Lemon Curd Tartlets With Fresh Fruits- A Very Happy New Year

Hello my dear readers, the familiar cliché, time flies doesn’t it? It’s time to say goodbye to 2009 and a big welcome to 2010! I wish this New Year would bring more joy, peace, happiness, wealth, and most importantly, health to everyone!

Felt like just recently that we were all welcoming year 2000. I recalled everyone was so psyched with welcoming the new century then, but, was stressed out at the same time with fears the catastrophic Y2K or millennium bug was going to crash every computing system globally! Luckily nothing happened. :-) Fast forward 10 years, now we are closing out the first decade of this century! As for my new year resolution? Well, I stopped making them many years back. Told myself that I will just keep doing what I enjoy doing and try to do it better each year. Lame, I know, but it’s true. :-) Enough about me, I will look forward to hear some of your exciting 2010 New Year resolutions! A very Happy New Year greetings to all, cheers!


I made some Lemon Curd Tartlets with Fresh Fruits for dessert recently. This is one dessert my family truly enjoys, I think it must be the tartness. I used a combination of Kiwi fruits, blueberries, and strawberries. Interestingly, you should know that the Kiwi fruits I used for these tarts were grown locally here in Vancouver BC. My friend, John, grew these Kiwi fruits right on his front yard. They taste just as good, if not better, than those from New Zealand. John, you should be proud and thanks for the lovely Kiwi fruits again!


Lemon Curd Tartlets With Fresh Fruits
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

12 Ready Baked Tart Shells
Fresh Fruits

75 g (2 ½ oz) Unsalted Butter
3 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
200 – 230g Sugar
Juice and Finely Grated Rind of 2 Lemons

Glazing

100 g of your preferred Jelly/Jam (optional)

Method

Make the curd. Melt the butter in a metal bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Whisk in the eggs. Add the sugar and whisk until thoroughly combined. Whisking continuously, gradually add the lemon juice and zest. Cook over the simmering water for about 20 minutes, stirring often, until thickened. Cool at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Bake the tart shells according to the package instructions.

In a small saucepan, bring the jam to a boil, then lower the heat and keep stirring until melted and leave it to cool.

When the shells are completely cooled, fill with lemon curd. Then top the lemon curd with fruits. Brush with melted jam, if using. Serve immediately.

Lamb And Rice Casserole-Mughlai Lamb Biryani

This is the “grand dish” to close out my little Indian food recipe series before we welcome the New Year. This is Lamb and Rice Casserole or also known as Mughlai Lamb Biryani. Admittedly, the cooking process for this mouth watering dish is a little bit lengthy compared to cooking other dishes. However, with some advance planning, you can make this a pretty easy process. The longest timeline item of this recipe is the Biryani rice. It needs to be soaked in water for at least 12 hours before being cooked. Realizing that was the case, I just extended the process of cooking this dish to 2 days. On the first day I soaked the rice and cooked the lamb. The following day, all I had to do was cook the rice briefly as per the instructions in the recipe, assembled the dish, and baked it all in the oven for an hour. End result is just yummy, worth every effort in my opinion. Hope you will try it.

Red Split Lentils With Cumin Seeds-Masoor Dal

Here I have Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seeds recipe. The split peas are salmon colored; but, will turn yellow when cooked. So, don’t be surprised when you view the pictures. Anyway, serve the lentils with any rice dish, meat, or as a dip with some Naan bread. Just fantastic. Try making your own Naan at home, the recipe is over here.

Moong Dal Pancakes

Moong Dal Pancakes is a fantastic savory pancakes made out of split peas. They are rich in protein and can be eaten as it is or served with some chutney. Delish!

Sweet Corn And Potatoes With Mustard Seeds And Mint

Today, I’m posting a recipe for Sweet Corn and Potatoes with Mustard seeds and Mint. It’s best to use fresh summer corn for this dish. But, if you can’t get hold of the fresh corns, then just substitute with good quality frozen summer corn, which is what I used here incidentally. This sweet corn dish has sweet, hot, and sour flavors. It’s great with any Indian meal.

Spicy Baked Chicken-Masaledar Murghi

Indian food is just fantastic, whether it’s from the North or South region, I just love it. So, I thought I will share several fabulous Indian food recipes with all of you before the New Year. I will start with the Spicy Baked Chicken recipe today. This is a no fuss recipe, all you have to do is let the chicken marinate for a few hours before baking it in the oven. Try it.

Pomegranate Sorbet

Dear valued readers, I’d like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and hope you will enjoy the holidays with your loved ones! So today, I thought I’d post something red since it’s Christmas after all. I made some Pomegranate Sorbet for the kids and for the adults, some sorbet with Champagne! By the way, the sorbet was made using pomegranate juice provided by the kind folks at POM Wonderful. Thanks Molly. Do check out their website for more detailed information on their healthy products. Cheers to everyone and happy holidays!


