Brown Sugar Bee

Dates Galore!

2011-01-29T03:41:00.032-05:00

To date or not to date?

Definitely date!! Especially if you come across the date man who has his weekly supply of date gems every Sunday morning at the farmers market. He may be a rather unfriendly merchant, but his goods are always a hit!

Of the six varieties of the date fruit that he sells, the top picks are the large sweet and succulent Medjools and the nearly cylindrical and caramel-rich Barhis. I like to keep at least one of the two varieties in my date jar at all times for the perfect and pleasant snack for myself and the occasional dinner guest.

So I am spoiled on the date man and can't fathom eating normal Costco dates anymore. But I happen to have an entire box of store-bought dates in my fridge. What to do?

The absolute best compliment to the date is the nut. Mix the two and it's always a win win situation. My morning smoothie ritual consists of a blend of dates, almonds, almond milk and a banana. It needs nothing else... except for maybe ice, if the almond milk isn't already cold.

But what else? Use them in desserts!!! This past Christmas I concocted a raw dessert made out of dates and marzipan. Yes that is all. And it was a huge hit.

Marzipan-Filled Medjools with Orange Blossom and Candied Orange Zest

This is a fairly simple recipe that can be labor intensive if you are making the marzipan from un-blanched almonds.

Take home lesson: buy blanched almonds for marzipan. I made this up on the fly, so unfortunately i don't have a recipe to add here. Happy experimenting!

What else? Here is something my mother makes from time to time. Once again, dates plus nuts. Nutritious and delicious!

Date Nut Rolls

Tofu Pasta?

2010-12-12T03:25:00.012-05:00

I love pasta. But I don't love the excess carbs that come along with it. For this pasta dish I tried a new product which was surprisingly satisfying!

The product is called Tofu Shirataki (low carb pasta) and is made from tofu and Konnyaku, a member of the yam family. The best part about this product are the nutrition facts:

-3 g of carbs per serving

-20 calories per 4 oz serving

-no cholesterol

-no sugar

-gluten-free

-dairy-free/vegan

-contains 10% calcium

You can pretty much use this product in place of semolina pasta in any dish of choice. I did a basic stir-fry with sautéed onion, garlic, tomato and baby corn. I was also surprised to see how quickly this pasta filled me up. :)

Halloween Shortbread Fingers

2010-10-27T07:05:00.014-04:00

These shortbread finger cookies are super easy to make and are a perfect Halloween party food. This particular recipe can be seen in the October Double issue of Dark Beauty magazine. Enjoy! :)

Ingredients:

1 cup non-hydrogenated margarine

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup milk or soymilk

a handful of blanched almonds

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. In a large bowl mix margarine, sugar and salt with a hand mixer for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour and cornstarch. Beat both mixtures together until crumbly. Add milk and beat once again to form a soft dough.

Assembly: Form 3-4 inch fingers and shape as desired. Add a blanched almond at the tip of each cookie.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Lemon Verbena Snow Cone

2010-07-26T18:39:00.001-04:00

When was the last time you had a refreshing snow cone on a hot blazing summer day?

How about one made out of fresh Lemon Verbena?

I don't even remember the last time I had a snow cone. Maybe the age of 12? And even that was an artificially blue or red colored concoction with fake blueberry and cherry flavors. But as a kid, snow cones are just FUN, no matter what they are made of. :)

I happen to have a Lemon Verbena plant in the garden that is growing faster than I knew what to do with. Tea, lemonade.... but then what? I looked through some recipes and thought of making dessert with this aromatic herb. So I began with a sorbet recipe and hoped for the best! All you need are 4 ingredients: lemon verbena leaves, sugar, lemon and water. Here are the measurements:

-1 cup loosely packed lemon verbena leaves

-1 cup Turbinado raw cane sugar

-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

-3 cups water

Method:

-In a blender or food processor, blend the first 3 ingredients for about 1 minute

-Add water and continue blending until all ingredients are mixed well

-Pour mixture through a sieve to filter out any undesirable leaf remains. I used a VitaMix which broke down the leaves really well so this step wasn't very necessary in my case, but use your judgement.

-Use an electric ice cream maker to churn this into frozen dessert.

You will end up with a delightfully refreshing treat that will taste like sweet limes! Enjoy!! I certainly did. :)

Vegan Brown Rice Krispies

2010-07-11T23:17:00.032-04:00

Who would have thought that we could concoct vegan marshmallows? Yes, you heard me!! VEGAN marshmallows!

They can be found in select natural food stores nationwide. :)

I found mine at Country Sun in Palo Alto. I was so amazed upon finding them that I just had to pick up a packet to taste and experiment with.

Dandies Vegan Marshmallows look, taste and feel just like the non-vegan variety of traditional marshmallows that are normally sold at the local Ralphs and Safeway grocery stores. However, I was rather disappointed to find that outside of New York City, this product is not found is most of the Whole Foods markets.

So what to make? If I were camping this weekend I would take them along and roast them on an open fire. Or add chocolate and graham crackers for delicious s'mores. But for now lets just start with the basic treats! :)

Vegan Brown Rice Lemony Krispies

(made with vegan marshmallows, brown rice cereal and a touch of lemon)

This is a super easy and fast recipe that you and kids of all ages will love!

