Daring Bakers : For the Love of Chocolate. Flourless Chocolate Cake with Coffee-Cardamom Ice Cream

I am not at all adventurous when it comes to chocolate. Only eat those candy bars type. I don't even do hot chocolate or chocolate ice cream or fudge. Boring, I know. However, I joined Daring Bakers for reasons. To challenge myself with baking adventures. No excuse about like or dislike over chocolate. Plus, I have never made flourless cake. And at that, home-made ice cream?!!

The cake is quite good. It's very rich and dense, not exactly my cuppa tea, but I have a feeling that it must be a huge hit for chocolate lover. Say if I were to make this for my grandma and my dad, both of them will fight off each other for the last crumb. Oh! It would be perfect for fancy dinner party.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
1 lbs semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stickplus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Bit timid about ice cream part. I told my mom about it and felt like hitting my head afterward because I just knew it!! She says 'But it shouldn't be that hard. Your grandpa used to make it..ya da yadayada..' I find it amusing that my grandpa and his brother used to make ice cream at home. My mom said it was to entertain the kids (read: my mom and her 6 siblings and dozen of cousins) and put them to some useful work - cranking the ice cream drum. Though no one in family made any home-made ice cream once my grandpa passed.

So armed with hand blender - I buzzzzzeeddd and mixed my way through. Oh WOW! Did I really just make home-made ice cream?!

Dharm's Ice Cream Recipe
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Recipe comes from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis (tested modifications and notes in parentheses by Dharm)

Ingredients
1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with vanilla extract)
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Semi Skimmed Milk – in the U.S. this is 2% fat (or use fresh full fat milk that is pasteurised and homogenised {as opposed to canned or powdered}). Dharm used whole milk.
4 large egg yolks
75g / 3oz / 6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}
5ml / 1 tsp corn flour {cornstarch}
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat)
{you can easily increase your cream's fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted - cool to room temperature and add to the heavy cream as soon as whisk marks appear in the cream, in a slow steady stream, with the mixer on low speed. Raise speed and continue whipping the cream) or use heavy cream the difference will be in the creaminess of the ice cream.

1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Lift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy. 3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time
4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it then chill.
5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container. Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)
By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)

Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe
Vanilla Philadelphia Style Recipe
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer
Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.




Vik was absolutely in love with the ice cream. Scraping off the bowl of his second serving, while subtly giving hints of what flavors next home-made ice cream should be. Huh. Did not remember telling him I'd be making it again.

However, truth to be told, I was blown away by the ice-cream and can't wait to experiment with different flavors. What about green tea for St.Patrick's Day party?! I sorta whipped it (perhaps) way too many times than necessary, simply just so I could lick the leftover off the whisk.

I decided to make coffee and cardamom ice cream cause, well...it sounded good. Have always loved cardamom as spices: it gives such a special aroma and hint of warmth and 'mmhhh' factor to dessert. Then of course, coffee and cake pairing just sounds right.

Made only half recipe of the cake, plenty for the two of us and still enough to give as a 'thank you' token for a client. Boxed it up, drizzled with some glaze - a quick whip of coconut juice and confectioner sugar. To prevent the cake from moving around, I tossed in some home-made candied citrus peel.



The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

February’s challenge is a Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Valentino, inspired by Malaysia’s “most flamboyant food ambassador”, Chef Wan. Recipe comes from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan

India Trip 2: The Chow

Without further ado...

Oh, this little package. Ain't it pretty?! It's Paan. And since I am no expert in it, I won't go all lengthy in explanation. In nutshell, it's a filled up betel leaf. There are many variety of paan, according to its fillings - sweet, tobacco, spices/herbs (cardamom, saffron, fennel, etc). I guess it's similar to what 'Sirih/Sireh' is in Indonesia. It is believed to freshen up palate as much as helping with digestion after meal.

I have tried only couple different ones. And personally think it's too perfumey and sweet. The smell of it, I like. To chew it in my mouth, that..I don't like. However, my dad (to my surprise) seems to enjoy it!

The gentleman in this below photo - we pretty much walked by him few times within the 2 nights we stayed in Delhi. With my fear about taking photos of things/ other people in public, I kept throwing (what I felt) charming smiles at him, hoping he'd notice and oh...smile back, maybe? Oh no. Did not happen.

But I really wanted to take this picture!! Especially due to the fact that my mom in law made fresh paneer few days before that and just thought it'd be nice to see the differences, you know?

