Author Archives: delhigrl

Fruitcake

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I’ve always liked bits and pieces in my cakes. As a child, I loved a Brittania fruit cake filled with tutti-frutti (probably plastic soaked in sugar syrup). I’ve wanted to bake this cake for years. This year-  I was at home during Christmas break and ready to take on a baking project. I am sorry I waited so long to make this- this cake is sublime. The flavors do indeed get better over time.

Alton Brown is a genius! His baking recipes work every single time. There is a video on the link.  Is this cake worth the effort? A resounding YES!

Day 1:

Prep 4 cups of dried fruits (I used 1 cup golden raisins, 1 cup currants, 2/3 cup apricots chopped to raisin size, 2/3 cup dried cranberries, 2/3 cup dried blueberries) and 1/4  cup crystallized ginger chopped to raisin size. Chop zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange into 1/2 inch dice. Add one cup of rum (I used a dark rum) to dried fruits and zest and cover with cling film to macerate for one day.

Day 2:

Make spice mixture: Grind 4 cloves, 6 all spice berries and a 2 inch piece of cinnamon to powder, add 1 tsp of ground ginger

Cook fruit and rum mixture with 10 tbsp butter, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of unfiltered apple cider and spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Cool for 1-2 hours or overnight

Day 3:

Baking day: heat oven to 325 F

Dry ingredients: 1 3/4 cup All purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp salt- sift together or whisk together

Add dry ingredients to the fruit mixture and mix with a wooden spoon.

Add 2 eggs one at a time stirring with the wooden spoon till well incorporated (this isn’t a genoise sponge – it will be fine). Stir in 1/2 cup of toasted and chopped walnuts.

Prep your pans. This amount of cake filled up 3/4 of a regular loaf pan (8.5 inchesx 4 inches) and 12 muffin cups. Bake till toothpick comes out clean (40 minutes for muffins and 60 minutes for loaf). Cook and baste with brandy (I used cointreau since we seem to have run out of brandy) . Every 2-3 days- baste with more brandy.  This cake tastes best about a week out. Actually, correction – we finished this cake in one week- perhaps it would have tasted even better at 2 weeks, we will never know.

 

 

Artichoke and Chickpea Tagine

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This is a recipe modified from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. All vegetarians should have a copy of this book- it is foolproof!!.

I love artichokes but I hate fiddling with the spiky fibrous vegetable to get at the delicious heart in the center. I find these fresh artichoke hearts (Montrerey farms) at Whole Foods occasionally and when I do- I always buy 5-6 packets and freeze the rest. The flavor is exactly the same as a freshly steamed and cleaned artichoke- never watery, always delicious. I used green olives rather than the oil cured black olives Deborah Madison recommends- I’d suggest using the black olives if you have them, they add so much more flavor in these stewed dishes.

Tagine is a Moroccon dish of slowly stewed covered meat- this vegetarian version cooks much quicker and the artichokes absorb all the flavors beautifully

Ingredients:

1 packet  herbal artichoke hearts (6oz)

1 large onion- and 2 large bell peppers- 1/2 inch diced

15 oz of chickpeas (either canned or pressure cooked for 15 minutes after an overnight soak)

3 tbsp olive oil

Flavorings: 12 olives finely chopped, 1 preserved lemon finely chopped, 1 tbsp parsley, 1 tbsp cilantro

Spices: 1 tbsp Harissa paste  (1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp caraway seeds, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 11/2 tsp ground red chilli powder, 1 tbsp tomato paste) and 1 pinch saffron threads (ground into a powder).

Heat oil- add onion and peppers and cook till translucent and slightly browned. Add spices or harissa. Add artichokes and saffron and cook for another 2 minutes. Add chickpeas, olives, lemon, cilantro, parsley and 2 cups of water. Simmer for 15-25 minutes till all veggies are completely tender.

Serve over couscous with chermoula sauce (4 coarsely chopped garlic cloves. 2/3 c cilantro finely chopped, 1/3 cup parsley finely chopped, zest of 1 lemon and juice of 2 lemons, 1/2 tsp cumin, pinch of cayenne pepper, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/3 cup olive oil). The chermoula keeps well in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

Vegetarian pot pie

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I love pot pie or rather I love the concept of pot pie, the actual pot pie often disappoints . The base of the crust base is often soggy and a little under baked.

My solution is to bake the crust separately. Here I used store bought puff pastry (all butter) and baked according to the instructions.