Pomegranate Sorbet
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1 Bottle (473 ml) Pomegranate Juice
Juice of 1 Lemon
100 g Sugar

Method



In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, mix 1 cup Pomegranate juice with the sugar and lemon juice. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the remaining pomegranate juice. Allow the mixture to chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.


As usual, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Puffs-Buñuelos

I had a go at making some Puffs or Buñuelos, in Spanish. These fritters tastes great with just a simply sprinkle of some white sugar. To be honest, I had to adjust the oil temperature a couple of times before I finally got it right. If the oil is too hot, the puffs will easily burn while the inside remains raw. So, I reduced the heat from medium to moderate (using an electric cooker marked 3). I guess you will just have to do some trial and error initially, like I did. You will definitely get it right fairly quick. Try it!


Recipe adapted from Traditional Spanish Cooking by Janet Mendel

Puffs-Buñuelos
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

240 ml (8 fl oz) Milk or Water
70 g (2 ½ oz) Butter
1 Tbsp Brandy or Anise Brandy (Optional)
30 g (1 oz) Sugar
Pinch of Sea Salt
125 g (4 ½ oz) Plain Flour
4 Eggs
Olive Oil for deep-frying
Sugar

Method

Place the milk, butter, sugar and salt in a heavy pan and heat until just boils. Lower the heat and add the flour all at once, beating it hard with a wooden spoon until it forms a smooth ball of dough.

Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat until cool and very smooth. Heat the oil in a deep fryer or heavy pan. Put in a cube of potato – when potato is nicely colored, the oil is hot enough to fry the buñuelos. Drop the balls of batter, by teaspoons, into the hot oil. Fry until golden and puffed up. Remove, drain and sprinkle the puffs with sugar. The puffs can also be split and filled with jam or confectioner’s custard.

Makes about 24

Soto Ayam Recipe

I did a post on Soto Ayam sometime ago, but, without any recipe. You can read about it over here. Just to quickly recap on the post, you can adjust the spiciness of the soup by reducing the white peppercorn and coriander. I have also included an easy way to make the compress rice. Enjoy.


Soto Ayam
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients



14 Cups Chicken Stock
3 Cloves
2 (3 inches) Cinnamon Sticks
4 Star Anise
5 Cardamon Pods

3 Stalk Lemongrass, bruised

5 to 6 Tbsp Peanut or Vegetable Oil
Sea Salt to taste

Spice Paste

40 g Coriander Seeds, pan toasted
10 g Whole White Peppercorn, pan toasted
5 Cloves Garlic

6 Candlenuts

40 – 50 g Galangal, peeled and coarsely chopped
40 – 60 g Ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

4 (about 100 g) Shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped



Accompaniments

350 g Chicken Breast
Rice Vermicelli, or Glass Noodles cooked and drained
Compressed Rice, cubed
Potatoes, boiled, peeled and sliced
Bean Sprouts, scalded

Hard boiled Eggs, halved or quartered
Fried Bean Curd
Fried Tempeh/Tempe
Spicy Sweet Soy Sauce


Garnishing
Celery leaves, chopped
Scallions, chopped
Fried Shallots

Method



Grind the spice paste ingredients with a little water in a blender or food processor. 



In a large stockpot over low heat, add the oil and cook the cloves, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cardamon pods until fragrant. Then mix in the spice paste, stirring continuously until the mixtures turn brown in color.

Then add in the chicken stock into the spice paste mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil and add in the chicken breast. Then lower the heat and simmer until the chicken is tender, remove and shred the chicken. Continue to simmer the soup for another 40 to 50 minutes. Season the soup with sea salt.

To serve, place some vermicelli or compressed rice into a large bowl. Then top it with some potatoes, bean sprouts, chicken, eggs, fried bean curd, and fried tempeh. Then ladle the hot soup onto the bowl and sprinkle with some celery leaves, fried shallots and scallions. Serve immediately with some spicy sweet soy sauce, if desired.

Serve 8 to 10

Compressed Rice: Cook 2 Cups Rice with 3 Cups of Water, 2 Pandan Leaves, and 1 tsp Sea Salt. When the rice is cooked, remove from the rice cooker and place the rice in a baking tray. Cover the rice with heavy-duty aluminum foil and compress it with a heavy object. (Example: Mortar and Pestle) Leave it overnight before cutting the rice.

Potato Pancakes-Latkes

I made some Potato Pancakes or also known as Latkes for brunch recently. Latkes are eaten in Jewish communities all over the world on the first night of the 8 days Hanukkah celebration. The pancakes are easy to make and they taste great. So, just make some and enjoy the Latkes!


Recipe adapted from The Joy Of Cooking cookbook.

