I HAVE MOVED....

I WAS FORCED TO MOVED FROM MY BABY,VANILLA STRAWBERRY SPRINFIELDS TO http://brightmorningstarsfoodie.blogspot.com/ COZ MY FEEDS HERE ARENT WORKING.....FOR ALL POSTS AFTER THIS HOP BY AND WALK THE WALK WITH ME......
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Saturday, October 24, 2009

A VEG A DAY-BEANS AND POTATOES WITH A HEALTHY QUOTIENT



Beans are loved by us all,and as far as possible we do try to fix the our daily dose of the cooked veg w/o oil & if using oil,a tsp at the most,of olive oil.

Ok coconut aint the healthiest thing but at least some brownie points on one count .ie,no oil,yet this one is healthier than many a daily veg dish..Have a couple of takes on this,like i splutter mustard seeds & then roast the onion,garlic ,coconut/coconut juice & then add beans(will post that too,till then wont this do)This is a quick one pan method,all u need is to chop,Place in the pan,ignite the gas top & stir a few times while checking on seasoning.
I came across thiswonderfull blog with a better event and i was full on for this one.
I wanted to bring in all my yellow(read-turmeric) hued delicacies along.
And i was introduced to this blog all thanx to





BEANS WITH BAKED JACKET POTATO

3 medium sized bunches of long beans

2 medium onions

3 tbh coconut grated with a tbh of garlic(food processor)

a small piece of jaggery/sugar
a tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp lime juice

salt to taste

METHOD

1. Chop onions finely,add to the pan with grated coconut & garlic. Chop beans as u like,add that too with the rest of the ingredients & a tbh of water.

2. Place pan on fire & cook on high,covered for 3 mins,this releases water & ensures it cooks in its own steam. Stir well.Cook again till done.Check seasoning.