Me (to Vik): Can you go and take his picture? (Yes, I am that pathetic!)
Vik (sipping on Thumbs Up - carbonated drink, similar to Pepsi): You go! He won't mind. Seriously. It makes more sense if you are the one taking the picture. You are the tourist, anyway. (Insert sarcasm here)
Me: Can you come with me at least, please pretty please? (My dad would be so ashamed of me!)
So we walked and I gave the guy the sweetest smile I could mustered and asked 'Can I take a photo?' He nodded or..shook his head, in a way of agreeing.
Me (smile in triumph): You think I can ask him to smile? (whispering to Vik)
Vik: Err..let's dont push our luck!

This one was made by mom in law. Pretty much, when milk comes to boil, squeeze in some lime juice (or vinegar) and let it curdles. Strain and mold to shape.


Next is green chana. Green chick peas. Bought raw in its pods and then dry roasted in a pan, giving a delicious smokey slightly burnt flavor to it.


Khaman, maybe one of my favorite Indian snacks of all time. I could skip breakfast, lunch and dinner just for this. Pretty much a snack food, though it can be made at home, it's equally normal to get it from store - easier and economical and the taste is just as good. Seems like the texture varies depending on the store. Denser in some stores. Airy and fluffy in some. I love airy fluffly lighter version. With tons of cilantro and chutney!

This is new for me. Fafrad. It's fried dough made of chickpea flour and is eaten along with pickled vegetables and green mangoes. During the 2 weeks we were in India, we ate fafra oh..about 5 times!

I had quite hard time taking good photos of plated dishes though. When dishes are something with some sort of gravy, it always came out bit 'slobbish/globbish' in photos, no? I guess if I have the time to arrange it and under adequate light, it'd be okay. However, I am nervous enough about taking food photos in public...so..




Oh tandoori naan!!! These guys were smiling when I brought out my camera, I assume that they are accustomed to such 'attention.'


According to my mother in law, dinner is not complete without dessert. Not much of dessert person, however, I rarely say no to a good gulab jamun. So, we headed to Bikanervala and sample few items. Mmmh.
The drink in the earthen clay cup is thandai or badam thandai (milk beverage with almonds, cardamom, saffron, and some other seeds), ladled from the pot insert on the cart.


Oh and .. just a random food related photo. Our schedule was quite a mess on that particular day, due to the high traffic (Christmas holiday) on our way to Amber Fort. Hence, we took a quick detour and made a stop at city park - so starved that we decided to grab a plate of noodles. It was not mind blowing by any means, but for about USD 0.50, it kept us going for couple hours.

India Trip 1 : Kitchen and cookware

Oh, I have sooo many food related news to share, but oh so little time! Making new year resolution has never been a big thing for me. Long time ago, Vik and I made a list of things we would like to do (achieve) in our lifetime, and we both agree not to get too excited and keep coming up with new list each new year, ya know? Though, I wonder if I should add to that list : Blog more often! :)

One tiny new wish for this year is to be tad braver....in taking photos in public! I admire those who click away over dishes in dining places, wherever that may be. Fancy or street hawkers. I am terrified in doing so, worrying whether I am disturbing other patrons, etc. Maybe I am just being chicken!! Here I am, wishing I have taken more food related photos while vacationing. Argh!

Anyways, so yeah, our trip to India. Before the trip, I knew that I'd have to take some photos of kitchen. Growing up, we traveled quite often and my dad always made the point of eating whatever local eats. He believes that it's one way of learning the culture, if not the most important way, that is. As my love for food deepens, cookware and cooking technique become somewhat of interest. To study not only on how and what local eats, but the scene behind it all before the food being set on the table.

At that, wouldn't be fun if all bloggers post their kitchen and utensils in their blog?!

The first two photos are taken at Vik's aunt's kitchen. The shallow round ones, standing on their own slots or compartments are used for eating. Of course, there are regular plates too - glass/ceramic kind, but these are more commonly used in household. I think it's neat how they store it. Small tin bowls on the top shelf are for dhal, curry, etc. The few bigger ones on the first shelf and top-side shelves are for cooking.

Most pantry I have been and seen are sorta walk-in type, like shown in the photos. Spices, lentils, flour, sweets and snacks.


This utensils photo is taken at in law's kitchen and I am kicking myself for not taking more photos of other utensils!! Again, most kitchen I 'visited' - there is always a rack like that to hang their cooking utensils. There is even one that is designed to store silverware.


