So much for my steely resolve...

People who want to lose weight really shouldn't know how to cook, let alone make wonderful, full of calorie- desserts! I really hate myself right now. When I left home last month, I'd promised myself that I wouldn't bake or make anything that was loaded with calories, because, to quote my cousin Tanya- I put on weight if I breathe too much! And I've been pretty strong too, for someone who has a serious sweet tooth (and also has Anand sweets right opposite her house!). I stuck to a no rice diet, exercised religiously and even went to yoga thrice a day sometimes (overzealous much!). But two days ago, my steely resolve flew out the window as did the promise not to eat anything sweet.

It all started with the half finished loaf of bread in the fridge (damn you half finished bread loaf!). Last month, when I was home, I had this mad craving for bread pudding. I know what you'll think; of all things in the whole wide world, I wanted bread pudding. But it's not any ordinary soggy bread pudding I wanted, it was Nigella's Chocolate chip bread pudding! And the way she describes it get's your mouth watering. Since I didn't have all the ingredients she used, I made up my own recipe and the result an amazingly soft, crisp on top, slightly soggy at the bottom bread pudding with melting chocolate chips! Two days ago, I spied some bread in the fridge and I decided to make some again, since Tanya's just got braces for her teeth and can only eat soft food...and what better soft food than bread pudding. Again most of the stuff we needed, we didn't have them and we borrowed from our very nice neighbours. And once again the recipe doesn't fail and I have three adoring fans.I don't have a picture to upload coz it was finished so fast.

Soaked bread cubes packed with chocolate chips

After the bread pudding I was guilt ridden. I know I shouldn't have, but then I couldn't. And then I made Panna Cotta with Passion fruit jelly yesterday! I'd promised my aunt whose a vegetarian that I'd make something she could eat, so the panna cotta. The best part about it, well other than that it was fantastic, was that I told that idiot boy (read cousin Tushar) that I ate all the passion fruit! Bazinga! He ate most of the passion fruit without sharing, so I'd say he deserved it ( well, apparently not enough...coz he got a share of the panna cotta). Any way, I ate that too...so I have to do some extra exercise (youch). Here's a picture of the damn panna cotta with passion fruit jelly.

I love this...don't you?

Oh and here's a picture with my cousins Tanya and Tanu 

the one in black's Tanya, the pink lady's Tanu...The other one's obviously me the pretty one! :D

And now the recipe...I know Anton Mosimann's bread pudding is the best (or so I hear, I've actually never tasted it or attempted to make it either). But until I do, (or probably even after I taste Anton's) this is the most amazing bread pudding! EVER!

My version of Chocolate Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

250g - Stale bread (either white or brown) with the crust on, cut into cubes

100g - Chocolate chips ( dark or milk chocolate), I always add extra

2 eggs, at room temperature

500 ml full fat milk

1 tbsp - brown sugar (light or dark)

1/4 cup - granulated white sugar

1 tbsp - good quality cocoa powder

2 tsp - vanilla extract

2 tbsp - dark rum, optional

1 tbsp - freshly brewed strong coffee, optional

1 tsp - cinnamon powder

4 tsp - demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Tip the cubed stale bread onto a greased round pie dish (approx. 23cm). Sprinkle the chocolate chips on and make sure to mix it well with the bread, so that they're evenly distributed.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, granulated white sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon powder, rum (if using) and coffee (if using), until all the sugar is dissolved. Pour this mixture over the bread and chocolate chips.

3. Squish the bread cubes down slightly using your fingers and allow it to soak for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Sprinkle on the demerara sugar over the pudding mixture and bake for 30 - 40 minutes.

Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream, or else just enjoy it as it is with a cup of coffee.

*If your bread isn't stale, then leave slices to dry first, for a while, on a wire rack before cubing and using.

Until next time (I will tell you about my love for Chuck Hughes)...Happy Baking!

Four posts in one day...ha! so much for laziness!!!

I guess I am wired from all the yoga today, hence so many posts. Also, I felt a wee bit guilty about ignoring the blog for so long and decided that I better catch up and post some stuff. And also, I forgot to mention that I had baked 4 wonderful Tarte Tatin's for Anjali Aunty's kitty party and I got rave reviews for them. I baked another Tarte Tatin last week for my aunt's party, so I guess I can say I am getting to be quite an expert at baking them. After all they are so easy.

Tarte Tatin with Tanu's finger!

Also I came up with a new recipe for Sweet n Sour chicken. It all started with an intense craving for Sweet n Sour chicken when I was at home in Coorg; and since there are no great Chinese restaurants nearby, I had to make some myself. It was sooooo goood, I think I almost bit off the tip of my li'l finger (hee hee). See picture below. Recipe to follow soon.

ooohhh...I wanna have some now!

I also baked some Red velvet cupcakes. I am crazy about red velvet cupcakes, and who wouldn't be...they look so pretty and taste so good too! And they are so moist...add a little cream cheese icing on top and it's the bees knees! See picture below.

The red velvet cupcakes just out of the oven...I didn't put on any cream cheese frosting coz there were no cupcakes left to frost, we ate 'em all :)

And finally to the recipes...the recipe that I am sharing is one of my own and it's easy (a li'l time consuming, but all good things to those who wait or something along those lines). And it's another of the recipes from the baking class.

