Eating cupcakes for Charity

I didn't eat a single cupcake for a whole month! Yes that's right from the 25th of December till the 25th of Jan I was cupcake-free! So after some thought I decided to end my cupcake-fast at Lola's cafe in Selfridges (somewhere I've been meaning to visit for ages!) with a couple of their charity cupcakes.

I previously blogged about Lola's Kiss it Better cupcake, and Manny had expressed an interest in their Hazelnut Vanilla cupcake after I mentioned it on here. Since blogging about it, Lola's had announced that 100% of the retail price from their nutella cupcake was going to survivors of the Haiti earthquake - so we were not only stuffing ourselves but doing our bit for charity too.

The cafe is very small, with only enough seats for about a dozen or so people, and as its in Selfridges and looks rather inviting, its difficult to get a seat. This was my 3rd try at a sit down cupcake experience in Selfridges and we got lucky - grabbing a table being used by a member of staff, who kindly took her laptop elsewhere :)

We ordered our cupcakes and a cappuccino for me, mocha (with whipped cream) for tubby Manny. Firstly the coffee, provided by Vida e Caffe is amazing, some of the best I've tried - really flavoursome and well made, and they came with a little square of Lindt dark chocolate which made Manny even happier as he now had something to dunk in his whipped cream. I had seen him eyeing my flake and was guarding it from him.

So, the cupcakes. Last time I tried Lola's Christmas cupcakes I was a little over-whelmed by the amount of food colouring and a lacking of vanilla flavour, however there were no issues with these, they were wonderful. The base of mine was soft and flavoursome and the frosting was very tasty indeed. The smarties and flake worked really well - and I loved the fact that it was designed by a 4 year old - it looked and tasted like something a 4 year old would love! Having said that the 37 year old me loved it too, but then I'm a child at heart, especially when it comes to food! Manny's nutella frosting was fantastic (I took a little smidgen to try it). Oh and as well as the lovely cakes, you get proper mini-cutlery to eat your cupcake with, which is ideal as sometimes wooden forks impair the taste of your cupcake!

I'm not sure if you can still get these cupcakes in Lola's as tomorrow is February but I urge you to pop along and see - the money is going to good causes, and the cakes are definitely worth trying.

Making dumplings with Mariana

Last night we had a great night making dumplings at my friend Mariana's house. It was easy, as we bought ready-made dumpling "skins" from a Vietnamese shop. And it turned out that even inexperience can't make a dumpling taste bad - they were all delicious!

We made 2 different dumpling fillings: pork and vegetable and crabmeat and spring onion. For 3 people I would recommend buying 3 packets of skins (the above packets have 15 each). We had 2 packets so we ended up with 10 dumplings each, which was fine but we had loads of filling left over!

Here are the ingredients for the pork and vegetable dumpling filling:

300 grams minced pork

half a cabbage

2 carrots

6 spring onions

soya sauce

And here's what we used for the crabmeat and spring onion dumpling filling:

Cooked crabmeat (you can use tinned crabmeat but I happened to find a freshly cooked whole crab)

4 spring onions

half a lime

garlic salt

For the pork and vegetable dumplings we grated the carrots and finely chopped the cabbage and spring onions, and cooked them in 2 separate pans.

We then made space in the bigger pan, poured a bit more oil in the gap, like that up there...

...and added the pork mince. We fried it like that until it changed colour, constantly breaking it up with a fork and chopsticks. Once it was cooked through we mixed all the vegetables from the other pan in with it, added some soya sauce and a splash of white wine (the is optional, we wanted to make sure the meat wouldn't dry out) and covered it up and let it cook for a bit longer. I'd say it cooked for about 20-25 minutes in total. Then we allowed it to cool, while we prepared the crabmeat filling:

This was super-easy: we just mixed the crabmeat with finely chopped spring onion and the lime juice and the garlic salt

And the dumpling fillings are ready! You can start off making the crab dumplings, while the pork mixture cools. So we got all our skins ready, grabbed some trays and some water in little bowls and the dumpling making began for real.

First things first: Mariana, who has a little bit of dumpling-making experience, showed us that you need to mould the inside of the skin a little bit for the dumpling mixture to have a bit of space

Then, you wet the edges with the water, stick a large teaspoon of your mixture in the middle...