3 T earth balance

10 oz. Dandies marshmallows

6 cups brown rice cereal

2 t lemon or orange zest

2 t lemon extract

Directions:

1. line a 9x13 glass pan with parchment paper

2. melt earth balance in a large pot on medium heat

3. add marshmallows and stir until melted

4. add extract and zest to mixture

5. add cereal and mix very quickly, making sure to coat most of the cereal

The challenge I found here with the vegan variety of marshmallows was that they didn't melt into an even fluff. So as I was mixing all ingredients, a few clumps of fluff remained. But that is still okay because they will still stick to the cereal and taste great!

6. once mixed as evenly as possible, transfer mixture into the pan

7. using gloves or parchment paper, press mixture into the bottom and sides of pan

8. let cool and pull out the parchment paper with with the rice krispies block

9. cut into desirably-sized squares and ENJOY!

Result: light and crispy with a refreshing trace of lemon. For softer rice krispies add 2 t of maple syrup or agave nectar to the marshmallow mixture before adding in cereal.

So what is the next culinary adventure for Dandies Marshmallows?

Rocky Road Vegan Ice Cream!! :) :)

Fig Bars

2010-06-22T02:55:00.016-04:00

It has been a GOOD weekend.

We visited the beautiful Hakone Gardens, spent some time in downtown Saratoga, went on an 8 mile hike and had a nice dinner at my sister's home with a spur-of-the-moment baking session. :)

We made fig bars!!

It was a collaborative project between my brother-in-law, my spouse and myself. The dough was made from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. The filling was a pre-made family recipe consisting of figs, brandy and a whole lot of nuts!!

For the dough:

2 T ground flax seeds (this is key!)

1/4 cup soy milk

1/2 cup canola oil

3/4 cup cane sugar/Sucanat

1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

Directions:

1. combine flax seeds, soy milk, oil, sugar and vanilla and mix for 1 minute

2. sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

3. divide into two equal parts

4. roll or shape out one part and line at the bottom of a foiled glass square pan (8x8 inch)

5. layer the filling

6. roll or shape out second part of dough and cover the top of mixture

7. push all contents firmly into the bottom and sides of pan

8. bake for 22 minutes at 350 degrees.

The best part about this recipe is that the top and bottom layer of bars have the consistency of a cookie. The instructions call for "cooling" before cutting, but we absolutely could not resist eating them as they came out of the oven. :)

The result: OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD GOOD!

Fig bars are a really great snack! I plan on making more bar cookies with different fillings. Perhaps strawberry walnut? Or apple cinnamon? Or date almond? Yummmmmmm.

Kheer Puri

2010-06-20T19:47:00.008-04:00

Last week I made kheer (rice pudding) and puri (spiced flat bread) in memory of my paternal grandmother. She passed away 5 years ago.

Crispy Clusters

2010-05-12T02:21:00.006-04:00

Thanks to Jasu masi for sending these incredibly adorable snacks to us all the way from India.

All they need is a quick deep fry and voila!

They are made with potato slivers and tapioca pearls.

They look so gourmet! :)

Pineapple what?

2010-05-03T04:08:00.035-04:00

The inspiration for the following dish comes from a failed attempt at making vegan barfi. :) Barfi is an Indian dessert made from sweetened, condensed milk and is flavored with fruits, nuts and spices. I wanted to try a vegan version, so I dragged mom into the collaborative project and the results were quite surprising!

For this particular kind of barfi, ricotta cheese is popular, but I used tofu. We blended silken tofu with almonds and sugar until the batter was nice and smooth. This mixture was then heated stovetop. I added crushed pineapple, saffron and cardamom and let it cook on low heat for about 20 minutes.

PROBLEM: the mixture remained sticky. I poured it out into a tray and let it cool for a few hours. But it was still sticky and did not cut into solid squares.

SOLUTION: instead of barfi, perhaps the mixture (which was very tasty) could be used for something else! So here is what I came up with:

Sweet Paratha Stuffed with Pineapple, Cardamom, Saffron and Almond

Here are some visual steps that show the process of making the parathas.

Step 1: roll out a small piece of dough

Step 2: place a tsp of the mixture into the center

Step 3: fold up the sides

Step 4: roll out

Step 5: pan fry both sides of each paratha with canola oil.

And here is a picture of the final product! A delicious surprise to a fun experiment!

Bittersweet

2010-04-25T07:09:00.005-04:00

Thai iced Jasmine tea blended with bittersweet chocolate.

What an incredible beverage! (can be made vegan).

I found it at Bittersweet in Rockridge and San Francisco.

Legos for Dessert!

2010-04-16T03:07:00.017-04:00

A little something I made for my husband's 3rd birthday. Hehe.

Cookies 'n Cream Mini Cupcakes

These were baked, frosted and then topped with tiny lego pieces that I made with colored fondant. I normally don't use food coloring, but I made an exception for the sake of art. There really is no other good way to make legos look like legos without a good amount of Blue 1 and Yellow 5. :)

I happen to have a rubber lego ice cube tray, so I didn't think the molding process would be too difficult, but it took several attempts until I was able to churn out perfect little fondant legos.