Mushroom Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

Pasta – 200g pack (You can get any pasta of your choice, farfalle, penne, rigatoni, macaroni, fusili, ziti, alphabet pasta, paprdelle, rotini, penne rigate, conchiglie, orecchiette, rotelle etc.)

Mushrooms – 300g (You can get any mushroom of your choice or mix them, button mushrooms, shitake, porcini, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms etc) (cleaned and chopped)

Olive Oil – 1 Tablespoon (or any cooking oil) plus 1 Teaspoon of oil for boiling the pasta.

Salt to taste

Worcestershire sauce – 1 Tablespoon

Crushed Black Pepper – 2Tteaspoons

Garlic – 4 large cloves crushed

Parsley – 2 Tablespoons (chopped finely)

Coriander leaves and stalk – 1 Tablespoon (chopped finely)

Mint leaves – 1 tablespoon (chopped finely)

Dried Rosemary – ½ Teaspoon

Dried Thyme – ½ Teaspoon

Dried Oregano – ½ Teaspoon

Dried Chilli Flakes – 2 tablespoon

Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese – 200g (grated)

1 large onion cut into rings

1 large bell pepper (capsicum) cut into rings

1 large tomato cut into rings

For the Béchamel Sauce:

Wheat Flour – 100g

Butter – 100g

Warm Milk – 400ml

¼ cup pasta water

Salt to taste

Crushed black pepper – 1 teaspoon

Cinnamon or Nutmeg powder - ½ teaspoon

Instructions:

Fill a large saucepan with water, add 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a rolling boil. When the water starts boiling, add a teaspoon of oil, then add the pasta and give it a stir. Cover the pot and let boil for 15 to 20 mins. Keep stirring in between or the pasta will stick together and burn. Also, keep checking to make sure the pasta is not overcooked. It should be just cooked “al dente”.

Once the pasta is cooked right, then immediately strain into a colander to remove the pasta water. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water and set aside. Run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking process and set aside.

In another pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil, fry the crushed garlic and then add the mushrooms to the pan. Add salt to taste, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and the herbs and and sauté them till it is cooked. Add 2 tablespoons of the grated cheese and set aside.

To make the béchamel sauce, on low heat, roast the wheat flour till slightly brown, add butter and stir vigorously till you have a roux (the flour and butter mix to form a thin paste). Stir so that there are no lumps. Now pour in the milk and whisk continuously to remove all lumps, keep stirring until you feel the sauce thickening. Now add the pasta water, keep whisking, also add the salt, pepper and cinnamon or nutmeg powder. Whisk until you have a thick but pourable and smooth sauce.

Into a large baking dish, first add a 2 tablespoons of béchamel sauce and spread to cover the base. Now add the pasta and half the béchamel sauce and 2 tablespoons of grated cheese. Mix lightly. Next add the mushroom and cheese mixture and spread on the pasta. Spread the rest of the béchamel sauce and sprinkle half of the remaining grated cheese. Arrange the onion rings, bell pepper rings and tomato rings and sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese on top. Finally sprinkle the chilli flakes on top of the grated cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or until the cheese melts and top is bubbling and is lightly golden and crisp. Serve hot with fresh garlic bread.
And for all you meat loving types who can't live without it, you can add minced meat or even sausage to the same recipe.

Until next time, Happy Baking :)

In loving memory of my Rusty

On 6th August 2013, my best buddy our wonderful dachshund doggie passed away. We were all heartbroken, coz he'd been with us since October 2002. He was the most amazing dog ever and will be sorely missed.

Here are few things about my doggie I want you all to know (even if you don't want to know I am telling).
1. Rusty loved flowers (yup, he truly did) especially hibiscus (mostly red or orange colored ones, but he was fine with all colors as long as they were hibiscus). Every morning my Dad cleans the Prayer room and throws out the flowers, Rusty was ready for just this and moment he chucks the flowers, he'd start eating the stamens ( I don't know why...I guess he loved the taste).
2. Rusty was so scared of our other dog Roxy (I call her rakshashi or demon dog, coz she acts like one), he'd always leave a part of his meal for her or else that demon dog'd try to kill him.
3. He never ever ever left the house like the other dogs did, he'd just stay in front of the porch and not leave until my Dad put him back in his kennel.
4. For all the fear of Roxy, he never shared his biscuits like he shared his meal...and she knew not to mess with him for that biscuit.
5. Rusty loved coconuts, he'd keep the hard shell with him for days and keep digging into it until even the smell of the coconut is gone. Actually he ate most fruits...coconuts (especially tender coconut), avocado, jackfruit and even mangoes.
6. For some reason Rusty hated our Ganesh Bhatta ( the brahmin who comes to our temple for puja). Every Monday morning he'd refuse to get back in the kennel and when Ganesh Bhatta came inside he'd chase him all over the place.
7. This one time when my Dad had just come back a few months after his surgery he was alone at home and went upstairs to check the doors and windows. Rusty and Jojo (the dog we had before Roxy) searched all over and when they didn't find him climbed up the stairs to find him (Rusty never climbed stairs, being a dachshund he couldn't). Such was his loyalty and love towards our family.
8..And lastly, whatever I baked Rusty always got a share of it. He'd eat me up if hadn't given him a piece.

