me take a picture of her cutie pie, who in turn flashed some sort of gang sign at me.

This very lengthy post goes off to Joanne who is hosting Regional Recipes - Japan this month!

About a Girl and a Chocolate Cake

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in Africa. She whiled away her carefree days playing in the dusty backyard, flanked by jacaranda and mango trees, whose dark, green canopy of leaves provided respite in the long summer afternoons. One day, a truck appeared at the vacant house next door and a prim, bespectacled woman, modestly dressed in beige, alighted.

The little girl stared at the new neighbor and flashed a toothless grin, only to be met with a stern, reproachful look from the newcomer. 

As days past, the neighborhood children gathered new info on the stranger in their midst. Her name was Miss Cole*, and she had arrived from Britain to teach English at the nearby high school. Ms. Cole was unmarried and for all intents and purposes looked like a modern day Mary Poppins, complete with parasol.

One late afternoon, there was a knock at the door, and Miss Cole appeared with a cake in her hand. The little girl watched as her mother and the neighbor exchanged pleasantries and made small talk, but she was far too fascinated with the cake, a dark brown chocolate cake which sat on a light blue plastic platter and was covered in a dusting of the most magical looking tiny snowflakes.

The ladies made their way to the kitchen, and the cake lay in regal position at the center of the dining table. The little girl tip-toed closer to the cake, brushing against the white voile curtains that billowed softly with the afternoon breeze. She straightened her red cotton dress and leaned closer, inhaling the heavenly scent of the chocolate and vanilla that wafted from the warm cake. The smell was intoxicating, and some of the little white flakes that dusted the cake stirred and whirled around, dancing to the wind.

They wouldn't notice, thought the little girl, as she carefully stretched her arm and swiped it across the top of the cake, leaving a gorge-like trail in the middle of the cake and quickly popped it in her mouth.....just as the kitchen door opened and Ms.Cole stepped out.

* True Story - name changed slightly

A couple of months ago, the Barefoot Bloggers (of whom I am no longer a part of) set about to make Ina Garten's Baetty's Chocolate Cake. I actually made the cake along with them, but never posted it, because along the way, the little girl with the red dress grew up with a classic case of procrastination and sheer laziness. But one slice of that cake sent her hurtling back into the memories of Ms.Cole's cake - a dense, deep and rich chocolate cake made even more moist with buttermilk. As I munched on the cake, I realized that Ms. Cole's chocolate cake had been doused with white coconut flakes, so I proceeded to do the same and discovered cake nirvana.


Chocolate cake + crunchy dessicated coconut = Bliss.


And a little girl in a red dress went about her way, giggling after a stern rebuke from her neighbor, who had just introduced her to a life long addiction. To cake.


Cook's Note - there is a lot of internet buzz that Ina Gartens recipe (Beatty is apparently her friend's grandmother) is actually a riff of an old Hershey's Cake recipe called Black Magic Chocolate Cake. I haven't seen this recipe, but I'll let the pundits duke it out.

Baetty's Chocolate Cake - from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
3. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
4. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
6. Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.


Frosting -I did not use the Ina Garten recipe for buttercream frosting because I got a little queasy with using raw eggs in the frosting. Instead, I hopped on over to Sheba at Art, Food and Travel Chronicles and copied her easy-peasy chocolate frosting instead!


2 tbsp melted butter
6 tbsp cocoa
1 cup sifted icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp hot water

Mix the melted butter, the vanilla and the cocoa. Sift the icing sugar and add it in. Mix and add the hot water little by little until you get the desired spreading consistency. Spread on cake and allow to set.

For the Ms.Cole Effect - Sprinkle dessicated coconut flakes over the cake!

I am sending this in by the skin of my teeth (T -30 minutes to deadline!) to Divya's Easycooking event - The Best Chocolate Cake Ever in honor of her second "bloggiversary".

And in hindsight, I am also sending this in to the food fiction event "Of Chalks and Chopsticks" hosted by the uber-talented Aquadaze at Served With Love.

A Seaside Break and a Stack of Sweets

Spring has Sprung! Finally, winter seems to have left for good, and so with the kids off on their Spring Break, we took to the beach for some R&R with our crazy zingbang extended family. Here are some scenes from surfside and the rented beach house.

Morning Ablution

The kitchen was swarming with my uber-talented aunts, so I stayed far away, and the only offering I made was this measly fruit salad. Biut I did get points for cutting the strawberries into pretty shapes!

Under Construction =)A cuppa tea by the sea (inspired by Archana's Cup of Chai)Gone Fishin'

The Rental. No Jersey Shore "Situations" here....