And stick the sides together. that, down there, is the most simple shape, and a good place to begin:

But of course, after you have made a couple of simple ones to boost your confidence, and if you're a creative soul, you may want to experiment with different forms, like we did

And I'll tell you one thing I learnt about dumpling making last night: often, the weirder the shape, the tastier the dumpling. so you can't really go wrong. However, do make sure you seal it properly, so the filling doesn't seep out while cooking. If there are any you are not sure of, it's better to fry them. We fried half, and steamed half

And that was a great balance, so I'd recommend it to anyone. Then, a very important part of the process; dumpling dipping sauces: we used soya sauce and chilli oil. And 2 bottle of white wine also a welcome addition ;o) - all in all a lot of fun was had and I will definitely be repeating "dumpling night"

Of course, we only focussed on Asian style dumplings last night, and, in order to pay our dues, we discussed dumplings from other parts of the world- Poland, Spain, Mexico... I have a feeling that every country has their own dumpling-making tradition. 

Strawberry Cake Ice Cream

There is something so wonderful about being all wrapped up in a cozy blanket, eating cold ice cream in winter. Having an elephantine sweet tooth, I go ga ga over cakes. And when its Cake with Ice cream, I admit I am absolutely shameless. The best thing about this dessert is it can be made and frozen well in advance. (Not that it will  remain uneaten for a long time:-)). Imagine, just removing a dessert from your freezer and serving it to an unexpected guest. Or just feeding your sweet tooth when  the dessert craving hits on a lazy day. I would make this and stove it into the freezer just to have the comfort of having a dessert ready at hand anytime. Uuummmmm....

Blog hopping and seeing the sea of recipes, I rued myself for not having tried more variety in the basic cake recipes. Though I had made the basic sponge just a few days ago, I was itching to try the same once more, just to know if slight variations would give the same results. I also wanted to test the new strawberry essence I had got from my latest expedition to Nilgiris. I tried this one from Deeba.

Strawberry Sponge
Ingredients:

• Eggs - 3
• Castor sugar - 1/2 cup
• Flour - 1/2 cup
• Strawberry essence - 1 tsp

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line, grease & dust a Swiss roll tin.
• Beat the eggs, essence & sugar till mousse like (almost 10 minutes). I added a couple of drops of pink food color.
• Lightly fold the flour in 3 goes in figure 8 movements (so as no to release the air bubbles).
• Gently turn into prepared tray & bake for 10-12 minutes till light brown & spongy. I baked the sponge in my regular cake tin as I do not have a Swiss roll tin.

The sponge was airy and light. It was ages since I had made Ice Cream cake and it helped that I had some left over Vanilla Ice Cream in the freezer. So it was going to be a Strawberry Cake Ice Cream with chocolate chips.

More Ingredients

• A packet of Vanilla Ice Cream
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• Simple sugar syrup 3/4 cup

The Ice Cream needs to be kept out of the freezer till it becomes soft. I microwaved mine to hasten the process. Add chocolate chips and mix to distribute them evenly in the ice cream. Slice the cake horizontally into thin layers. Place the loaf tin on the cake layers and cut out slices measuring the bottom and the sides. Don't forget to reserve one slice for the top layer.  Keep aside.

 I lined my non stick loaf tin with cling film. This makes getting the Cake Ice cream out of the tin a breeze.The cling film  length has to be enough to over the  bottom and the top of the tin completely. In went slices of cake at the bottom and sides. Moisten the cake well with simple sugar syrup(water and sugar in 1:1 ratio, adjust sugar to taste if needed).  Fill the ice cream in the cake till almost full . Top with another slice of cake, moisten with sugar syrup. Cover well with cling film. This helps prevent crystallization, making the dessert smoother. Freeze

I find that this works better at a lower freezer setting for atleast 4-5 hours or better still overnight. This helps the dessert set well without making it too hard.  Check and remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving. Slice with a sharp knife dipped in hot water. Serve immediately.

Please Note: If the dessert becomes too hard, remove from the freezer and keep in the fridge till it softens. You could also try microwaving for a few seconds.