Lemon-Honey Rice Krispy Treat Cake

Yes, it's a giant lego rice krispy treat! Before it was cut, it was pretty much impossible to guess what was on the inside. I gave away the secret when I brought out a bread knife to cut the first piece! :)

Again, the outside is just rolled out fondant. The nice thing about fondant is that it can easily be separated and pulled off. I personally didn't want to

eat the food coloring, so I simply pulled off the fondant layer before eating my share.

The flavors were created with lemon extract, lemon zest and honey. It took almost an entire box of Rice Krispies to make up this block. I wanted it to look like soft cake on the outside and a crunchy, gooey surprise on the inside.

Yay for legos! Buy your kids a box of assorted lego pieces and let their imaginations run wild!

Snack Shop

2010-03-15T01:24:00.009-04:00

While looking back at some pictures from a trip to India in the summer of 2007, I found something quite interesting that must be blogged about. :)

Near Udaipur our tour bus stopped for a short break. The place was decent and we had warm lunch and clean bottled water. The sign on the outside caught my attention right away.

"Punjabi, Snakes, Chinese, special Gujarati Thali, Jain Food."

Wait, did I just read "Snakes?" This is a pure vegetarian restaurant! How can they serve snakes? No. Something is wrong.

Clearly we'd caught the perfect example of a signage typo. The intention was apparently something different. My brother in-law guessed "shakes" and I guessed "snacks." Given the close association between snack and snake in the Gujarati dialect, I could see that the intention was definitely "snacks."

I didn't try them but I am sure that the "snakes" at the restaurant were tasty! :)

Castelvetrano Olives

2010-02-02T05:39:00.015-05:00

Have you ever eaten something and felt that it has transformed you to another world? There are certain foods I've come across that have an almost culinary orgasmic quality to them. The Castelvetrano olive is the perfect example.

Pop one in your mouth, close your eyes and just slow down to the rich and blissful experience.

This is the kind of olive that will appeal to most palettes because of its mild and inviting flavor.

Castelvetranos are harvested young and cured in a lightly salted brine. The flavor is nutty, buttery and tastes a lot like olive oil.

One of my greater appreciations for this variety is the color: bright green and not artificially colored. I am always fascinated by fruits, vegetables and spices that help add real color to dishes. Beets, carrots, spinach, blueberries and turmeric are the few that I have found to be effective for achieving brilliant hues in both entrees and desserts. I believe that Castelvetrano olives would work wonders in dishes and I have yet to experiment with them in more ways than one!

I must admit however, that looking at the beautiful bright green color, subtle aroma and juicy texture is definitely enough for me to lose my patience for setting up a food shot. I would much rather sit in admiration and slowly eat them.

Hence the photo credit goes to

Olio & Olive

Enjoy! :)

Sweet Potato Extraordinaries

2010-01-30T04:32:00.040-05:00

This post should have been written about two months ago but given that life sometimes gets in the way of blogging, I have been putting it off. Thanksgiving 2009 posed two separate opportunities for me to make something creative with this versatile orange/yellow root vegetable.

The first was a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with friends for which we were assigned to make yams. Whether the dish be traditional or non-traditional was entirely up to us. So we took the initiative to turn a potluck item into a work of delicious art. Ingredients that began forming in our heads were yams, sweet potatoes, marshmallows, graham crackers and a handful of sweet spices. Here is what we came up with.

Sweet Potato Volcanoes filled with Pumpkin Spice Rice, Graham Cracker Rocks, and Marshmallow Lava with a side of Cranberry Fennel Sauce

The most difficult part of this project was the first step which involved carving a well into each cylindrical yam and sweet potato block. I lost a few pieces in the process because our knives are extremely sharp and would occasionally slice off a large chunk of the vegetable. The easiest part of course was decorating the top with a giant marshmallow and watching it slowly melt and become crusty in the oven. :)

I don't have a recipe for this dish due to our andaaz approach that we used towards this project. Our Indian mothers seem to always masterfully cook in this manner. They have a natural andaaz (estimation) of amounts and quantities and don't have to rely on teaspoon, tablespoon and cup measurements to get their food to taste perfect everytime. I guess that comes from years and years

of practice! Perhaps I'll jot down the measurements next time in hopes of adding it to my cookbook someday. :)

The second opportunity was to make something for a family dinner at my in-laws home on Thanksgiving day. I was thinking along the lines of a finger food with sweet potatoes. Hmm... and the first thing that came to my mind were samosas!!

Traditionally samosas are made with savory vegetables such as potatoes, peas or cauliflower accompanied by a tamarind-date and cilantro-chili chutney, but this time they would be different: a Thanksgiving twist on Indian samosas.

Sweet Potato Samosas with Fresh Fennel and Caramelized Onion

The filling itself was not very difficult to make, but the wrapping was tedious and the frying took a lot longer than expected.