I came home to realize I was hours away from the deadline for the Indian Cooking Challenge - hosted by Srivalli. This month's challenge was the traditional Andhra Pradesh sweet snack called Ariselu or Aathirasallu, usually prepared for weddings or religious festivals.

These ICC challenges are proving quite interesting to me, because I'm pretty sure 90% of the items are going to be things I have never tasted before. So I may need to hire some ICC pros to taste test my renditions of them, just to see if I'm even on the right page!

Ariselu is a thin fried bread made out of rice flour and jaggery. Jaggery is unrefined sugar commonly used in Asia and Africa, and much lauded for its health benefits over refined, processed white sugar. I would define jaggery as lumpy, brown sugar before it got powdered and made into the neatly labelled bags we see in the grocery store.

I was a little intimidated with its use because I thought it would be way too sweet, but surprisingly it was not. The little breads just had a tinge of sweetness to them and the refreshing crunch of coconut comes through too.

Thank you to Srivalli for hosting ICC and for introducing newbies like me to these little Indian treats!

Cook's note: The only change I made to the recipe was to toast the rice flour a little, because I don't like the raw taste of white rice flour.

Recipe (from Srivalli's Cooking For All Seasons)

Toasted Rice Flour - 1 glass (standard measurement)
Jaggery - 1/2 glass
Coconut grated - 2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1/2 glass
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

Oil for deep frying.

Method to prepare:

1. Cook jaggery and water on high. Then add the cardamom powder. Once it starts boiling, add the grated coconut. You will see lot of bubbles coming out.
2. At this stage, add the rice flour slowly and stir it together well.
The beauty of this dough is, you can store and use it whenever you want. If it becomes too hard, just add about 2 tsp of water along with 2 tsp of sugar. Get it to boil, while you keep stirring it. The mixture should become soft again. When you handle it, it should come together as a soft dough. Divide it to equal balls.
3. Heat a pan with oil to deep fry the arisellu. In a greased plastic sheet, pat them down to equal sized discs. Press down the sesame seeds over the top. Once the oil is hot, gently drop these into them. Fry on both sides. Since the sesame seeds are just pressed over the top, they will get into the oil. If you want to avoid this, try adding to the dough.
4. Once they are golden brown, remove and drain them on a kitchen towel.They will be soft when you remove them, will become crunchy once they are cooled.
Makes about 8.

An Award, A Couple of Gulab Jamuns and A Little Bit About MeMe

Imagine sinking your teeth into a little spherical mass of milky sweetness, releasing a wave of cardamom tinged raindrops on your palate.

This, Gulab Jamuns, is the stuff of cherubic angels. I'm guessing they use them as ping-pong balls?

However, heady with your love for these tiny confections of love, you rush to your nearest Indian or Asian restaurant and order them off the bat, only to receive a wad of brown kitchen sponge soaked in yesterday's pancake syrup, served in a white styrofoam bowl (in which they nuked them in).

People - this is an ALERT.
Stop ordering Gulab Jamuns from those hole in the wall places disguised as Indian food establishments. Make them yourself. Milk powder, butter, fry, soak in cardamom/rosewater syrup.
This message was endorsed by the People for Ethical Treatment of Sweets.

Roll up your sleeves, get the recipe (verbatim) from Cynthia's Tastes Like Home, and try her Caribbean version of them too while you are there, and sink back into bliss.

I have been known to polish off entire batches.
That message was NOT endorsed by the Center for Weight-Loss, American Association of Cardiology and Diabetes Practiotioners, Biggest Loser TV Syndicate, The Association of All the Hole-In-The-Wall Indian Restaurants with the White Styrofoam Bowls.

So my blog also got a "kreativ" award from Sheetal Kiran from the notoriously funny Eats, Eats & Eats. Thank you Sheetal, I am flattered!
I'm supposed to list 7 random facts about myself:

1. I was born in Africa (Zambia) and lived in Botswana till I was 20 years old. Quick, children, run to your atlas and find where BOTSWANA is now! Naturally, I view the world through safari-tinted glasses, which may or may not be to my detriment...
2. The radio stations in my car oscillate frequently from Classical Music to NPR to Alternative Rock to the Best of the Eighties.
3. I love, love, love to travel, and have visited 6 of the 7 Continents. Watch out ANTARCTICA!
4. I am a Sagittarius and have all the bad personality traits associated with this star down pat. I'm loyal, generous and honest to a fault, passive-aggressive and expect 100% from my closest friends. If a friendship is betrayed or I've been hurt, revenge is swift. Don't worry, no blood or daggers, the most I've done is quickly UNFRIEND you on Facebook. And delete all your emails. Or any trace of you in my life.
5. I have had trouble all my life acquiring the taste for coffee (except in cake), beer (except in bread) and dark chocolate. Solely for this reason, I had to decline the position on Top Chef that then went to Padma Lakshmi. *har har har*
6. On occasions, I react to shellfish (iodine) and break out in hives. Its very random, so I'm always taking chances.
7. I am a thorough Procrastinator, with a side of Perfectionism and a smattering of Pessimism. Which means on a good day, I don't get much done because I keep thinking I'm going to mess it up and not do it right, so why bother doing it anyway, because I could always just do it later, perfectly...

8. I bet you still haven't found Botswana *hee hee hee*

I'd like to in turn pass on this award to the following 7 Hall of Famer's (in my books!) -

Joanne of Eats Well With Others
Rina of Rina's Recipes
Arundhuti of Gourmet Affair
Cherine of Chicho's Kitchen
Joumana of Taste of Beirut
Aimee at A Twist Of Spaghetti
Sayantani at A Homemaker's Diary

This Book Makes Me Cook - Climbing The Mango Trees .... and a Hurricane

This month we're cooking the books with "Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India" by well-known Indian cookbook authoress AND award-winning actress Madhur Jaffrey.

"Well-known, you say? Well how come I haven't heard of her then, 'eh?"

Oh, sorry, you must have missed the TWENTY-SIX Indian cookbooks, three novels and an Autobiography that she wrote.

"Patooey, I don't read cookbooks, I only follow someone prestigious whom I've seen (on Food Network, ahem *cough*) or watched in action".

Ah, yes, that would have been hard given this James Beard winner also ACTED in a number of Merchant and Ivory blockbusters, had the lead role in the movie "Cotton Mary" and performed in Theatre and TV in England , India and the US. Oh, and I forgot about that part she had in "Law and Order" .

"Law and Order - oh! Was she that Psychiatrist chick! Now I know her!!!"

Despite the pedigree, I frankly have never researched or used a Madhur Jeffrey recipe. Why? Because I'm the one in italics above. Duh.

So I picked up this book on a whim from the library one hot September afternoon two years ago.

"Two years ago? Cheat! This was the Book of the Month selection THIS mon..."

Ah..patience, mon ami...

This book lays out a privileged childhood in a well-to-do and aristocratic family in Old Delhi. Jaffrey's family clearly were part of the creme de la creme of society, and had strong rapport with powerful political figures in pre-partition India.

While we are allowed a glimpse into her patriarchal family, and their splendid hill-station vacations with an army of servants, it is her description of the food that she grew up with and that she encountered that makes this book worthwhile. I feel Jaffrey's true strength shines whenever she encroached the subject of food as evidenced by the numerous times I ran to the kitchen starving after reading another mesmerizing account of fried breads sopping up juicy meats and curries!

The biography part of the book sadly, falls short. She tries to explain some of the relations in the family, like one particular over-bearing uncle and her unhealthy sister, which was enthralling for me, but she chooses to abruptly end the book with no form of closure or any idea of how the rest of her family fared. She also reveals very little of herself post-childhood.

The redeeming grace in the book is a large collection of Indian recipes at the end.

And as I read this book, September 13th 2008 rolled around, and with it, Hurricane Ike which landed in our town with the ferocity of a Category Two storm. It was the third costliest hurricane to hit the USA and caused the largest evacuation in our neck of the woods.

Did we evacuate? No.

We woke up to fallen debris, trees uprooted and electricity poles down. Our house was intact, but we had no power. The library that I took this book out from was destroyed, its books lay strewn as a soggy mess.

So. What does one do when they have no electricity and a book that obviously doesn't need to be returned in a hurry?

One sits down, and starts writing out all the recipes in this book into one's journal. Nice and neatly because we have all the time in the world. No TV. No Phone.

One then waits for the electricity to come back on. It does not, so one returns to writing more of the recipes. Albeit a little messier, because this whole no electricity thing isn't as romantic and great as it was first cut out to be. It's getting HOT in here. No A/C.

Day 8. Our street is the last to get power back, because, OF COURSE (!) the worst electrical damage occured in the line that our street uses. At this point, recipe notation and chicken scratch handwriting starts to reflect the demented state of mind of recipe-copier who starts chasing public utility vehicles when they turn into her street. It's bat crazy time at home now and the hand-writing below shows it. But I still kept writing...