I make a lot of different potpie fillings, some are traditional (mostly bechamel based) and others like this malai paneer one are curry based. I used cranberries in place of my regular raisins today and I use less cream to make the sauce thicker.

Assemble just before serving, the pastry is crisp and buttery and the filling is creamy and full of veggies. A perfect Christmas lunch.

Brazilian Cheese puffs ( Pao de Queijo)

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It’s always tricky to bake something you have never actually eaten before. If you don’t like it, is it because you did a terrible job or because the taste is so new to you.

Luckily, there is no such conundrum with this recipe, it combines the best qualities of gougeres with mochi. Imagine a crisp crust with a glutinous but airy center. This is what the British call a “moreish” recipe, you cannot stop at one.

I looked up several recipes online and settled on this one from the NYT . It starts like a choux pastry recipe but with tapioca flour and then the cheese is folded in.  I always weigh all my ingredients- especially in a brand new recipe. Also- a stand mixer seems essential for this recipe, this is just a super tacky dough.

Ingredients:

  • 335 grams tapioca starch (about 3 cups)
  • 2 tsp kosher salt 
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅔ cup whole milk
  • 2/3 cup water
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • 1 ½ tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 94 grams grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about ¾ cup)
  • 94 grams grated Parmesan cheese (about ¾ cup)

Boil the water, milk, butter and oil together.

Add to the starch, baking powder and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Dump the liquids in and using a paddle attachment, mix at low speed till the ingredients come together (4 minutes for me).

Add the eggs- mix on low for 4 minutes, scrape the bottom and paddle and mix again for 4–6 minutes till the dough gets tacky and forms strands with the edges.

Add the cheese and mix for another  minute. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Divide the dough using a bench scraper into 8ths and then into 32s. Make 32 small balls using tapioca flour to dust your hands.

Bake at 375 for 20-23 minutes till pale golden brown. Bake only as many as will be immediately consumed. Apparently these get hard as they cool. We did not test this hypothesis since all the puffs were consumed within 10 minutes.

 

No Knead Rye Bread

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My life changed when I read Mark Bittman’s column on no-knead bread.  I found out that professional baking ovens had steam injectors which injected steam at the start of the baking process. This is what led to the shatteringly thin crust and soft centers of the artisan boules I loved. Jim Lahey said- just start the baking in a dutch oven- bake your loaf covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered. Brilliant in its simplicity!

The no-knead recipe not only saves time but allows complex sourdough flavors to develop with regular active dry yeast. 5 minute artisan bread a day by Jeff Hertzberg is my favorite bread cookbook. This recipe is inspired from his book.

Ingredients:

3 cups lukewarm water (680 gm)

Active dry yeast – 1 tbsp

Caraway seeds- 1.5 tbsp

Kosher salt- 1 tbsp

Rye flour 1 cup (120 g)

All purpose flour 5.5 cups ( 780 gm)

Cornstarch wash: Boil 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 tsp of cornflour in the microwave till glassy (1-2 minutes).  Cool

Add the yeast, salt and caraway seeds to the water and stir till they dissolve. Dump in all the flour and mix without kneading. I use a danish whisk and mix it till all the flour is hydrated. This will form a goopy, wet dough and the whole process shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.

Rest covered till doubled in size (2-4 hours)

Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. The dough will undergo a second slow rise in the refrigerator and can be stored for 14 days.

Baking day! Remove 1 lb of dough. Dust your bench and your hands and fold the dough onto itself till it forms a smooth ball. This is the trickiest and most important step and should be quick (less than 2 minutes) . The flour dusted smooth surface is critical for the final rise and texture of the bread. There should be no crags or cracks on the surface. Rest for 40 min- 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Heat a cast iron dutch oven or a baking cloche for 30 minutes.

Just before baking , brush boule with cornstarch wash, sprinkle with caraway seeds. I place it with the parchment in the cloche and bake covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered for 5-10 minutes till top is brown and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.

Rest the bread for 10 minutes before slicing.

Gruyere Biscuits

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These are from Paul Hollywood’s book How to Bake. They are flaky and cheesy and extremely dangerous to bake when you are alone at home. The recipe makes around 20 cookies and I may have eaten at least 7 while the cookies were still warm.

I love recipes with 3 ingredients .

Ingredients:

75 g all purpose flour, 75 gm shredded gruyere ( I used an aged dry one) and 75 gm unsalted butter (cold in 1 cm cubes). Salt and pepper to sprinkle

Using a food processor or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour till the mixture resembles bread crumbs, add the cheese and knead very gently till it just forms a soft dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes at least.