During the course of the final batch of frying I realized that I still needed to put on a fancy sari and get decked out before the guests arrive. Thus, I wasn't able to take a beautiful image of the finished appetizer before it was served. :(

But it was a hit!! I served it with a traditional cranberry sauce which added just the perfect amount of sweet and tart to the crispy sweet potato samosa.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!

Chuao Chocolatier

2010-01-13T14:44:00.004-05:00

Chuao, WOW!!

This Venezuelan Chocolatier has absolutely the BEST amaretto gelato!!

::dreaming and drooling::

Fleur de Lys

2010-01-10T05:29:00.017-05:00

I enjoyed a delectable vegan meal at Fleur de Lys in San Francisco tonight. The decor was very classy with ornate tapestries, mirrored walls and an earth-toned color theme. I ordered the vegan tasting menu with a glass of Freeman, a fruity and smooth Pinot Noir. Our dining experience opened up with a selection of olive, french baguette and fig pistachio bread. The fig pistachio was by far superior to the other two selections. A few things that inspired me about the menu were...

grilled watermelon in the appetizer,

fennel that tasted like heart of palm,

flower-shaped carrot slices,

and basically everything about the colorful vegetable ragout: a fine selection of earthy vegetables with a side of truffle wine reduction sauce.

I will have to admit that when it came time for dessert, I went for the non-vegan dessert options because they looked too amazing to pass up. And yes, I was indeed very thankful for that decision.

I ordered the Pistachio "Gateau" and it was absolutely one of the finest desserts to have touched my culinary palette! It consisted of pistachio cake, poached pear, amaretto sorbet atop carmel popcorn, dark chocolate and berries.

In addition to our dessert, we were served a complimentary mini cake to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. Yay!!

All the food was delicious and the service was attentive, sophisticated and helpful.

The best part of this fine dining experience was the opportunity to meet chef Hubert Keller in the kitchen after our meal. He is an incredible chef and an extremely warm-hearted soul. He allowed us to take pictures with him and kindly gave us his autograph. His work is genius and I would happily dine at Fleur de Lys again for future special occasions.

Lemon-Blueberry Cupcakes

2009-12-18T19:25:00.015-05:00

A very happy birthday to my eldest sister!! What better way for two sisters to surprise their eldest than with a tray full of homemade all-natural cupcakes? :) Yay!!

I was inspired by No Whey!: Vegan Treat Galore and figured that it was a most appropriate choice for a lighter, fruitier and full-of-flavor cupcake. I improvised the recipe by making the frosting richer with more blueberry sauce and omitting the blueberry filling center.

I must say, these are the best vegan cupcakes that I have collaboratively worked on. My sister was telling me, "You know J, between the two of us in the kitchen, nothing really goes wrong." She says that now, but looking back a few years proves otherwise.

There once was a time when we attempted to make Thai green curry. (And I can almost picture the look of shock and embarrassment on her face as she reads this now). So, green curry, as most people may know is supposed to be well, green. But ours wasn't green. NO. It was an unattractive combination of blue and brown (from the eggplants we used). Haha. How is that for an appetite suppressant? But the good news is that the dish still tasted good!.....

....but man it was pretty god-awful ugly though.

Anyhow, back to blueberries. My eldest sister and her kids loved the cupcakes. In fact, before we even knew it, my niece and nephew had scarfed down two cupcakes each and were as hyper as ever. My nephew had even reached out to grab a third when I had to hold his hand back and say NO more for you. :)

And in the end we still had a bunch of leftover frosting that will be used for another cake or batch of cupcakes. YUMS!!

Candy Cane Oreos

2009-12-13T04:05:00.020-05:00

Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's are fabulous.

I was thinking about using them in cupcakes, brownies or some kind of baked good, but they are so good by themselves that I don't even bother.

I take small bites at a time. What is your method?

Nom nom nom...

Fall Sugar Cookies

2009-11-22T17:12:00.008-05:00

I made fall-themed sugar cookies a couple weeks back with a good friend. :)

Ma Po Tofu

2009-11-16T03:10:00.009-05:00

I attempted Ma Po Tofu for the first time on Friday the 13th! Haha. And there was nothing scary about it! :) This is not a difficult dish to make. You'll need a deep skillet, preferably a wok, and a few ingredients from an asian market.

Ingredients

1 Block of Medium Firm Beancurd (about 500 g)
4 Spring Onions (Scallions)
100 ml Canola Oil
2 1/2 Tbsp Sichuanese Chili Bean Paste
1 Tbsp Black Bean Paste
2 tsp Ground Sichuanese Chilies (use less if you don't want it spicy)

250 ml Vgetable stock or Water
1 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Soy Sauce
Sea Salt to taste
3 Tbsp Potato Flour or Corn Flour-mixed with 4 Tbsp Cold Water
1/2 tsp Ground Sichuan Pepper

Method

Cut the beancurd into 2 cm cubes and leave to steep in a very hot or gently simmering water which you have lightly salted. Slice the spring onions into thin slices.

Season the wok, then add the canola oil and heat over a high flame until smoking.

Turn the heat down to medium, add the chili bean paste and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, until the oil is a rich red color. Add the black bean paste and ground chilies and stir-fry for another 20-30 seconds until they are both fragrant and the chilies have added their color to the oil.