3. OPTIONAL- add a cubed baked potato to this towards the end,i did,a lovely addition
  

 I sure could do with a garnish of cilantro or capsicum but then we had a green salas with loads of cilanro so skipped it here.
Goes really well with steamed rice,a curry,salad & fried fish.
The beans i used are a local variety called 'vaal',long gg beans,dont know if they string beans or what but will check on this one.

~~~CITRUS-LEMON CURD CAKE~~~my 1st xmas tree '09

we simply loved all the little pockets of lemon curd & a thin layer too!!!
YIPPEEE.................The winds have changed,yeah the winds brought an almost windy cool breeze today & yeah ,finally after a day or 2 of "too much" hot weather it seems like we are steping into winter..

Oh am looking foward to my early morning cuppa tomorow to catch the morning dew on the foliage around...(slept in late today working on a few post drafts late or rather early into the morning light.
On my minds also,what do i bake next,have'nt even yet finished frosting& clicking my french sables but was thinking about another nm cookie too.
Finished with frosting and my experiments with lemon curd -----read here----i was itching to bake a cake or cuppies that had lemon curd combined in the batter,oh what a texture that would be & yes i mean ----this rich buttery lemon curd=------- is just perfect for that me thought...
Browsed online ,inbetween a busy day but found none that apealed and incorparated the batter in,then when i was almost close to hitting the sack,all sleepy with moony eyes,eureka ...eureka...i found it ....on alpineberry(cute cute blog & name too)
Oh & she spoke about meyer lemons all way thru,i've been dreaming dreams about the famous meyer lemon since i first read about 'em,oh wouldnt i have loved to have meyer lemons growing in my backyard(am sure going to research on the possibilities of these)& at the moment we have a small basket filled with lemons & talks over dinner do steer across to lemon & lemon curd & sweet lemon pickle(pure goan style) every so once & yeah i'm going to pop in a lemon curd cake for dinner,yeah.But then finally changed my mind coz of the egg white beating & made this one instead.



Ok the zesty buttery tangy lemon curd lay hidden ,right behind in the refrigerating system...no.no ,i didnt save it for any rainy days,with a zesty curd as this there are only sunny days ahead(minus the heat that accompanies) so was looking,left ,right ,centre and around for a citrusy cake as planned looking for a zesty cake with lemon curd incorporated into the batter ,not as a topping or filling...and finally finally finally i found one...so that was set....but wait ...that calls for beating egg whites real well & 6 of them ,oh yes i'd love to save the yolks for some more lemon curd but i dont have a stand mixer(yet)as a kitchen assistant & with an extremely tight weekly schedule of classes to attend,project work to wind up,a few lunches & dinners to be fixed,shopping to be done(right away sir) & linen to be sorted(oh... i'm already begining to sound like my mom-she's my adorable darling bdw) without even being a wife yet or anywhere close but i love what am up to & when am doing it with mom & dad its even more enjoyable....So bookmarked that recipe for 'soon to try' & chose this one instead.

And i actually had to stop any baking for a few days coz there was actually no butter in the market and if it hadnt been for a replenish yesterday i was soon going to begin baking with clarified butter.I was stumped,how can there be a shortage of butter,what will happen to us bakers who dont believe in substitutes unless its clarified butter,(which am going to stock on too)i called all the supermarkets a few times,till yesterday evening i got the news that one of 'em had reciv'd stock in 100 grms stick.i use those anyway coz makes for eaiser weighing in(for soemone who doesnt have a scale).We usually have around 14 sticks in supply all the time ,but exactly at this time we didn but now i heave a sigh of relief....the 2 b's ,breakfast & baking just got better again.....

But i had to tweak it to conjure what i had in mind,so brought down the butter to 100 grams from 185 grams coz was going to replace the juice with lemon curd that was already high on butter and eggs so for the same reason the eggs got down to 3 smallish instead of 3 largish.....
And i know dec is round the corner so i already begin to feel christmacy around the end of oct, ringer tone changes to 'mistletoe & wine' & so was itching to bring out my xmas tree cake tin,i had a feeling its going to be a little small but yet when ahead'lining it high all around yet had a spill but cool it was just as delicious....
Lemons on Foodista

LEMON CURD CAKE
----adapted from exclusively food---
100 grams butter
3/4 cup sugar(granulated)
3 smallish eggs
1.1/4 cup a.p. flour sifted with 2 tsp baking powder
7 tbh + 1/2 cup---b z lemon curd---
 TO BEGIN NOW
1. Beat butter with sugar till your hands can take it or till very creamy,almost mouussy,whichever comes earlier,if u have a stand mixer,well 20 mins is all it'll take while u fix urself a chilled pepsi or coffee,whatever goes best with the weather or ur mood.
2. Add in eggs ,one at a time beating well,between each addition.



I MANAGED TO DO THE BEATING BY HAND(& THEY DONT HURT YET)
THE REMAINING PICS ARE AFTER ADDING EGGS,ONE @ A TIME















3. Add the flour in 2 batches,mix well & tip in the 7 tbh ---lemon curd----.Fold in well
4. Pour into prepared pan(20cms),lined with baking paper & tap lightly. Spoon over remaining lemon curd & swirl into the batter.
5. BAke in pre-heated oven @ 180*c till done or springs back to touch.




 DRIZZLE ICING
All u need to do is blend AROUND 1/2 CUP OF----THIS SIMPLE LEMONY ICING HERE---WITH A TBH OF WATERand pour over.







I'M ALREADY FEELING LIKE ITS CHRISTMAS......






Friday, October 23, 2009

~~~MINI BEEF STEAKS com BATATA EM NATAS(creamy baked potato)~~~



Mini beef steaks com batatas em natas



tiny beef fillets with a portuguese wine sauce and creamy potato'batata en natas'


Goan portuguese 'bife en sangue' goes tweaking

Beef and potatoes in all forms have always been a well recieved and loved combi,mashed or whole...
Now why cant i have my version of creamy mashed potatoes ,without really mashing 'em but baking 'em whole...ok done...
And they sure will be very well done,with the mini,too tiny for fillets ,fillets....
These were the thoughts flooding my mind as i drifted into a blissful sleep.
Many a time just when i rest my head upon my soft pillow,i get inspired..not inspired to sneak in the kitchen for a chocolate over dose in hot chocolate to dunk in a few cookies.