Try making this with Vanilla sponge and Chocolate Ice cream  or Pista Ice Cream and nuts, Pista Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream, Vanilla sponge with coffee ice cream and praline etc.

i'm here to unload.

today i've been cooped up in our apartment all day. i've recently caught isaac's terrible cold and it has knocked me out. and on top of it i have mounds of homework. let it be known, third semester of nursing school sucks/rules. i love my pediatric class/clinical and community class/clinical but hate my policy class, mostly because of the gigantic paper that is due on monday. there is nothing i hate more than writing papers.

other thoughts...

i have gone through an entire box of tissue in one day. have you ever had a cold where you feel like your nose is constantly running so you grab a tissue and then there is nothing there? drives me nuts. oh, and one nostril is all stuffed up and the other isn't? why!!!

i always think skipping school and staying home all day cuddled on my bed sounds so nice but then when i actually do it i hate it. i get so claustrophobic and have to flee to my icy deck for fresh air.

isaac and i had a pizza party tonight and watched whip it. loved it. oh, and i made cupcakes but by the time it was time to frost them i was too tired. maybe tomorrow.

did i tell you isaac and i are now our ward librarians?! cool huh. if you need some scriptures or some copies made, we're all yours.

on wednesday i got to help place a PICC line in a little tiny 29 day old babe. it's a pretty invasive procedure but guess what we used to sedate her? this sugar water stuff called sweeties that the babes can't get enough of. we just put some on her binkie and it calmed her right down. she held still for the whole procedure, it was amazing. i love babies.

again: writing nursing policy papers suck. actually, all papers suck. i hate writing. if i ever consider graduate school i'm going to have to find my way back to this post to remind myself how much i hate writing and then maybe i'll reconsider.

thanks for letting me rant. i needed it.

this weekend is full of nursing policy for me, but i hope yours is fabulous!

The Breakfast Experiment

And we start at the beginning: breakfast. I have yet to find the perfect breakfast and so far the month of January has been dedicated to that search.

The healthy breakfast was where it all began, me being on a post-Xmas detox. On a cold, damp, grey Monday morning I was positively dreading eating the above fruit salad. I was surprised at how delicious and moreish it actually was. I prepared it the day before, cutting up kiwis, bananas, pears, nectarines and apples, and adding tinned mandarin and grapefruit segments. I squeezed and little bit of lemon over it so that the apples would not go brown over night. I made enough to last for 3 days for both me and Jamie (my boy who eats huge amounts of everything). I served it with bio yoghurt and honey and sprinkled with black sesame seeds that I bought in the Japanese Centre in Piccadilly Circus. My mouth is watering now I am just writing about it so it was a definite success: 8/10 (points taken off for being neither warm nor seasonal)

Then came the experimental breakfast. I had lots of brown rice and decided to make some kind of a rice pudding-type dish. I cooked it with milk and single cream, and added honey, cinamon, raisins, black sesame seeds and almonds to the mix - all the things I love - and chilled it overnight. The next morning I heated it up with some milk - it was revolting and I would not recommend it to anyone - but have included the recipe in case someone has a pressing desire to try this concoction: 1/10 (the point being given because I'm sure it's not as horrible as some things out there)

The boring breakfast was next, cos sometimes you just want some toast and a cup of tea. I won't bore anyone with the details of my toast making, all I'll say is it has been a fallback breakfast for me all month  so it would be sad not to give it any mention here: 7/10

And that brings me to my current favourite - the warm-your-cockles-porridge-breakfast. It may not look like much but that was the most delicious little bowl of food I've had in a long time. It's very quick and easy too - I just warmed a large handful of oats in a bowl-full of milk (I like it to be very runny) with some chopped banana, a pinch of sea salt, a tablespoon of honey and some mixed spice. Don't leave it on its own for too long or it'll get gloopy - you have time to slather some cream on but not to have a shower. Once it's hot through, it's ready: 9.5/10 (I have to leave hope of there being something a bit better out there otherwise life would not be worth living)

There was also the elusive breakfast I had this morning... last night when I was coming back drunkenly from a girls' night out at the Alpine Lodge (fab by the way) I bought a tomato in a Turkish shop with this amazing idea of what I was going to have for breakfast this morning. The tomato went missing in the night and I spent 10 minutes looking for it this morning. I ended up miserably eating toast: 3/10 (Points for the great idea, the exercise and the toast) I have since learned that Jamie had eaten the tomato as a midnight snack.