Pour in the stock, stir well and gently add the drained beancurd. Season with sugar, soy sauce and salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the beancurd has absorbed the flavors of the sauce.

Add the spring onions and gently stir in. When they are just cooked, add the potato flour mixture in two or three stages, mixing well, until the sauce has thickened enough to cling glossily to the beancurd. Don't add more than you need. Finally pour everything into a deep bowl, scatter with ground Sichuan pepper and serve.

Enjoy!!

Baby Cabbages

2009-11-05T22:44:00.019-05:00

On the first day of sixth grade camp at Palomar Mountain, I remember having to engage in a mindlessly bland activity that would help us get acquainted with the other members of the Bird House cabin. I remember it very well. We had to say our name, three things we liked and three things we disliked. There were a number of things I liked, such as dancing, hiking, reading, and miscellaneous crafts, but as I was about to recite my dislikes, I drew a blank and finally said, "Loud noise, being sick and .... brussels sprouts."

A few girls looked at me in a funny way and then proceeded with their introductions. At the time it sounded right. I mean most kids don't like brussels sprouts anyway, so what's wrong with that? Then I paused for a minute and thought to myself, why the hell did I just say that? I had never even tried a brussel sprout in my 11 year existence before!!! I just assumed it would be disgusting and said it because nothing else came to mind. Haha.

The truth is that now I love brussels sprouts... even more than cabbage, which was one vegetables that I grew up on. For the longest time I never knew what brussels sprouts tasted like because mom never cooked with them. We always had traditional Gujarati Indian meals at home, which never consisted of this mysterious yet intriguing, round, green, cabbage-like vegetable.

Speaking of cabbages, for the longest time I thought that brussels sprouts grew out of the ground in the same manner that cabbages do. In grocery stores I have always seen them either pre-packed in plastic or sold loosely by the pound, so it wasn't very clear. I suppose I never gave it too much thought either. But yesterday at Trader Joe's, I saw something I had never seen before.

Yes! They grow in stalks. How interesting!

Now to make something

yummy with these 'baby cabbages'.

Enjoy a clip of the Swedish Chef at his best! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS2qNc188Ps

Cheers!!

Chocolate Cupcakes

2009-11-02T21:23:00.006-05:00

adapted from VCTOTW ... my best baking buddy! :)

So, I am back in sunny California and absolutely love the consistently perfect weather. So much in fact that I end up spending more time playing outside and less time baking yummy goodies in the kitchen... hence the two month gap since my last blog! However, holidays and special occasions always motivate me to do something creative with my culinary companions. So here goes. Yes my motivation this time was Halloween, but I unintentionally ended up making something outrageously ordinary and non-festive. :(

I wanted to make something that everyone likes, with no unusual flowery flavors. Like basic vanilla or chocolate! And you can't really go wrong with chocolate, so chocolate cupcakes it is!! So a friend and I got together on Halloween eve for a fun baking session. We decided on a basic chocolate cupcake with Halloween themed decoration. The cupcakes turned out moist, rich and decadent... the way good cupcakes should taste! So we were very pleased.

The decoration however didn't go according to plan. We drew out pumpkins, ghosts, and spiders as references, but decorating with chocolate jimmies is harder than you may think. We already had a base layer of fluffy buttercream frosting on the cupcakes. It just needed a little shape on top to make it perfect. I tried to make cookie cutter like shapes from the pre-drawn Halloween patterns. I filled jimmies into the shape of a pumpkin and it looked AWFUL!! Had i used a stencil or real cookie cutter, the shape would have been nice and clean. But no... mine was like a pumpkin with bits hanging out on the sides. I tried recovering it with a toothpick, but that caused several jimmies to drown into the frosting. It looked so unappetizing that I canned the idea and just did a simple sprinkle of the sprinkles. :)

In the end, it was a delicious product that was a big hit among guests and family. Here is the recipe...

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper liners

2. Whisk soy milk and vinegar in a bowl and cover

3. Mix all other remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and mix with soy milk mixture

4. Pour into liners and bake for 20 minutes

Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 cup soy milk

1. Beat sugar and margarine for 2 mins, and then beat in remaining ingredients for 7 more minutes. The frosting will gradually become fluffy!

Pizza Cutter

2009-08-25T18:39:00.006-04:00

Have you ever thought of cutting your pizza with scissors instead of a cutter? Haha.

Genius invention! This may seem like one of those cheesy (quite literally) products not worth the hype, until you realize how scuffed up your pizza pans have become... and how time consuming that old cutter is when put to use. Plus you can measure each slice and have perfectly shaped pizza slices!!

I am clearly insane for being this excited. :)

Photo and concept credit to following link:
http://www.kitchencontraptions.com/archives/020770.php

The Quintessential Indian Soft Drink

2009-08-08T00:08:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago I was re-introduced to a delicious Indian carbonated beverage that I had completely forgotten about.

"I have juice, milk, blah, blah blah, blah blah blah, and masala soda... What would you like?"

I was so distracted by the presence of the foreign yet comforting drink, that I can't even remember the other drink options now. LOL... :)

I excitedly said, "Masala soda?? You have that here? YES I want some!!"