And these stainless steel - copper bowls are what I bought. They are used mostly in restaurants and lemme tell ya, hunting them out was quite a trip! See, I wanted decorated handles. Most market/shops carry ones with plain handles. After quite of struggle, hopping from one market to another. I found them in below market in Ahmedabad. Oh, I love riding the rickshaw. Vik hated it. But that's the whole point of traveling, I think. To mingle and simply to absorb the surrounding.

Vik: Oh gosh, taking video?!! You are acting like a tourist.
Me: What do you mean?! I AM A TOURIST!!



Each strip in the market is dedicated to certain things: poojas (praying items), spices, cookwares, etc. Instead of fixed price, the bowls were being weighed on a scale and priced according to its weight. I was hoping to find fancier ladle, but the one I got will do. I believe it's being used to ladle out water from its container. But I can't wait to use it for oh..dozen other ideas!

I will post about food on next post and at that, I couldn't help but had to take a photo of this 'kaka' (uncle) ;) He literally stood in the centre of a courtyard, overlooking Jal Mahal - palace on the lake. Looks so chilled and extremely attentive to whatever he is doing. Just gotta take picture of him.

Daring Baker's Challenge 3: French Yule Log

A late posting of December DB's Challenge, due to our trip and for forgetting to download photos to the right laptop, one that we took with us while traveling!! Anyways..

For this month's challenge, I secretly hoping it'd be something fairly easy (I guess it's called Daring Bakers not for nothing, eh?). I meant, easy as in, something that does not involve six layers of different things, like this French Yule Log!! :) When I read, or scrolled up and down the post announcing the challenge, I seriously thought I experienced a severe migraine - and I don't have any history of migraine! Only a little over a week before our vacation and with all the baking...no way!

I told Vik that I may skip this month's challenge, then my beloved husband read the recipe with me. Ain't he sweet? That's until he says 'But aren't you making mousse and creme bruleé anyway for our Christmas dinner next week? 'Just' another 4 things to do, no? And you'd have the ganache for one of your cookies too, right?' Oh so much I want to whip him with spatula. He does not even cook! But I got to admit, I was panicking scrolling down 17 pages, totally oblivious to the fact that three aspects from this log would be done, regardless yule log or no yule log.

However, I know it gotta be miniature log, used butter dish as mold!! Just so I can proudly say 'I have made French Yule Log' Heee...This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

This challenge makes me grin with sense of achievement! I think it's perfect for chocolate-addict, like my dad and grandma. I enjoy chocolate but have always preferred it in solid form - piece of chocolate or er..the entire bar, but not so much as in cakes, cookies or ice-cream. That said, I will be so making it next time I spend Christmas with my family - my grandma, at the age of 82, probably stock up more chocolate in her pantry than any other family with kids.


Since I was serving mocha mousse and cardamom creme bruleé as our dessert for our early-Christmas dinner , I just made a little bit more of that and use it for this yule log. I think it worked out very well with the chocolate ganache, icing and the pralines crisps. Not chocolate overload. The praline crisps, is more of hazelnuts crisps, sorta hate to go and buy me praline paste just for this one time use, especially for such a small log. So I grind up some hazelnuts from pantry and make into a paste. I mixed some coconut into one batch of crisps, thus, 2 layers of crisps.

Also 2 layers of the dacquois biscuit, top one is vanilla and the bottom one is coffee. Yeah, at the time...I was just so much in baking trance that I managed to make two kinds!! Then slept the entire 8 hours to London. ;)

Can't say that this is my best baking adventure, aesthetic wise. Did not turn out smooth at all as I completely run out of time and energy to decorate. Our flight was at 6 pm and I took the log out for photo taking and cutting at 1 pm! However, appearance aside, the taste made your eyes rolled!! It was fancy, delicate and fun - all in one.

Bonne annee!! Happy New Year!! Hope everyone has a superb holidays. I am working on my India trip food post and can't wait to share it with fellow bloggers.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas

A quick post from India to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas. As we traveled from one city to another, our wireless internet connection sorta spotty. I will get back to check on blogs and comments once back to TO. Even as I am typing this, a message just shows up 'Could not contact ....' We shall see, then.

Part of 100s dozens cookies I baked before leaving for India. Hope you all have superb holidays and Merry Merry Christmas!!