Mocha Praline Cake

The experimental basic sponge was successfully baked and I wanted to make some kind of new dessert with it. Think this was the thought that made me to cut it into narrow strips.(Not to mention my kids hovering around the cake asking for a bite). When I could not come up with that brilliant idea for the new dessert,  I went back to an old favorite, coffee, praline and the quintessential whipped cream. Irresistible...

Whipped the cream, flavored with coffee,  put in the fridge to chill. Mixed some instant coffee and water, no sugar (the cake was a little too sweet for my taste). Soaked the cake strips in the coffee, filled with whipped cream, praline. One more strip of soaked cake, whipped cream on top. Dust some instant coffee. Phew!! It sure took time to repeat this process till all the strips of cake were done with. Thank God! Am obsessed with just normal sane sized cakes and not Petite Fours:-))

The uneven strips of cake would hardly make a pretty sight! Sigh! Thought let me not waste any more cream and might as well freeze the rest. But then, my son helpfully suggested that I pipe something on each piece. After a frantic search for the missing coupler, I finally cut the cake into small pieces, piped some cream onto them.

The cake would not win the best looking cake award, but would surely delight any coffee lover. It took the soaking syrup really well, making the cake moist without making it excessively so.
 Coffee.... what would  we do without you???

Basic Sponge Recipe

I tried this Tarla Dalal recipe, new for me, with hesitation. All cakes I have made or tried so far had either butter or oil. This recipe was a pleasant surprise to me as the cake came out very spongy and with a great texture too. Found it a little too sweet for my taste though. So less sugar next time.. This cake is made with only eggs, flour and sugar - no oil, no butter. Will definitely try this out again.

Ingredients:
Eggs 3 large
Plain Flour 80 gms
Powdered Sugar 80 to 110 gms
Method: Pre heat oven to 200 degrees C.  Sieve the flour, keep aside. Beat the eggs and sugar till very thick and double in quantity. Fold in the flour very gently with a metal spoon. Pour into a greased and dusted cake tin. Bake for 15 mins(Mine took about 5 mins more) till it passes the  skewer test. Remove from the oven. Loosen sides with a sharp knife, invert over a wire rack. Cool and use as needed.

What carrots do to your health?

Perhaps, it's no coincidence that carrots universally beloved root veggie is also one of the most nutritious.

Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, a cancer-preventive antioxidant that gives them their bright yellow-orange hue. Beta-carotene and other carotenenoids may also protect against hyperglycemia and diabetes. As if that's not enough, researchers now breed carrots with different colors, and the most promising include a red carrot high in lycopene (an antioxidant that helps protect against prostate cancer) and a purple variety that contains anthocyanins (the same cancer-preventive and anti-aging antioxidants found in blueberries). Furthermore, frozen carrots have the same beta-carotene content as fresh.

Cappuccino creams

Ingredients

550g/11⁄4lb fromage frais

2 tablespoons finely ground espresso coffee

1 tablespoon icing sugar

17g/6oz dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids), grated

Ways of Working

1. Mix the fromage frais with the coffee and icing sugar. Spoon half of the mixture into eight individual ramekins or glass dishes.

2. Sprinkle over most of the grated chocolate, and top with the remaining fromage frais mixture, sprinkling the last of the grated chocolate over the top. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 8

Orange ice cream

Ingredients

8 oranges

1 lemon

200g/7oz caster sugar

500ml/18fl oz double cream

4 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Ways of Working

1. Finely grate the zest of the oranges and the lemon, and put in a bowl. Add the juice of 2 oranges, and leave to steep while preparing the other ingredients.

2. Squeeze the juice of the remaining oranges, combine with the sugar and cook to reduce to a thick syrup.

3. Whip the cream to soft peaks. Stir the steeped juice and zest into the syrup. Add the juice of the lemon, then stir the syrup into the cream, which will immediately thicken. Add the Grand Marnier.