Potato Pancakes-Latkes
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

2 Cups Coarsely Grated Peeled Potatoes (Russet variety)
3 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Grated Onions
2 Stalk Scallions, chopped
1 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil or Butter

Method

Wrap the grated potatoes in a clean dish towel and wring to squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

Combine the potatoes, eggs, flour, onions, scallions, and sea salt in a large bowl.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Drop spoonfuls of the potato mixture in the skillet, then spread into 3-inch cakes about 1/4 inch thick. Fry until browned on the bottom, reducing the heat to medium, if needed, to prevent scorching. Turn and cook the second side until crisp, 3 to 5 minutes each side. Drain briefly on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Thumbprint Cookies

I simply love the crumbly texture of this Thumbprint Cookies. Make these cookies and fill them up with your favorite jam. This recipe uses hazelnuts; but, you can play around with almonds or even walnuts. So, do try the recipe and happy baking.


Recipe adapted from Baking From My home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

Thumbprint Cookies
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1 ¾ Cups Finely Ground Hazelnuts
1 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Sticks (8 oz) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
½ Cup Sugar
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
½ tsp Pure Almond Extract
Confectioners’ Sugar, for dusting
About 1 Cup Raspberry Jam (or the jam or marmalade of your choice)

Method

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the ground nuts and flour.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the extracts and beat to blend. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the nut-flour mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated into the dough.

Working with a teaspoonful of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms to form small balls and place the balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Steadying each cookie with the thumb and a finger of one hand, use the pinkie of your other hand (or the end of a wooden spoon) to poke a hole in the center of each cookie. Be careful not to go all the way down to the baking sheet.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be only slightly colored-they might even look undone, which is fine: they should not be over baked. When the cookies are baked, remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheets for 2 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks with a wide metal spatula and sifting confectioners’ sugar over them.

Repeat with remaining dough, remembering to cool the baking sheets before baking the next batch.

Bring the jam to a boil in a small saucepan over low heat, or bring to a boil in a microwave oven; remove from the heat. Fill the indentations of all the cookies with enough of the hot jam to come level with the tops. Cool to room temperature.

Apple Cider Doughnuts

Here’s an Apple Cider Doughnut recipe for those who are not bothered to mess with yeast. It’s easy to make and the doughnuts are dense, with a slight hint of buttermilk and cinnamon. I had adapted the recipe from Smitten Kitchen blog. The original source of the recipe is from a pastry chef, Lauren Dawson, from Hearth restaurant in New York City’s East Village.


Apple Cider Doughnuts
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1 cup apple cider
3 1/2 cups flour, plus additional for the work surface
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (low-fat or nonfat work fine)

Vegetable oil for frying

For the glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider

or

Sugar for coating

Method

For the doughnuts: In a saucepan over medium or medium-low heat, gently reduce the apple cider to about 1/4 cup, 20 to 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed (with the paddle attachment, if using a standing mixer) beat the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is smooth. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat until the eggs are completely incorporated. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the reduced apple cider and the buttermilk, mixing just until combined. Add the flour mixture and continue to mix just until the dough comes together.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or wax paper and sprinkle them generously with flour. Turn the dough onto 1 of the sheets and sprinkle the top with flour. Flatten the dough with your hands until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Use more flour if the dough is still wet. Transfer the dough to the freezer until it is slightly hardened, about 20 minutes. Pull the dough out of the freezer. Using a 3-inch doughnut cutter, cut out doughnut shapes. Place the cut doughnuts and doughnut holes onto the second sheet pan. Refrigerate the doughnuts for 20 to 30 minutes. (You may re-roll the scraps of dough, refrigerate them briefly and cut additional doughnuts from the dough.)

Add enough oil to a deep-sided pan to measure a depth of about 3 inches. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and heat over medium heat until the oil reaches 350 degrees. Have ready a plate lined with several thicknesses of paper towels.

For the glaze: While the cut doughnut shapes are in the refrigerator, make the glaze by whisking together the confectioners' sugar and the cider until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.

To fry and assemble: Carefully add a few doughnuts to the oil, being careful not to crowd the pan, and fry until golden brown, about 60 seconds. Turn the doughnuts over and fry until the other side is golden, 30 to 60 seconds. Drain on paper towels after the doughnuts are fried. Dip the top of the warm doughnuts into the glaze and serve immediately.

Fried Prawns With Sweet Soy Sauce

This Sweet Soy Sauce Prawns recipe is great with some steamed rice. You can use any variety of prawns for the recipe; but, just make sure the shells and heads are intact. The shells will provide a nice fragrant to the sauce which will make the whole dish tastier. So, prepare plenty of napkins as you will be using your hands to enjoy these prawns! :-)

Churros

Typically sold warm by street vendors, Churros are fried strips of dough from Spain. Quick and easy to make, the dough is typically deep-fried, sprinkled with sugar or sometimes with cinnamon sugar. In my opinion, this is the perfect Churros recipe. Crispy and golden on the outside, but, the inside remains soft and fluffy throughout. My son quipped, “Once bitten, you will scream for more!” :-) How true! In any case, these Churros are simply scrumptious just on their own, don’t even need to dip them into any hot chocolate.