Daring Bakers Challenge 2: Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

Right away after I saw this month challenge - Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter frosting by Shuna Fish Lydon (http://eggbeater.typepad.com/) - I knew I'd make it for holiday brunch. Then as days passed, as I kept reading others DBs posts, I started to quiver. Mostly about the sweetness of this cake. Many DBs commented on how super extra ultra sweet this cake turns out to be - it's yummily delicious, but sorta very sweet too. And neither of us eat sweet things much. However, attempts of cutting back sugar seem to work very well to many DBs. So..I am all hope and eager to whip up this cake.

Everybody loved it!! 7 people, 12 triangles and I have no leftover. I totally fall in love with the frosting, and I am one of those people who usually scrape off frosting from cakes. But how could I not - when it's made with browned butter?!! This is the very first time I have made frosting with browned butter, actually first time of knowing there is such thing. Heehee..I am so going to use this frosting recipe on other cakes from now on.


Vik ate all the crumbs from the cake, kinda rare event on its own. As I sliced off the top and sides to make the cake all even, he picked on them and next thing I know all those bits were gone. It's quite of work, making the caramel syrup and then browned butter, but so well worth it!!

This cake's recipe can be found in Bay Area Bites (http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/).

Thank you so much for Dolores of http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/, the host this month's challenge and co-hosts Alex of Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo: http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/ and Jenny of Foray into Food http://forayintofood.blogspot.com/

Mix and Match

Many of us have that one or two things that we'd just jump into it - no matter what. For example Vik, it can be snowing or scorching hot outside, but if you have soccer ball and enough guys to play a game. He'd be out within seconds. He is in that certain pool of people who would go golfing in 5 layers of clothing - to get the last game before the grass frost over. Or, my very best friend who loves to sing and she'd sign up to all sorta singing contest - just for the heck of it. The one that you really would hate to go to karaoke with, because it's all her songs!! Or it can be your song but she is the one who sings it.

Me, house renovating and cooking. Cooking. Not baking. Yet, two weeks ago when being asked if I am willing to 'help' out with holiday food drive, by baking some cookies. I said YES YES I WILL! No further questions asked - was not very smart, huh? I just have soft spot on that kinda thing. Never mind that I have my own baking plans for the holiday already. After quick tally up, in total, I will be baking about 150 dozens of cookies. Cookies baking is not big deal, so it's not like I am whining. Bread and cake is not my strongest suit. What I did not take into calculation is that .... lack of space!! Time, I can make time - though with 1.5 full time job and I do have life outside job, ya know - it gets crazy sometimes :) Still, I can do my work anywhere I want and cream-ing butter and sugar while reviewing specs - is entirely doable.

Space....we borrow friends' fridge. Yeah. And I don't do any fancy shaped cookies. My mom was horrified when I told her about sliced and dropped cookies. Eh, in her glorious days of running a bakery - sure she was a career woman and has another full time job as well, but there were always 5 girls working the ovens, shaping, molding, finishing, etc. My aunts and grandma on dough mixing. Mom came from her job and do super thorough checking. No crooked edges cookies. Checklist and what not.

Do you see any other pair of hands around here?! :) Truth is, she thinks I am crazy. In cute way. It's not that I don't want to ask some girl friends over for help. But the only way I can manage in winging these baking frenzy is that I do it in random times. I simply can't put away 4 solid hours.

Anyhoo, so I dig out this cheat sheet and thought to share it here. Up til now, I have about 50 dozens worth of cookies dough all packed up in freezer. I am a little bit nervous for the baking day (s) though. Gotta borrow some baking pans too. Maybe then I have to call up couple friends.


This spritz cookies is not even in 'the list.' My overachiever personality seems to take over last week and so I whipped up small batch of this. One of those breezy easy cookies yet just the right kind for dunking to tea and coffee.


What:
- 250 gr unsatled butter, room temperature
- 175 gr sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 350 gr flour, sift with 1/4 tsp salt

How:
- Cream butter until fluffly and pale. Add sugar and continue beating to smoother texture.
- Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract on low speed just until blended.
- Add flour-salt mixture to butter mixture, and stir with wooden spoon just until blended.
- Spritz using either cookie press or cone with star tips.
- Bake in the 375 oven for about 8-10 minutes.

Couple tips: Make sure baking sheets are cool - or dough tends to slip off when lifting cookie press/ cone on warm sheets. If dough starts to feel warm, put in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Oh and I only made half of the recipe, and comes up with about 2 dozens.