So on that note, I will NEVER forget this book, because I had it with me for a good couple of months (side note, library is back in operation now) and I used it to provide some much needed distraction in that crazy time.

This also serves as proof that in the event of some natural disaster or alien attack or World War, I am NOT the person to be with, because I will be the one to do something left brain like, say, I don't know, SCRAPBOOKING whilst everyone else is running for cover or building generators from car engines.

The End.

To complete the review, I chose to make the Spicy Caulifower Bake - Cheese Vali Gobi.

Chocolate Truffle Gateau

You know you are getting old when.....

• 
  
  You wake up the morning of your birthday and decide to bake your own cake
• 
  
  You pick up a foreign magazine, written in a foreign language (മലയാളം), and decide on the spot. Yes! That one right there. That's the cake you'll make.
• 
  
  Never mind the fact that the recipe is also written in said foreign language.
• 
  
  But you're too old to let trivial matters like that stop you.
• 
  
  It's other facts like not even putting a representative number of candles on your cake that are more worrisome.
• 
  
  Four? Four times Four + Four = nah, that didn't work....
• 
  
  But at least the candles were hot pink.

This recipe for Chocolate Truffle Cake came from the Chef De Partie at the CG Hearth Experience Hotel Group, Kochi, Kerala. But it wasn't that guests in the Brunton Boatyard Hotel below were strolling around and eating this cake that got me.

Nope, it was pretty much the word Chocolate. (And even after making the cake, I'm still not sure where the Truffle part comes in).....

This cake is a light sponge, doused in a rum-infused sugar syrup and then coated in a silky chocolate cream. Happy Birthday To Me wrapped up all in there. I made this cake in Decemebr for my birthday....

After several text messages to people asking if "jhg%^$^$&" means 6 eggs or 7 eggs, I deciphered the recipe and it turned out pretty good. The kids devoured the icing, but didn't think the sponge underneath was that hot. The husband solidly ate through two-thirds of the cake. Moi, I'm still working off the combined effects of 6 eggs in a cake. Or was it 7? =)

Alas, this recipe was in good ol' Continental measure, so break out yer grams and yer millilitres, because that handy-dandy web conversion tool I had on the side of this blog seems to have gone missing. (R.I.P. Culiverter, though I'm sure there are just a few bazillion other web converting tools out there for your perusal).

Chocolate Truffle Cake (As seen (and meticulously translated via text messaging) in Vanitha magazine. My definition of "meticulous")

Sponge Cake

Flour - 135 grams

Cocoa Powder - 1 heaped Tbsp

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Eggs - 6

Sugar - 200 grams

Hot milk - 5 Tbsp

"Truffle" Cream

Grated Dark Chocolate - 150 grams (I used Baker's SemiSweet Chocolate)

Heavy Cream - 150 grams

Sugar SyrupSugar - 100 grams

Water - 250 ml

Lemon juice - a few drops

Rum - 2 Tbsp

Method

1. Preheat oven to 235 degrees Celsius/ 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Prepare Sponge -

3. Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder in a bowl.

4. Beat eggs and sugar together in another bowl till creamy.

5. Add hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture whilst beating continuously.

6. Fold in the flour mixture from (3) into the egg-sugar-milk mixture in small increments until just combined

7. Pour batter into a greased cake tin and bake in pre-heated oven for 8 minutes. Yes, people - 8 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick if you don't believe.

8. Prepare Truffle Cream -

9. Put cream and chocolate in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water and stir till chocolate melts.

10. Allow to cool, and refridgerate truffle cream for a minimum of 2 hours.

11. Prepare Sugar Syrup -

12. Heat water and sugar in a pot over medium heat. After the sugar dissolves, remove from heat and add lemon juice. If any sediments rise to the top, spoon these off and discard, and add rum.

12. Assemble Cake -

13. My cake did not rise that much, so I got two layers, but depending on your preference, slice the cake into as many layers as you want.

14. Brush the layers (sides and underneath as well) with the sugar syrup.

15. Spread truffle cream between the layers, and place layers back on top of each other.

16. Use the remaining truffle cream (heat if necessary to get a little better spreading consistency) to spread over the top of the cake and sides.

This cake is going over to Dil Se for the event "Show Me Your Cake".

Happy New Year and Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year to All of You!!

I hope your 2010 is filled with friends, family and good health.

Now I'm off to bake some bread, my New Years Resolution itself!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

from my home to yours.....

..and I leave you with some snapshots of our unprecedented snowstorm in good ol' Texas this month...

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

I am sending in these pics to the Christmas Event "It's Time to Jingle Again" at Asankhana.