4. Freeze in a shallow container, stirring every 30 minutes for 4 hours, then leave overnight to freeze before serving.

Serves 4

Crab & ginger soup

Ingredients

1 carrot, chopped

1 leek, chopped

1 bay leaf

900ml/11⁄2pt fish stock

2 medium cooked crabs

2.5cm/1in piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1⁄2 teaspoon ground star anise

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ways of Working

1. Put the carrot and leek in a large heavy saucepan with the bay leaf and the fish stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and leave to simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are nearly tender.

2. Remove all of the meat from the crabs. Break off and reserve the claws; break the joints and remove the meat using a fork.

3. Add the crabmeat to the pan together with the ginger, soy sauce and star anise, and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the crab is heated through.

4. Season the soup with salt and pepper, then ladle into warm individual serving bowls and garnish with the crab claws. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Mini mushroom quiches

Ingredients

4 slices wholewheat bread, crusts removed

2 teaspoons butter

225g/8oz mushrooms, wiped with damp kitchen paper and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

4 eggs

100g/4oz Emmental cheese, grated

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ways of Working

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

2. Roll each slice of bread with a rolling pin until flat, halve each slice and arrange in a greased muffin tray, pressing each slice into the cake mould. While the oven warms, bake the bread cups at a low heat until crisp and dry. Remove from the oven and set aside.

3. In a small frying pan, melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Sauté, stirring regularly, for 3–5 minutes until tender. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Break the eggs in a bowl, piercing the yolks with a small sharp knife. Pour the eggs over the bread cups, dividing the mixture evenly. Top with the mushroom mixture, and sprinkle with the cheese.

5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the eggs are just set.

Serves 6

Love makes the world go round

How cute are all these Valentines cupcakes from The Gourmet Cupcake Company? I don't think anyone would be disappointed to receive a box of these on Valentines day! The lovely "will you marry me" ones in the top pic can be customised to say anything you require and the heart ones are available in your choice of flavour and colour, although I personally like the black hearts as they're rather anti-soppy while still being romantic!

As well as offering a rather fabulous array of valentines cupcakes, The Gourmet Cupcake Co offer a couple of gift ideas for all you cupcake lovers out there.

First up are their cupcake kits, which feature everything you need to get started on cupcake baking for yourself, and include 50 of their gorgeous cupcake cases- you can find out more about the kits, and order, here. They also offer cupcake decorating classes costing £75 for weekdays (£95 weekends) which includes all materials, lunch and a dozen cupcakes to take home - lasting approx 6 hours this is the best value cupcake class I've come across online. They are also due to start classes in level two cupcake decorating soon, where you learn advance icing and decorating skills, further info on both levels of classes available here.

Finally, back to the Valentines selection - for every box they sell during Valentines week (8-14 Feb) they will donate £3 to Bliss' Cake a Difference appeal.

Photographs used with thanks to Gourmet Cupcake Company.

hubs.

hi friends. today i'm going on a field trip! for our community health clinical we're taking a little trip to the homeless shelter/teen resource center/health department's std clinic. i'll be honest, i'm pretty excited. i just wish we were taking a bus!

and since my mind has been on school all weekend i'm going to direct you to another blog...my husband's. he doesn't blog much but when he does, it's big. he wrote about his best of 2009 and not to brag...but i influenced many his of choices. plus, his favorites are my favorites.

for a good read go here.

Crispy rice balls (Seedai)

Seedai is a melt-in-the-mouth south-Indian snack, usually prepared for Krishna Jayanthi (Janmashtami), the birthday of Lord Krishna, the Hindu God of love and divine joy. This is perhaps the only Hindu festival celebrated at midnight. I love this festival because it gives me enough time to prepare these delicacies after getting back from work :)

Ingredients:

rice flour - 2 cups
urad flour - 2 tbsp
coconut (powdered / ground) - 2/3 cups
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
sesame seeds - 1 tsp
butter - 2 tsp
chilli powder - 2 to 3 tsp (adjust according to taste)
salt - about 1 1/4 tsp (adjust according to taste)
water - about 1 cup

Method:

Lightly roast the flour in butter and add all the ingredients. Mix well. Make a stiff dough. Roll out into small round/oblong shapes and deep fry till golden brown. Drain on a kitchen towel, allow to cool and store in an air-tight container.