Thanksgiving Stuffed Turkey


This stuffed turkey has been a sitting duck (sitting turkey) in my draft for oh...1 month?! So before holiday season is over and next thing I know it's 2009, I thought to combine these posts together. It was fairly small Thanksgiving dinner - so I opted for stuffed turkey breast. Quick, easy and never had any leftover - while if it's whole turkey, I may have to make turkey sandwich, salad, chili, etc with the leftover.


The 'out from the oven' photo is not so great - it was 7.30 pm and I had to take it to the table quick. So it was literally point and shoot under my poor kitchen lighting.

What:
- 1 turkey boneless turkey breast, lightly pound to flatten it up.
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Stuffing is the combination of these (adjust ratio to own liking)
- red onion
- garlic
- wild mushrooms
- celery
- carrots
- sun dried tomatoes
- olives
- almonds
- rosemary, finely chopped

How:
- Marinate the turkey the night before in ziploc bag. Toss in olive oil, bay leaf, garlic and 2 sprigs of rosemary. Give it a good 'massage.'
- Cook the stuffing in olive oil.
- Assemble by placing the turkey breast, skin side down. Spread stuffing and leave about 1/2 - 1" border all around. Gently roll up - try to somewhat tighten up while rolling.
- The better way of doing it is using kitchen strings - which I completely truly absolutely sure I got in my kitchen drawer. But it's nowhere to be found. Since it's not exactly gigantic, toothpick works just fine. Secure the seam with toothpick.
- Place rolled up turkey breast on roasting pan. I use few skinny farmers market carrots as rack for it so that all the drippings would drip better. Also, it gives space underneath the rolls to brown up nicely, instead of creating icky mess. Tuck in sprig of rosemary under the skin. Brush top with some garlic infused melted butter. (Whacked garlic and let it sit in melted butter)
- Bake in preheated 375 oven for about 40 minutes - depending on thickness of breast. Using meat thermometer is of course recommended. But I just prick it with satay skewer and once the juice runs clear - it's done.
- I make simple gravy with the drippings and chopped up shallots.

Diwali Part 1: Moong Dhal, Palak Paneer, Chana Masala/ Chole

I have about 25 or so photos in my edit box, waiting for me to write up and post!! (Banging head) This is getting old, yeah? Listening to my excuses :) One day maybe I will post about all these goals I have in my to-do list and these past few weeks, I sorta have the opportunities to cross some of them out. But of course, having food blog has always been one of those goals too. So, pardon me and let's talk about better things.



Diwali Dinner Part 1, from our small 4 people Diwali Dinner on the 28th. Vik was not expecting an Indian dinner - thinking it'd be just some celebratory dinner with friends. Since we are having 'the' more authentic Diwali Dinner on Saturday with family friends, he thought I'd just wait to fix up Indian menu for that Saturday. But see..I believe in celebration, especially the fact that it was indeed a New Year. A small nice surprise is always a good thing, right? So I came home earlier and quickly whipped up some Indian dishes. Lit up few dozens of diyas around the house, some on balcony. He would have been fine if I didn't do it, ya know? But he was grinning when he got home and saw all these little candles everywhere. Now, let's hope sometimes before Christmas, I'd come home to a fully decorated Christmas tree in our living room, yeah?

I ended up making some bhajias, rotlis, Moong Dhal, Chole and Palak Paneer. Since I simply did not have the time to fix up dessert/sweets - which is extremely essential in Diwali festival. The other couple brought in tiramisu and eclairs. Mmhh...

Anyway, so maybe the most Gujarati dish in this dinner is the Moong Dhal. I have never been a huge fan of this dhal - in my head, mung beans are eaten as sweet dishes. While he thinks it should be savory. Well, it's New Year, so savory it is then. Chole/ Chana masala is a dish of chickpeas cooked in spicy slightly dry gravy. Which I prefer to eat with chips or thinly sliced baguette - and I did exactly that with some leftover the next day for lunch. Weird, huh?

Palak Paneer has sometype of sentimental value in it. ;) It was our first cooking together dish. Many moon ago on one Sunday he decided that we'd have some friends over for simple Indian meal. At the time, I did not have very well stock Indian pantry, ya know? Tons of spices, as Indonesian cuisine shares quite similarity to Indian's, but that's basically it. Just spices.