Mmmm... it was so good, that I had to take a picture of it and blog about it.

My friend Spruce took some Shasta club soda as a base and added a few spoonfuls of the Masala Soda syrup. It looked like cola, but tasted like spices!!

Traditionally this drink is known as Jal Jeera and is made with several herbs and spices (jal = water, jeera = cumin). A few common ingredients for the homemade version are tamarind, green chili, cumin, sugar, lemon and black salt. The version I tried was a syrup concentrate that didn't list any ingredients... go figure!! But it was tasty nonetheless!!

Graduation Cupcakes

2009-05-24T13:43:00.014-04:00

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Peanut Butter Cup Caps.

Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

These cupcakes are in celebration of the Columbia Law School graduating class of 2009. I wanted to surprise my husband, who just graduated, so I made these cupcakes with one of his favorite indulgences: Peanut Butter!!

I had everything planned out with my sister-in-law, who collaborated with me on this project. We figured that he would attend his Bar prep class and be gone for about six hours, which would be MORE than enough time to get ingredients, bake and assemble the cupcakes.

However, given his lack of motivation to go to class that day, I almost gave up on the surprise idea. His decision from going to class, to not going became so unpredictable that I had to drag him out with the excuse of getting coffee. I offered to go out with him and he gave in!! So we walked to the local Starbucks, ordered our drinks, and waited longer than usual because they accidentally threw out his drink and had to re-make it. After that he FINALLY left for his class and I RAN to the local grocery shop to grab a few remaining ingredients. :)

Once the ingredients were bought, I had exactly 1 hour to do everything. Here are the cupcake ingredients I used:

3/4 cup soy milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup raw sugar
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix soy milk with vinegar and let curdle.
Mix first wet ingredients together.
Add soy milk mixture.
Combine dry ingredients.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3rds full.
Bake for 25 minutes

For the quick chocolate ganache, heat a quarter cup soy milk into a saucepan until gentle boil begins. Remove from heat and add a large spoon of maple syrup and four ounces of desired chocolate chips. I used semisweet. Mix the chips with a spatula until smooth. Set to cool at room temperature OR do what I did and stick it in the fridge until the cupcakes are ready to be decorated. It will turn into a nice and thick ganache that is very easy to work with.

So, the cupcakes are baked. YES!

And the ganache is done. YES!

The final portion were the colorful caps. I reached out into the grocery bag and pulled out the peanut butter cups. I reached in again and.... Oops! Where are the peanut butter and chocolate bars?? Oh DAMN... it seems that "Ellen" from the grocery store had forgotten to bag one of the key ingredients of my caps. Sigh...

I quickly walked back to the grocery store with a receipt and high hopes. Along the way I thought to myself... how the hell do you prove that you didn't receive a purchase? There really is no way. The best bet is to get back ASAP so that someone remembers you and your purchase.

Unfortunately "Ellen" did not remember my purchase. She remembered me, but that didn't do much good. She called her manager, who thankfully believed me and allowed me to simply take my missing merchandise. Whew!!

My husband was on his way home as the caps were being made, so my sister-in-law thought of a quick pretense and asked him to pick up coffee for her on the way back. She didn't really need the coffee or even want it, but given our efforts and the short timing, a trip to the local daily roasters isn't much to ask in return for a peanut buttery surprise. And besides, there is always room for a tasty espresso beverage!

He showed up fifteen minutes later. It was just enough time to have a plate full of cupcakes finished. Yay!! He LOVED them.

For the caps I used, Reese's Mini Peanut Butter cups, Ghirardelli's Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bars, M&Ms and a snippet of Twizzlers. Vegan candy alternatives are also available at health food stores.

Garlicky String Beans

2009-05-08T01:38:00.009-04:00

The QUICKEST stir-fry!

I make this side-dish about 3 times a week and still love it!

Ingredients: Olive oil, salt, fresh garlic and fresh cut string beans.

Method: Stir-fry all ingredients in a skillet or wok for 4-5 minutes (or until desired tenderness).

YUMMY and LOW-FAT.

Mr. Softee 'n Me

2009-04-28T03:09:00.018-04:00

Not sure how we went from 40 degrees to 80 degrees with no real transition period. What happened to Spring?? It's as if we've been hit by a whiff of summer earlier than expected. But really, it's about TIME it got warmer in New York City. I LOVE it!!

I exited the subway station hot, tired and hungry and there I saw the glistening white Mr. Softee truck right in front of me. It was the perfect impulse buy.

Chocolate dipped vanilla soft serve. The best part was the crispy, flakey warm chocolate that instantly hardened on the frozen dessert. It is pure bliss on a cone!! I know it's probably really bad for me, but there is a reason for the numerous Mr. Softee trucks that are parked all over the city in springtime. It's a delicious product!! And besides, I will only be in this city for another four weeks... sigh... so I'd better make the most of it.

Homemade Pizza

2009-04-23T02:46:00.016-04:00

Skip the cheese on this one for a true vegetable explosion in your mouth. It isn't quite the traditional American pizza with the thick layer of melted cheese that is loved and expected, but rather a unique and flavorful experience that isn't likely to stay on your plate for too long, before it is devoured by... YOU!!