An Award!!! Yippeeee

The wonderful Sheba over at Art, Food and Travel Chronicles has bestowed this award on me:

My first bloggie award! I've had my people talk to his people and we've lined up this piece of eye candy to be on my arm when I appear in person at the Annual Bloggie Awards Show to collect my golden statuette. Wait...there is an award show right?

Thank you Sheba for honoring me this way! I've watched bloggie awards flutter and fly past and I will be honest that I've occasionally sighed and wondered if one would ever chance upon my dusty pages. I'm supposed to pass this on in turn to 8 other bloggers, and that will prove difficult, since I have 8 HUNDRED favorite blogs that I follow.

So off we go to:
Joumana of Taste Of Beirut
Ria over at Ria's Collection
Teanna at Spork or Foon?
Jaya at Jayaspace
Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake
Nags at Edible Garden
Maria at Maria's Menu
Cynthia at Tastes Like Home

Blog on! =)

Hiatus...but I'm back!

Sorry for the long hiatus ....perhaps pictures may explain my abrupt absence over the last 2 weeks. We jumped at a hastily put-together opportunity to travel to beautiful O'ahu, Hawaii.

Trying my darndest to catch up with all the cooking challenges and posting deadlines.....

Boo!

Here are the pumpkins we carved this year. Cinderella and her Prince - who has been cast under an evil spell. Thought we'd twist up the classic a bit. Happy Halloween!
I still have another pumpkin left to carve, but I'm battling a 5 year old about doing another cartoon character vs. something ghoulish.
And I appear to be losing...

I'm sending these "pumpgrins" off to DK's Chef In You - who is hosting a "Show Me Your Pumpgrins" event. (Thanks Jaya for letting me know such an event was on!).

Zaara = Ann <> Zaara

Hello people - and all you 4 wonderful beings who read this blog (love you , muah!).

Before I go further, I just wanted to change my moniker on this blog. I started off using a "pen-name" of Zaara - but have decided to change it back to my "real" name of Ann.

Because frankly it didn't make any sense (I'm blogging about food for crying out loud!), and I must have been delusioned by grandeur when I started this all.

Which proves why I prolly will never pull off a million dollar heist, because I'd be the twit that hands the bank teller my ID card in the first place.

Cheers and Happy Blogging,

signed
The Real Me.
xoxoxoxoxoxo

The Blog World Has Been Good to Me.....*Le Sigh*...

It's not nice to toot your own horn, Ms.Prudie would say.

But I HAVE to. =)

Because the Two-Pronged God of Internet Giveaways exists. Yes - SHE does. ;-) And she struck me TWICE in the same week. This I can't believe. I've NEVER won anything before. NEVER.
When the co-workers do Lotto pools or World Cup Finals bets (oops, did I just say that in public) - they AVOID me at all costs.
Not any more, suckers.
First - Maria's Menu - who I've blogged about before because she has a TREASURE trove of recipes and a loyal following - was hosting an Amazon Gift Certificate giveaway to celebrate her third year of blogging. That prize landed in the lap of Yours Truly, and swiftly went towards the purchase of an EatSmart Digital Kitchen Scale from Amazon. I chose this scale based on the user reviews and also mainly because I am tired of baking-by-calculator. Yes, it's that bad chez moi.

Thank you Maria and many more happy blogging years to you!!!

And then, non-food related, but I'm giddy about this, the lovely Dithi - who is a self-taught artist specializing in Indian Folk Art- at Deezden was holding a giveaway to commemorate having 100 followers at the same time. And look what landed on my doorstep last week- a lovely cheery signed copy of her renditon of an Indian Parakeet. Thanks Dithi!! Check out her Etsy store for more colorful renditions of Indian religious figures and folk art.

There are truly gifted and generous souls out there - this is a thanks to all the bloggers out there who work so hard and share so much with the rest of us, I have so much to learn and I'm looking forward to it!!

No Kitchen - No Food!

I'm having kitchen work done, and have no access to my stove and sink - so unless I start doing reviews of microwave dinners - see you (all 2 of you fine selves) next week!

And this is how it began....

Hmmm, well lookie here now......
I finally took the plunge, into the world of blogging! I've been bitten by the foodie bug - which though it sounds like an illness - is more of an obsession. I would love to master the culinary delights of different cuisines and cultures, and increase my cooking repertoire, which sadly, has been stuck at a few go-to dishes that even I am getting tired of!

I want to use this space that Google has lent me, to chronicle my new found food affairs, and perhaps become an on-line diary of what I've tried, and succeeded and failed at....cooking =).