So it got to be something simple and did not involve too much running around to get the ingredients. We both love Palak Paneer and it is fairly easy dish, so we just went to grab some spinach and paneer. However, it did involve an episode of some of this green stuff jumping out from blender when my then-boyfriend did not put the lid secure enough onto the blender! Can't let him in kitchen, see?

Moong Dhal recipe is similar to this Dhal recipe. Simply swap the lentils/ beans. Pressure cooker is better way to go in cooking this dish - much faster process, but I just use regular soup pot. That said, it requires parboiling these moong beans for a while until it softens up before dumping in the spices.

Chole/ Chana Masala
What:
- 1 canned chick peas, drained and set aside in a bowl
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1" ginger, grated
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 small ripe tomato, chopped
- 4-5 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp garam masala
- 2 green chilies
- pinch of turmeric
- few sprigs of cilantro, chopped
- 2 tbsp tamarind juice (mix warm water to 1 tsp tamarind paste)

How:
- Heat oil and fry onions, garlic, ginger and chillies until onions is soft. Add this mixture to drained chickpeas and set aside for now.
- In same pot, heat a little bit oil and toast coriander seeds for few seconds. Then add in all other spices. Fry.
- Toss in tomatoes and cook until soft, add tomato paste. Stir.
- Add in the chickpeas onion mixture to the pot. Stir and mix well. Add in tamarind juice. Cover for couple minutes.
- Add just enough water to moisten it up and form slightly dry thick gravy coating the chickpeas. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Toss in cilantro right before serving.
Palak Paneer
What:
- 1/2 block of store bought paneer, cubed and pan-fried for few minute and set aside. (home-made paneer of course tastes much better and I could have had put some efforts to make it on my own, but really...)
- 1 bunch of spinach, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 small onions, chopped
- 1 small tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1" ginger, grated
- 1 tsp of each turmeric and groud coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- pinch of garam masala
- 2 jalapenos (optional), chopped
- 4 tbsp of cream/ half and half (sour cream works well too)

How:
- Heat little oil and toss in onion, garlic, ginger and jalapenos. Fry for couple minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add in spices. Fry. Toss in tomatoes. Stir well.
- Toss in spinach and cook until it is slightly wilted. Add in about 1 tbsp of cream, just so that it has some liquidy consitency, for easy blending.
- Using hand blender, blend the mixture. We don't like it too smooth, so just blend until the consistency you prefer.
- Add in some more cream. Stir. Toss in cubed and fried paneer. Let simmer for few minutes.
- Just right before turning off the heat, add in chopped up cilantro and stir well.

Diwali Part 2 is coming up soon!!

October Daring Bakers: Pizza

My first challenge as Daring Bakers. Am I out of my mind?!! I have said million times that I just don't bake (much). Cause I am scared. Too many unknown factors. However, I love challenges. What's better way of challenging my baking skills (or lack off) by joining Daring Bakers? And of all things I fear most to bake, yeap...bread type of baking and surely, my first challenge just has to be pizza!

That said, I do make pizza dough quite often; my aunt's recipe and I have been sticking with that very one recipe for years. So I was both excited and nervous when I see this month's Daring Bakers task. For this challenge, we are using a recipe by Peter Reinhart, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread.

The first step of kneading went great. Did not use mixer - cause I don't think my hand held mixer can take the abuse. I was bit worried when my dough did not seem to be sticky (supposedly, the dough in this recipe would be somewhat sticky) but it seems completely fine, based on my minimal knowledge of 'bread' dough. Next day though, woohoo..it smells heavenly, a tad of yeast smell. The dough looks delicate and just right (whatever 'right' is)

Problem arises when I was hoping that Vik would take picture of me tossing the pizza - it was somewhat of a rule in this challenge: toss the pizza and take a photo of flying pizza. He called from office and said he'd be running late. And he has a soccer match to catch within 1.5 hour. Factor in: getting ready, eat, catch up for a bit - I just couldn't wait for him. I tempted using the recording button - but yeah..it might end up recording just the ceiling or my feet or something.

Anyway, so move on to the last few steps. Now the dough becomes kinda super soft, softer than what I accustomed to. Did some knuckle stretching, rotating, flip about 1/8" to the air. Actually I did send it to the air and guess what, somewhere in midair, it decided to fold itself together. Take a deeeeeppp breath. Okay, so..that's the reason I took out 3 parts of dough from the fridge, knowing that some trial and errors may occurred. It turned out okay though, I 'repaired' it - by stretching and patting it back together.