Tomato Crepe (Dosa)

The touch of tangy tomato adds a zing to my plain crepes. I first got the idea at my office cafeteria when I was working in Bangalore. But whatever approach they follow, I could hardly taste the tomato in it! However, the very color of the dosa, with the tint of orange, was tempting enough to make me try out my own version of it.

Ingredients:

dosa batter - 250 grams

tomato - 3 medium-sized
oil for frying

Method:

Cut tomatoes into big pieces and blend without water in a food processor until there are no lumps. Add to the batter. Heat a frying pan. Pour a small quantity of batter and spread into a thin crepe. Add oil along the edges. Fry on low heat till crisp (preferably without flipping). Serve with hot spicy green chutney.

Mung Bean - Carrot curry

Whenever my mom makes carrot curry with mung beans in it, I love the combo curry. Mung adds a nice touch to the taste of carrot, and they go well together.

Ingredients:

grated carrot - 1 cup

split yellow mung beans - 1/2 cup

green chillies - 3 medium-sized (adjust according to taste)

curry powder - 1/2 tsp

oil - 1 tbsp

mustard seeds - 1 tsp

cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp

black gram (urad dal) - 1 tsp

curry leaves - a twig
lemon juice - a few drops

Method:

Add 1 cup water to mung beans and microwave for 5 minutes. Take oil in a sauce pan and add mustard, cumin, black gram and curry leaves. When it splutters, add green chillies and fry for a minute. Mix in the mung beans and carrots. Stir for a few minutes and mix in the lemon juice.

Instant veg upma

This is a versatile Indian convenience food item. Whenever I don't feel like putting in a lot of thought or effort into my cooking, this is the perfect go-to candidate - a wholesome meal without a great deal.

Ingredients:

mixed vegetables (cabbage, carrot, peas, beans, onion) - 1 cup

broken rice / semolina - 1 cup

green chillies - 3 (adjust according to taste)
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
black gram (urad dal) - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 stalk
salt - 1 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Method:

Take oil in a sauce pan. Add mustard, cumin and black gram. When it splutters, add green chillies and curry leaves. Add rice / semolina and fry for a few minutes. Mix vegetables and stir for a couple of minutes. Add 3 cups of warm water and microwave for 10 minutes until cooked and serve hot with chutney.

Bea-utiful cupcakes for your Valentine

Bea's of Bloomsbury always produce some of the prettiest, and tastiest, cupcakes and fortunately their selection for Valentines doesn't disappoint! I love them all, and I'm sure anyone would be happy to receive them as a Valentines gift.

Available in boxes of 6 for £13 or 12 for £25 or as part of their fabulous sounding Love Box with lots of other goodies, including chocolate brownie hearts, further details of which can be found on their site. I know someone that will love a brownie heart so I'll have to pop in pre-valentines to grab a couple.

As much as I like the look of the Valentines selection, I am personally hoping someone will pop in and get me one of their Chinese New Year selection featuring my favourite animal of all time - the panda!!! I don't think I've seen a prettier cupcake ever! MUST get one.

Finally, Bea's are currently running a Cupcakes against Malaria campaign - if you buy 6 cupcakes they send a malaria net to the survivors of the Haiti earthquake. You can read about it on Bea's website and at Againstmalaria.com.

Thanks to Bea's for use of the photographs

Squash in Yogurt gravy (Morkuzhambu / Kaddu Kadi)

Weekend lunches usually consist of elaborate Indian meals in my house. This is a summer-special, with the cooling effect of yogurt, yet spicy! Any soft vegetable can be substituted for squash in this recipe.

Ingredients:

plain yogurt - 1 1/2 cups (beaten)
squash - 1
black gram (urad dal) - 1 tsp
grated coconut - 2 tbsp
corn flour - 2 tbsp
green chillies - 5 medium-sized (adjust according to taste)
currry leaves - 1 stalk
cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
carom seeds (ajwain) - 1 tsp
ginger - 1 inch piece (or 1 tsp ginger paste)
turmeric powder - a pinch
oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
coriander/cilantro leaves - a few
salt - 1 tsp (adjust as per taste)

Method:

Soak coconut, carom seeds and cumin seeds in warm water for 5 minutes. Blend with the ginger and green chillies into a coarse paste in a food processor. Cut squash into cubes. Take oil in a sauce pan and add mustard seeds, black gram and curry leaves. When it splutters, add squash, coconut mixture and half a teaspoon of salt. Cook until soft.  Add 1 cup of beaten yogurt, corn flour, turmeric powder and the remaining salt. Boil for a few minutes. Finally, add the remaining yogurt and remove from fire when it just starts to boil. Garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro leaves. Serve hot with rice / chapati / tortillas.