Recipe adapted from Traditional Spanish Cooking by Janet Mandel

Churros
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

250 ml (8 fl oz) Water
5 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Strip of Lemon Rind
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
200 g (7 oz) Plain Flour
Oil for deep-frying
Caster Sugar
Ground Cinnamon (optional)

Method

Put the water in a pan with the oil, lemon rind and bring it to a boil.

Remove the lemon rind. Add salt to the flour, then add it to the pan all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon, working it over a low heat for 1-2 minutes until it forms a ball. The mixture will be very stiff.

Put it in a piping bag. Heat the oil to 185˚C (365˚F) (when a piece of dough is dropped in it should brown in 60 seconds). Force out long strips or rings of the batter into the hot oil, a few at a time. Fry for a few minutes until golden brown, then remove from the oil and drain. Sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon, if desired.

Vietnamese Sizzling Crepes-Banh Xeo

I’ll admit that I learnt about Vietnamese Sizzling Crepe or Banh Xeo from chef Anthony Bourdain of No Reservation programme. On one of his trips over to Vietnam, I recalled he had this crepe for breakfast. Anyway, I had tried many recipes from various sources for this crepe, but, the end result was less than satisfying. Until recently, when I tried the recipe from Mai Pham’s Vietnamese cookbook. Using this recipe, I just simply substituted the meat with prawns for the filling. The outcome was great, light and crispy crepe with delicious moist and juicy prawn filling. Yummy!

Roasted Pecans With Maple Syrup

This Roasted Pecans With Maple Syrup is very addictive, and best of all, it's easy to make. The pecans are lightly sweet, salty, peppery, and with a slight hint of spiciness. So, why don't you try making some for the holiday season?


Roasted Pecans With Maple Syrup
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup Pecans
1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup (Amber)
1 tsp Dried Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Sea Salt or to taste

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over high heat.

Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes or until all the pecans and cranberries are well coated with maple syrup.

Spread the mixture in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet and let dry for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 300˚F. Roast the pecan mixture for about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Beef With Asian Basil

This is Beef With Asian Basil, one of my favorite beef dishes! You will be surprised at how easy it is to cook this dish, takes less than 5 minutes. Both beef strip loin or rib eye cuts works very well with the recipe. If you slice the beef thinly, chances are you will overcook the meat. So, I find the best way to not overcook the beef is to cube the meat. Try it.


Beef With Asian Basil
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients



2 Pcs (about 350g) Beef Strip loin, cubed

2 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
3 -5 Bird's Eye Chilies, chopped
½ White Onion, diced
60 g Asian (Thai) Basil

2 Stalks Scallions

1 1/2 Tbsp Peanut Oil

Sea Salt to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper



Sauce

2 tsp Oyster Sauce

1 Tbsp Fish Sauce

2 tsp Soy Sauce
2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce

1/2 tsp Corn Flour

1/3 Cup Water



Method



Combine the sauce ingredients and mix well.

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Brown the meat on both sides. Toss in the garlic, chilies, and onion and give it a quick stir. Then mix in half of the basil, stir and add in the sauce.

Bring the mixture to a boil and season with black pepper and sea salt, if necessary. The sauce should be thickened and then mix in the rest of the basil and scallions. Serve immediately.

Roasted Eggplant With Miso Sauce

I may have mentioned before that eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables. Whether they are cooked in curry, sambal, as a chili bean sauce dip, or just like this, roasted with miso, they taste fantastic. You can prepare this Roasted Eggplant With Miso Sauce dish using either the regular Japanese or the Indian eggplant variety. I decided to use the latter variety as they are small and is packed full of flavors. The size of this variety also allows you to serve them whole, if you wish.


Roasted Eggplant With Miso Sauce
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients



6 Small Indian Eggplant, whole
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Sauce
3 Tbsp Miso Paste
4 Tbsp Sake
1 Tbsp Mirin
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tsp Sesame Oil
4 Tbsp Dashi Stock or Water



Method



Preheat the oven at 205˚C (400˚F). Drizzle the eggplant with vegetable oil and wrap in a tin foil. Roast the eggplant for about 20 minutes. Then open the tin foil and roast the eggplant for another 10 minutes until they are soft.



In a saucepan over moderate heat, combine the sauce ingredients and bring it to a quick boil. Lower heat and gently simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the sauce is thicken.

Serve the eggplant with some Miso sauce and top with sesame seeds.