He was such a love, that li'l dog...so loyal and loving. We will all miss him, even that Roxy. She searched for 2 days and kept whining all the while (so much for bullying him all the while!).

Rusty

xxx

How Do I bake when there's no power or even post on this blog???

I know I haven't posted anything in a while and now I am trying to make for it by writing 2-3 posts on the same day. I won't say I've been really busy, because I have and I haven't been busy; make whatever of that you will. I have been just plain lazy. I went back home to Coorg in June and the day I reached, it started pouring and still hasn't stopped. And to make it worse we had no power for weeks together (I felt like I was in a an episode of that TV show Revolution). Oh! and the icing on the cake (a cake that wasn't baked coz there was no power!!!) we had Elephants living in our coffee estate! The happy Pachyderm family ( daddy elephant, mommy elephant and a very mischievous and destructively happy baby elephant) decided to park their humongous bottoms next to the Jack-fruit tree which is very close to our house (I could actually see them from the bedroom). For three nights in a row they'd walk all over the place, did some intelligent construction so that their naughty Li'l baby didn't fall into our lake and gave our poor dogs a fright! Well all's good now, coz the pachyderm family decided they were better off in the forest.

Since I didn't bake anything, here's another recipe from the baking class...This is not as simple as you expect it to be, but if you read the ingredients list and the recipe thoroughly and follow the instructions you can't go wrong. And you'll have a beautiful cake as proof!

Marble Cake

Ingredients:

5 ounces (140 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon brewed coffee (optional)

2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup (80 ml) sour cream or plain yogurt, room temperature

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, room temperature

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick spray, a 10 inch (25 cm) bundt or tube pan ( If you don't have one, use a normal round pan).

In a heatproof bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate with the coffee. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the batter, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Remove a little more than half of the batter and place into a separate bowl. To the remaining batter stir, or beat, in the melted chocolate. Place the batters into the prepared bundt pan by alternating spoonfuls of vanilla batter with the chocolate batter. Then, with the end of a wooden skewer or knife, gently draw swirls through the batter to marbleize  it ( make swirly patterns on the cake). Don't over mix.

Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center just comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes before removing the cake from the pan to cool completely. Can dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder or powdered sugar (I don't do this, what's the point of going to the trouble of making all those swirly patterns just to cover it up?). Serve warm or at room temperature. This cake is best the day it's made, but it will keep for a couple of days at room temperature or it can be frozen.

Well then...until next time... Happy Baking!

Baking Classes, power yoga classes and going crazy at a Book Fair in Bangalore!

The past few months have been filled with fun and absolute craziness. I was in Bangalore at my aunt's place. The first few days I spent calling every yoga class in Indiranagar ( I had to lose all the weight from the baking spree). Most of them were either too far off or offered only 3 classes a week, BUT I had a lot of weight to lose (according to my mother... not me, I think am just well rounded with just the right amount of curves!). Finally after days of phone calls, I decided to try out Fit n Fine Power yoga centre (next to Namdhari's on the ESI Hospital road) and I actually enjoyed it. I didn't even mind getting up at 6:30 A.M and walking from home to the yoga class. Now I believe all those people who said yoga makes you feel better on the whole, and it's not just about losing weight. You have a positive attitude all throughout the day and you just feel better about yourself.

After yoga class I really didn't have much to do with my time, so when my cousin suggested that I start a baking class for kids at home I jumped at the idea. Tanya designed a very beautiful flyer for me and told all her friends about the classes. Three people attended my baking class ( I know...so much for all the big plans). There was Netra (Tanya's friend, who's always super excited about everything), Soni (our neighbour and Tanu's friend) and finally Tanu (my cousin). It was all in a rush, I got all the recipes printed out and all the stuff ordered in 3 days. The 16 days of those classes were so much fun (Of course, there were a few disasters with the power going off and all) and the girls managed to learn some great stuff. Here are a few pictures.

This is the poster that Tanya designed

These are the cupcakes we made in the baking class, it was a moist chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing and sugar beads...pretty no.

And finally the book fair at the Basava Samithi Hall...this is where we went totally crazy! This book fair happens every couple of months at the same place and they sell books by weight ( 100 Rs for 1 kilo, so you can imagine my excitement). The place is stuffed with all sorts of books and arranged neatly too. Last year, I took my brother with me to the fair and we bought around 6 kilo's (and I found Keith Floyd's cookbooks). This year, Tanya and I went twice and I guess we bought around 10 kilo's! Tanya and her friend Riya went through all the boxes underneath the tables for more books. I got Keith Floyd's cook book again along with the Ballymaloe cook book. All in all, a really really good bargain (coz most of those cookbooks cost an arm and a leg!).
 And finally here's a recipe from the cooking class.These cookies are amazingly moist and make a great snack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C). In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2.   Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (or you can use aluminium foil to line the baking sheets) .

3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the centre 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week (I assure you, there won't be any left to store).