Notes:
If the final blob of yogurt is boiled in the mixture for a long time, the gravy will become very dilute.

Vegetable Pancake (Uttappam)

I love the sheer sight of the green and red combination, especially in food! These lil veggies make the regular uthappam much more tasty and healthy!

Ingredients:

thick dosa batter - about 250 grams
grated carrots - 75 grams
finely chopped beans - 75 grams
green chillies - 2
fresh coriander leaves - a few
oil for frying

Method:

Heat a frying pan. Pour 1/4 cup batter. Sprinkle carrots, beans, chillies and coriander leaves. Spread a teaspoon of oil around the uttappam. Cook on low heat until golden brown. Flip and leave for a couple of minutes until cooked, but remove before it starts darkening. Serve hot with chutney.

Mango Lassi

My new colleague was just moving in from another city and he decided to rent a place near mine. On the day he was landing, I invited them for lunch at my place. I wasn't prepared for an exotic lunch, but just managed to make a complete dinner. A home-made beverage would make a great addition, but all I had was a mango in the refrigerator. So I instantly whipped up this mango lassi. To my surprise, this became the star of the day! His wife said "The mango lassi tastes very professional - better than the ones served at restaurants!"

Ingredients:

mango - 1 big or 2 small
yogurt - 8 tbsp
sugar - 4 tbsp (adjust according to taste)
mango nectar - 1 cup

Method:

Blend all ingredients and serve chilled.

Butch it up, Buttercup

This weeks Time Out New York has an article on where to buy 167 different flavours of cupcakes in the City, and highlights 3 cupcake bakers who offer out-there flavour choices for NYC's cupcake lovers, two of which I'd not heard of before; Butch Bakery and Robicellis.

I couldn't resist using the tagline from Butch Bakery's website as this post's title - it sums up their manifesto rather well I'd say:

Our objective is simple. We're men, men who like cupcakes. Not the frilly pink frosted sprinkles and unicorns kind of cupcakes. We make manly cupcakes. For manly men.

Their cupcakes come in 12 flavours, all of which are booze soaked in some way and you can chose which pattern you'd like on top, including the very manly camouflage. These are available via mail order in New York only at the moment - they'd make a perfect manly gift for the man in your life I'd say (although my man doesn't object to frilly pink frosted sprinkles cupcakes!)

Robicelli's seem to be a typical cupcake company when you look at their Facebook page (their website is currently being redesigned), with yummy looking tiramisu (bottom pic), chocolate peanut butter and dulce de leche, however you soon run into their Elvis cupcake - banana base, with peanut butter frosting topped with brown sugar glazed bacon. These are the cupcakes that were meant to be sold deep fried at the Park Slope Chip Shop, in Brooklyn, leading to blogger/online media frenzy labelled cupcakegate. They also do a Harry Potter inspired Butterbeer flavour with butterscotch and sprinkled with edible gold dust (hope Warner Bros have given their approval!) and a vanilla waffle cake topped with maple syrup dipped buttermilk fried chicken. A fried chicken cupcake - not sure about that but next time we go to New York I might have to pop in and sample one just to say I have!

You can access the map featuring all the places to buy different flavoured cupcakes in NY here, and the artist who created the gorgeous word cloud of cupcake flavours' site here. I want a print of this for my cupcake kitchen - it's gorgeous!

If you want to read about the cupcakes we tried while in New York last year you can type New York into the search function or check out posts from March 09 (and maybe a couple in April) as that's when we visited and ate quite a few cupcakes :)

Thanks to Kurt M Crobert (wordcloud), Time Out (map), Butch Bakery(3rd pic down) and Robicellis (bottom pic) for use of the photos.