The wonderful thing about vegetable pizzas are the vegetables! You can combine a plethora of veggies on your palette or just stick with one ingredient at a time, and you'll always have a diversity of flavors to work

with.

Apart from my sauce plus veggie pizza is the the sauce-less pizza (which I promise to blog about in the near future). It contains a generous amount of olive oil as a sauce with garlic and olives as toppings. This variety is one of my favorites and will be a true feast for bread lovers!

But for now, I will stick with the basic sauce plus veggie pizza that I adore...

Dough:

2 cups all purpose flour

7 oz warm water

1 packet active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp olive oil

1. Empty out yeast into warm water, stir, and let sit for 5 mins.

2. Combine flour, sugar, salt and oil.

3. Add the warm yeasty water to the mixture and kneed well.

4. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and set in a warm place.

5. After an hour punch the dough.

6. After another hour punch it again.

Sauce:

My general strategy is to have a pre-made sauce as a base, and then add extra ingredients.

1. Sauté onions, garlic, and tomatoes in a skillet with olive oil.

2. Add sugar to taste.

3. After the veggies are cooked, add the pre-made sauce.

That's it! And once you have these two basic tasks finished, the pizzas will be made in no time!

The Pizzas:

1. Roll out the dough

2. Lightly bake each side for about 5 mins

3. Spread the sauce

4. Add toppings

5. Bake for about 10-15 mins at 450 degrees

6. Remove, slice and EAT warm!

Tomato Cumin Soup

2009-04-13T17:16:00.018-04:00

Try this soup on a cold day or when you are feeling under the weather. It will warm up your insides and fill you up quite nicely. :)

The recipe I am about to post doesn't have any exact measurements because I made most of it up last night. The vegetable portions can vary so long as the salt measurements are according to taste.

3-4 large tomatoes

1 small onion

2 carrots

2 potatoes

olive oil

cumin seeds

serrano chili

salt

1. Cut and steam carrots and potatoes until tender.

2. Sauté the following in olive oil: cumin seeds, onion, tomato.

3. Blend both mixtures with some water in a blender until smooth.

4. In a large pot warm 1 tsp of oil and fry cumin seeds and the serrano chili.

5. Pour in the vegetable puree and stir.

6. Add desired salt amount.

Enjoy HOT with any choice of rice.

D.C. Sweet Treat

2009-04-12T02:41:00.012-04:00

Going to Wasthington D.C. anytime and need a real tasty treat for your sweet tooth?

I remember lugging my bag off the Chinatown bus and walking towards our hotel when when I saw the magical pink and white sign that read 'Cherry Blossom Ice Cream,' and I was instantly attracted!! I really wanted to step inside, BUT our hotel was a quick block away and we only had two more hours of gorgeous daylight to see the cherry blossoms. So we decided to come back for it.

The blossoms by the way, were serene and blissful. My mind would have also been a bit more serene and blissful had it not been for the masses of tourists everywhere. But eh... such is the nature of an annual festival I suppose.

On the way back we picked up some delicious Indian food at Mehak and were satisfyingly stuffed. The following day I was hoping that my sweet treat be the cherry blossom ice cream, but the creamery had completely sold out of that seasonal flavor!! OH man... it was worse that I had been dreaming about it for almost a day, only to be disappointed by something that I am not likely to stumble upon again! I was seriously depressed for the rest of the day, and the gloomy weather didn't help! :(

Luckily, the following day I found something that cheered me up.

Red Velvet Cupcakery!! If you are in the D.C. area and want to hit your sweet spot, this place is worth the stop. They make some of the MOST delicious cupcakes I've ever tasted. I tried:

Summertime (lemon cake with coconut frosting)

and Peanut Butter (chocolate-chocolate chip cake with salted peanut butter frosting).

Both flavors are heavenly!

And hopefully one day I'll stumble upon cherry blossom ice cream, drop everything else, and run for it.... because honestly, life melts too fast, just like ice cream... so, enjoy it while you can!!

Rosewater Cupcakes

2009-03-30T02:28:00.018-04:00

Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Ever since I acquired this book, I had been craving to try Rosewater Cupcakes.

However, upon reading the ingredient list, I hesitated several times because of one ingredient. Yogurt. Yes, that's right. Yogurt. I mean... Soy yogurt.

Why? Because my body rejects it. Whether it be dairy or soy, the bacteria in yogurt always has a way with disrupting my senses. I am the only person I know who has such high sensitivities to this ingredient. In fact, I am convinced that I am the only person on this planet who can't bear the smell and taste of it. So, no Pinkberry for me! Never have never will.

When I was a child, my mother tried feeding me plain homemade yogurt, but it didn't last in my mouth for more than a split second before I had to spit it out. Even now when yogurt is in front of me, it becomes unbearable and I have to step away or try to breathe through my mouth.

BUT apart from my terrifying childhood experiences with dairy yogurt, I figured that perhaps it would be worth giving the soy version a try for baking purposes. The picture was gorgeous and the recipe looked easy. So, I convinced myself that I would quickly mix in the discomforting ingredient and all will be fine. Besides, once the baking is finished, the yogurt won't be yogurt anymore!!