Last night as was ruminating on a few mini beef slices i'd kept by when we carving(as i call it) meats to pack in the freezer for the week i made these mini slices from the big scraps around & this is my crossover from a simple steak to a nice saucy one with a wine saucea.k.a.,like this wine sauce,minus the onion& butter,my all time fav& yeah here i kept cooking the beef while simmering the sauce in the same pan & it was delicious really.




Now the creamy potato was really that,creamy...like that one cheesesy baked veg dish we always seem to have at buffets,is it au gratin or white sauce,i aint very clear on that but i have to read up though now my batata em natas already sits in the oven,sizzling away....all ready and done...







FOR THE BEEF FILLETS


~~~7 tiny slices of beef

~~~garlic as per taste& a small piece of green chilly,seeds removed.


~~~salt and pepper to taste


~~~a splosh of vinegar & red wine


~~~olive oil to fry

FOR THE SAUCE


~~~1/2 cup chicken stock/beef stock/cube dissolved in water


~~~1/2-3/4 Cup red wine(portuguese)


~~~pepper,salt & pinch of sugar to taste







HOW TO.....
1)Pounded the slices in a ziplock bag & then rubbed with salt ,pepper,garlic.(i used both white and black pepper)
2)Place in a shallow glass marinating bowl,splosh over the wine and vinegar ,cover with cling film,marinate for an hour or overnight.
3)Heat olive oil in a pan & sear meat well,cover cook to brown on both sides & cook till soft.(after browned i added in some water with a little of sauce ingridients to soften meat.)
4)when done tip in all the sauce ingredients & simmer on high to reduce for a few mins.




BATATA EM NATAS
~~~1 V LARGE potato
~~~200ml of low fat cream
~~~a few garlic cloves to taste,crushed
~~~salt & pepper to taste
~~~a pinch each of sugar/honey& stock powder or cube
~~~1 cube cheese,cubed
~~~1-2 tbh cheese spread
note-i added in a tsp of prawn preserve too but thats absolutely optional & this is as delish without it too.
(this photo above ,before going to the oven)

1)Heat the cream.
2)Add garlic,pepper,stock powder/salt,pinch of honey/sugar. Good stir
3)Add green peas,both cheeses,blend.
4)Pour over potatoes & sprinkle crushed pepper.
5)Bake till done(first half of the time in baine marie but thats absolutely optional), at 210*c-250*c.t took me 2 hours in my oven to get this texture.







Wednesday, October 21, 2009

~~~A NOSTALGIC GOAN MEALEE OF GOAN BEEF CHILLY FRY & GOAN PULAO~~~



A GOAN MEALEE

i love goan food as much as goan street food & home cooked food in villages all over to re-discover & travel thru the well known flavours ,each as flavourful as the get & delish but all complimenting each other.
Another wonder day ends with a glorious sunset indicating we will soon welcome a glorious morn ,& then noon. and noon= lunch.


A lunch where i had to work around beef some of us going to be round the table,so thought a pound and half of beef would suffice& i pepeated a summer dinner of May '09 which was a great combi of a goan beef chilly fry with a quick salad & fish mol...i love the combi really...



This is born outa my passion for the flavours i know so close to my heart & have been born & brought up with. I love the addition of local toddy vinegar & love only the one my moms makes,its simply excellent & i treat it as an art ,right from the type of jars & all the tests they pass to procuring the best toddy from a sleepy village to getting set to them sitting in the corner for a few months...i wait eagerly to open the first jar...it does intensify in depth & flavour over time & i love that but there are some who prefer lime juice oevr vinegar and thats great too,i even try a combi of both at times...& it aint like i dont fancy balsamic or a good apple cidee r or red wine or rice wine vinegar but when we are talking vinegar the closest to my heart has to be a good goan toddy vinegar,the base of many a fantabulous goan creation.And ,ah, how can i forget tamrind combing with vinegar...oh that tang....