Flour your surface, roll dough out to 5 mm thickness ( I use 5mm rubber bands on my rolling pin) and use a 5 cm biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits. Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes till just brown around edges.

Remove to a cooling rack and cool (or not). Paul Hollywood says he enjoys these with champagne- they taste pretty good even without any

 

 

Vegan philly cheese “steak”

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When I ate meat, the philly cheesesteak was one of my favorite sandwiches. It’s grilled veggies, protein and cheese sauce. It’s always delicious.

This is my version. I used seitan inspired by a delicious vegan reuben that I had at Modern Love (Isa Moscowitz’s restaurant). Unlike other fake meats, seitan has been popular in East Asia for centuries. It is really good when crisped up with a little oil.

For my vegan cheese sauce, I used another Isa Moscowitz recipe – I’ve blogged about it before. Here is the link. Feel free of course to use real cheese, which I often do

The recipe is practically non-existent. Fry onions and peppers in oil with a few cumin seeds till brown. Fry seitan in 1 tbsp of oil till edges brown a little.

Pile on a roll ( I used a whole grain roll) and add cheese sauce.

Roasted pepper soup

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This is my vegetarian version of chicken noodle soup. I make it when someone is sick. It’s got lots of garlic and black pepper and it’s warm and comforting.

Ingredients:

1 red pepper, 1 medium red onion, 1 14 oz can of tomatoes, 10 large cloves of garlic, 2 cups vegetable broth, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1-2 tbsp butter, 3-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 tsp oregano

Chop the onions and peppers into 3 inch pieces, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast either on a grill or in a 450F oven for 20-30 min till soft and charred

Heat butter, add the garlic and fry till lightly golden brown. Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, roasted onions, peppers and tomatoes and the spices. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend. Garnish with a tbsp of cream and a drizzle of olive oil

Serve over spaghetti

    Note about vegetable stock- I’ve been using Better than Bouillon lately and the flavor of their vegetable base is extremely good. I suspect it’s the MSG or whatever equivalent they’ve called it. It’s delicious

Ginger Garlic and Broccoli Thai pizza

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Think of your favorite wood fired pizzeria pizza with its slightly charred crust with large bubbles. This is that kind of pizza but at home.

The toppings are inspired by Jim Lahey’s thai pizza from my favorite food site – Serious Eats. Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread changed my life but I’m not very fond of his pizza recipe. It’s too tacky and I like oil in my pizza dough. For my  dough- I used the olive oil dough recipe from my favorite bread book- Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day.  I will write a post about that recipe another day. Today- I want to talk about Thai pizza

Sauce: It is a regular bechamel sauce. Ingredients: 1 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp butter, 1 cup milk. Cook the flour in the melted butter for one minute. Whisk in the milk to make the sauce lump-free. Cook till the sauce bubbles and thickens. Add salt and pepper. Cool

Toppings: Finely chopped ginger, garlic, jalapenos,  baby broccoli.blanched for a minute

Cheeses: Provolone and Mozarella

Heat your oven to 500F with a pizza stone. Roll out or toss your pizza dough fairly thin. Spread the white sauce sparing half an inch at the edge. Sprinkle on the ginger, garlic and jalapenos. Add chunks of the broccolli. Add the provolone and torn pieces of the fresh mozarella.

Slide pizza on pizza stone ( I use parchment) and cook for 10 minutes.

These are flavor combinations that shouldn’t work but they somehow do. Cheese, Ginger, Garlic, Chillies- it’s a winning combination.

Puttanesca sauce

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The story goes that the prostitutes of Naples attracted customers because this sauce was so fragrant. I really like that story. The kids in Lemony Snicket (which is a very sly book) cook this for their guardian. My version doesn’t have anchovies, I’ve added gochuang, miso, shitake mushrooms, tamari and other ingredients to my puttanesca at different times. Today- I just skipped the anchovies.

Ingredients:

1 14 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped olives ( I used green, but oil cured would be fantastic here)

1-2 tbsp capers

4-5 large cloves of garlic (about 1-2 tbsp)

2 tbsp extravirgin olive oil

1/2-1 tsp dried red pepper flakes, 1 tsp dried oregano and 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat the oil, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes (don’t brown). Add the capers and olives and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and the oregano and the red pepper flakes. Cover the sauce and cook  this low and slow for 20-30 minutes.

Cook pasta, add to sauce, thin with some pasta water. Traditionally this pasta is served with parsley and without cheese but honestly, every pasta tastes better with some parmesan.