So I gave it a try.

Mixing the ingredients reminded me of growing up in my mother's kitchen, which was quite often filled with the smells of dairy and sweet Indian spices. Surely enough, once the baking was finished, nothing bothered me. It was my very first time using soy yogurt in the kitchen. I will admit, that my senses were not happy initially, but the outcome was delightful.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt
2/3 cup soy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup raw sugar
2 tbsp rosewater
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom

Whisk together yogurt, soy milk, oil, sugar and rosewater.
Combine dry ingredients and mix with wet ingredients until smooth.
Fill muffin liners and bake 20-22 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Add glaze after cupcakes have cooled down completely.

Rosewater Glaze:

1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tbsp margarine (I used Earth Balance)
3 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp rosewater

Rosewater can be found at Indian spice shops and International grocery stores. Rosewater gives these cupcakes a delicate and subtly rich flavor. The combination of vanilla, cardamom and rosewater remind me of Shrikhand, a West Indian dessert that I would hate, but most people would love. Shrikhand is made from strained yogurt, sugar, cardamom and saffron.

Hash Blues

2009-03-23T20:16:00.011-04:00

These hash browns are made from Yukon Gold and Purple potatoes. I recently discovered these bluish/purple potatoes and decided to experiment.

Apparently, vibrant colored potatoes are more nutrient dense compared to the lighter colored varieties. So I may have to continue buying the colorful ones!!

They were super easy to make and go great with a HOT cup of tea or chai. Of course, by the time I was finished photographing, the chai had gone to an uncomfortably warm temperature, so I had to give it another quick boil... and... mmm... hot, steamy and delicious!! :)

Ingredients:

potatoes of desired variety
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:

Peel and shred potatoes
Squeeze out as much water as you can from the potatoes. This is ESSENTIAL or else your hashes will turn out soggy!
Spread out a handful of the mixture in a flat pan and spread out to form a circle. Use a fork to pat down on the mixture.
Add 1/2 tsp olive oil and let cook until the mixture has absorbed it.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Flip over with spatula and let the other side cook.

Potato of Willendorf?

2009-03-22T04:44:00.012-04:00

I quickly picked up this potato at the farmer's market the other day for the sole reason of it being an imperfect vegetable shape. Once I got home, I set it down and was instantly reminded of the ancient limestone sculpture, "Venus of Willendorf." My mind immediately wandered towards my college Art History course days, and visions of cave paintings and portable art from the Paleolithic Era flashed before my eyes.

I saw a head, breasts, a belly and shoulders!! In fact, even the potato eyes were in the right spot on the face. Haha. I stared at it for a few more seconds in the light and just had to take a picture. Clearly I had some fun in the process. :)

Now that I compare it to the original sculpture, I am amazed at how similar the two really are!

So now what? I suppose I'll let my Potato of Willendorf sit with her new found friend and be her merry voluptuous self. :)

Gingerbread House

2009-03-20T01:54:00.009-04:00

A gingerbread house in March you ask?

This house was made by my husband Arka and I during the holidays. Here is a long overdue post that I would like to share with food bloggers. Enjoy!!

A five day tedious process proves worthwhile!! However, given the inaccuracy of gingerbread engineering, I am not sure that Arka and I will be able to top this one off next year. But then again, perhaps the inspiration will return. :)

Good enough to eat, but hasn't been eaten. This house is in perfect condition and currently sits in the living room, stale, and continues to impress guests and family members.

The house consists of gingerbread dough and sugar icing. I've seen several gingerbread homes with globs of icing and disorganized colored candy, but few continue to artistically inspire me. I wanted to create a home that looked like a home, and not just a home covered in artificial candy.

For this, it was necessary to sculpt the house prior to baking, to get a wood-like quality to the dough. Each part was individually measured, textured, baked, re-sculptured, and assembled. The square windows were made with dried papaya and pineapple slices, and the rose window was created with a transparent disc of caramelized sugar. The chimney was formed with a cinnamon stick surrounded by chopped walnuts and the interior was lit with votive candles.

Whew... I feel tired just thinking about that process!

Ingredients:

6 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves or allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs or equivalent egg replacer
1 cup dark molasses
1 tbsp water

Method:

Whisk dry ingredients together.
Beat butter and sugar using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, molasses and water and beat again.
Beat half of the flour mixture into molasses mixture until smooth. Stir in the remaining flour and mix well. You may need to add flour if the dough is too soft.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Let mixture sit for at least 10 minutes before rolling out.

Once the gingerbread pieces are rolled, cut, shaped and textured, bake at 350 degrees F. Bake 11-15 minutes for large pieces, and 6-8 minutes for small pieces. Allow pieces to cool for 15 minutes before assembly.

Icing:

2 large egg whites
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Use this icing as a construction adhesive to hold the gingerbread house pieces together. I also used it as a decorative element to create the snowy rooftops.

Decorate as desired!!

The remaining dough was used to make small gingerbread cookies. Wouldn't want to let it go to waste!! :)