Hence, I had 2 pretty good round shape pizza and one splattered looking oval. Did not use any rolling pin!! Usually I used rolling pin for pizza. I have decided on topping early on. First one is inspired by our favorite pizza from Terroni (it's one of our favorite places) - Polentona. Tomatoes, speck (smoked prosciutto), fontina, mozzarella and pine nuts. I used smoked mozzarella and holysmokeee..it was so smokey, so sweet. The sauce is just a simple tomato paste with chopped up garlic and basil, the whole idea of this pizza is to showcase the rich smokey salty flavor of prosciutto.


Second one, I have always loved mushrooms in my pizza. So I went ahead and do vegetarian pizza of creminis, capers, artichokes, olives with goat cheese and basil pesto as sauce. Then I did the last one, half and half for Vik's lunch the next day.

I have another 2 doughs in freezer and so tempted to whip up sweet one this weekend, after seeing so many great inspiration on other DB posts.

The verdict: This pizza sure worth the effort!! The process is slightly more complex than the other recipe I got, but the result is super rewarding. Vik ate 3/4 of the prosciutto pizza and about 1/4 of mushrooms one. When he got back from soccer, he did second round dinner.

Thank you Rosa for hosting this month Daring Bakers!

Pumpkin Choco Chips Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Cinnamon Frosting

Work was normal last week and I was planning to blog more often. Obviously, it simply did not go as planned. Practically, I have been sorting through my work 'zone' - if I may say, I am quite organized person (on the verge of obsessive) however there are days that my desk is covered from one corner to another. As well as floor space...and sometimes, wall. So I had to do some shuffling. Then closet swap - winter/fall clothing out from the box, summer goes in. With tiny closet, there is no other way of doing it.

All that and enjoying fall colors - I run better during fall and winter. I know it's different for everybody, but I have always thought there is something magical about fall and winter, hence I have upped my miles and at that, sore factor. Meeting up with girl friends for catching up. Enough excuses. A week late, but this is what I whipped up as dessert for our Thanksgiving dinner. I did not get to take photos of everything, trying not to make it into habit for asking our friends to sit on the table and wait around until I am done taking photos.

Vik came up with the idea of cupcakes. No extra dessert plates to wash, see? Though I thought, cupcakes for Thanksgiving dessert?? It does not fit the bill - Thanksgiving! Not bake-sale. Then of course, as I give it some thoughts. I know I wanted to do something with pumpkin. Know I don't want to roll out pie dough, so pumpkin pie is out. Something I can make ahead. When I saw a block of cream cheese in my fridge. Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting sounds just about right.

Do I have a recipe on my own though for pumpkin cupcakes? Of course not. I google-d around and found few different ones. However this one was actually from my pilates instructor. Well..she got it from Canadian Living magazine and changed some of the ingredients. How do I get a recipe from an instructor, long story short - I took her session for a while then switched to another instructor, we bumped to one another, she asked and I explained. Two months ago she started new class and as promised, I went in to check it out and I have been diligently going to her class since then. And couple weeks ago, we established another working relationship, she becomes my client. Gotta make back all the money I paid for membership!! The cream cheese frosting is finger licking good! It's what my host family used to whip up for their carrot cake and red velvet cake.

Cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I don't have any, so I just mix in nutmeg, ground cloves and cinnamon)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk (original recipe: buttermilk)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (original recipe: vegetable oil)
few tbsp of chocolate chips (I added this simply because I have some in my pantry)

Frosting:
6 oz cream cheese
2/3 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

How:
- For cupcakes: Mix all dry ingredients together with fork. In another bowl, whisk all wet ingredients together. Pour wet ingredients to dry and mix just until moistened. Fill muffin cups to the top. (Surprise surprise, I don't have muffin baking cups/pan, but I do have assorted brioche molds I got from Indonesia, so I used that instead)
- Bake in 375° oven for about 20-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- For frosting: Cream together butter, cream cheese, salt and confectioners sugar until smooth. Add in cinnamon and vanilla.
- In my dream, I'd have pipe the frosting to make it all nice. But in reality, I just spread it with spatula. It yields 11 cupcakes and all of them have different frosting design. Not because I have excessive talent in cupcake decorating, but simply couldn't decide which one could win 'the laziest effort of frosting' event. ;) So there was swirly kind, spikey, zagged, et cetera.