Ok now lets get going with the beef for which will mention the sustitutes too.


WHAT U NEED---


~~~~1 1/2 pound of beef/chicken cut into smallish cubes pounded a bit(around 700 grams)








1)NOW THE FOLLOWING IS FRESHLY CRUSHED AND RUBBED IN WELL INTO THE MEAT AFTER WASHING WITH A LITTLE SALT,TURMERIC,CUMIN POWDER,DRAINING OFF WATER & PAT DRYING
~~~~7 cloves
~~~~a piece of cinnamon
~~~~7 whole cardomons
~~~~7-10 cloves garlic
~~~~a green chilly(only the tail)
~~~~a red chilly(aldona/kashmiri)
the above i roughly crush ,helps keep spice level low too.
~~~~salt to taste+ a tbh of goan vinegar/lime juice

2)Marinate everything in a glass bowl & keep aside covered with cling wrap for an hour or overnight.






~~~~7onions cubed/ sliced(u could vary this to ur palate)






3)Place marinated meat along with spices(remove whole chillies), a pinch of sugar,half the cubed/onion,3 cups water(remember we are working on a pulao too & we need stock) & olive oil(stick to clarified butter for traditional flav but its lovely with olive oil too) in a pressure cooker & cook for around 2 whistles(1 for chicken).Keep aside.
U sure can place meat directly in the pan but i love what p.cooking does to the meat,kinda seals in juices &tenderizes so its great for beef anyway.
4)Now heat some oil in a pan,and while its heating strain stock.
5)Fry the remaining alongwith whole chillies in the pan &when done put in all the meat and along with the onion & spices to the pan.(here u can add a few peppercorns crushed,white and black)
6)Stir fry awhile,add in a cup of stock,reserve remaining stock.ANd a tsp or 2of TAMRIND PULP.
COver pan for a few minutes.
7)STir.Check seasoning,repeat with any of what the spices used if needed .

Now the PULAO can be prepared along side the chilly fry.
~~~2 cups basamati rice
~~~2 onions sliced
~~~2 tomatoes ,finely cubed
~~~3/4 cup green peas
~~~3-4 maggi cubes(optional)
~~~salt to taste


1)Wash2CUPs RICE well,soak in water.
2)heat 1 TBH OLIVE OIL.
3)fry 2ONIONS SLICED,when done add in 2 TOMATOES CUBED. Saute well.
4)Add the remaining STOCK and water to get 3.5 cups of liquid.
5)Bring to a quick boil.Add rice and some GREEN PEAS(FROZEN OR BOILED)
6)Cook till done.Top off with portuguese oilive oil.



this fry & fragrant rice combines well with a simple salad of sliced onions/shallots with cilantro & a squeeze of lime.






love the chilly fry served on a nice big slice of baked potato(boiling is fine too)

~~~~~SABLES~~~~~A FRENCH BUTTERY COOKIE






Cookies make me happy in a warm kinda way & i love to try very different cookies & if they are 'different',well they are my must try's. One such that i just came across is the FRENCH SABLE or FRENCH BUTTER COOKIE.











Sable is a classic French cookie originating in Normandy. French for "sand", which refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie. A versatile dough that can be flavored with ground nuts or zests and although traditionally round with fluted edges, they can also be cut into other shapes and even sandwiched together with jam or preserves, chocolate or lemon curd.


Cookies on Foodista

Now french butter is a little hard to come by but i can surely look for an AA scored butter but am already itching to try these & we have nothing for tea-time today.

I love to read a bit on what am playing with so got loads of info here http://www.joyofbaking.com/Sables.html. The french word sables means sand cookies or sandies which are so named coz of the fine & crumble texture but thats when the hard cooked egg -yolks are added. That version i'll try the next time round.


They can be flavoured with say orange & white chocolate or lemon zest or cinnamon but i love to stick to the traditional buttery vanilla,maybe with a hint of zest.


For shaping the dough there's the roll & slice kinda & roll out kind.well i 'd love to stick to tradition here too & have 'em rolled out & cut with fluted cutters,my tcm cutters will work best here.
Yes am following Martha Stewart recipe that calls for the addition of ground almonds but an egg wash with a criss-cross design is must,again a traditional way.And i love the addition of confectioners sugar that gives a nice added soft but firm crunch in cookies

Yup will play with some of the dough too though i doubt these would need to be frosted. Its going to be a busy day today & i so much hope that can squeeze in these FRENCH SABLE COOKIE's before tea time.


THIS RECIPE IS ADAPTED FROM MARTHA STEWART  and soon am going to try in the joy of baking recipe too.



INGREDIENTS
~~~1/2 CUP + 2TBH FLAKED ALMONDS(or blanched whole)/HAZLENUTS/WALNUTS/CASHEWNUTS~~~1/2 CUP CONFECTIONERS SUGAR
~~~95 GRAMS BUTTER
~~~1/2 OF A LARGE EGG(reserve half for later)
~~~1 TBH VANILLA EXTRACT OR CAVIAR OF 1 BEAN
~~~1 CUP A-P FLOUR

NOTES
===u can go with any nuts u want,i used a combi of almonds & cashewnuts,a few flaked almonds ,lightly toasted...just paly with the flavours.
===u can also use zest & juice of lime/orange.i love a classic vanilla.
===i added a wee bit more flour to bring the dough together.



HERE U GO...
~~~place almonds or nuts & sugar in a processor till ressembles coarse meal.(the sugar will help it from turning oily here)
~~~Beat butter & vanilla till light & fluffy.
~~~Add in the almond meal,beat till combined & add in egg.
~~~Add flour,bring together. divide to 2 discs & rolls in parchment paper to refrigerate for atleast around 3 hours or more
~~~take out one disc & roll between sheets of parchement paper(works excellent)to 1/4 inch
~~~cut out cookies,place parchement in freezer for a few minutes(delicate to handle,also i rolled my cookies thinner than the required 1/4 inch coz we love our cookies with milk crunchy & crispy)

~~~beat the left over egg w a tsp of water & brush tops with the egg wash.Criss -cross a pattern for a traditional,instant recognition shiny look(and make it i/4 inch thick)I tried out diffrent cookie cutters here.
~~~re-roll scraps & bake in a pre-heated oven at 180*C
~~~baking time is 15 mins but i bake at around half an hour & for crispier cookies.





A NICE NUTTY FLAVOUR SHINES THRU,WHILE HOLDING ITS OWN,THE BUTTERY SWEETNESS.
SHINY FINISHING TOUCH & CRISS CROSS DESIGN- INSTANT RECOGNITION





the flavour of these cookies is simply different
FOR THE ICING---
BLEND HALF CUP CONFECTIONERS SUGAR WITH LEMON CURD TILL ITS SPREADABLE ENOUGH.

i would have love to have some icing equipment & a steadier hand,made do with palstic bags with a hole pierced at the bottom.
Have let the cookies harden now& then they'll be gone.........
I publish the post,have a look & tip-toe to the kitchen to sneak in a cookie .....and help....they have all gone soft....am googling away trying to trouble shoot but everyone seems to have a prob with cookies going hard not soft and everybodyseems to love a soft cookie ,i bake my double time,this is too too soft...Oh ,dont tell me it has anything to do with placing the tray in the fridge after frosting to harden up quick beforetea -time..the moisture...oh what is it?????help...& had placed them carefully in an air-tight mind you....So after going thru all trouble shooting et all,i re-baked the cookies to a nice brown & they were back to being crunchier than before,& the frosting actually didn melt...just got firmed up....but dont yet know what actually when wrong.....
 

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