Grape Wine

Our Christmas traditions are incompete without home made wine and fruit cake. my mum in law is an expert in wine making. our guests had an enjoyable time with it. i'm in a hurry and lemme quickly get down to the recipe.

black wine grapes-1 kg
sugar-1 kg
yeast-1 tsp
wheat grains-1 tsp
water-2 litre (boiled and cooled)

Wash the grapes and combine all ingredients except the water and keep in a big air tight urn or glass bottle. add the water and mix thoroughly and store for twenty one days. don't forget to stir EVERYDAY. then strain. again store the strained mix in air tight urn for twenty one days WITHOUT STIRRING. fill the wine in glass bottles that are air tight. there will be adequate color to the wine and you need not add color. it's ready for use. enjoy in sips or gulps as per your discretion :)

Happy New Year!

Banoffee Pie and Merry Christmas

Christmas is here!! i love this time of the season. good climate (here for us!), holidays, get togethers, food and joy and warmth. only the good things and no space for the bad. everyone is busy pulling out recipes to make a difference on their Christmas table. here i have banoffee pie, an English dessert made from banana, cream and the like. many of us don't like this rich fruit but banoffee pie is glorious with the toffee sauce wrapped around it. it's not a budget-friendly dessert but an excellent option on your Christmas platter. and it's after all Christmas and time to indulge!!

You can also take a look at my fruit cakes: Sherry Christmas Cake and Easy Fruit Cake

chocolate biscuits (bourbon or hide n seek or any)-15-20
butter (melted)-1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
cream cheese-400 gm OR
cheese spread (250 gm) +  shredded cottage cheese (100 gm)
powdered sugar-2/3 cup
cornflour-2 tbsp
egg-3
banana (robusta)-3/4 cup (two big bananas) OR 1/2 cup (if you want lighter banana taste)
cream-1/2 cup
vanilla essence-2 tsp
instant coffee powder-1-2 tsp

toffee sauce

sweetened condense milk-1 tin
butter-100 gm
vanilla essence-1 tsp

caramelized sugar frill

Heat three or four tsp of sugar and melt in excess butter in a pan. take it off when sugar changes colour. keep it for some seconds for the sugar to settle so that you can see two distinct layers of butter and sugar. scoop out the sugar with a spoon to get a frill.

Powder the biscuit and mix with butter. press to the bottom of a large pie dish and set in the refrigerator for ten mins.
Beat the cream cheese and sugar well.
Add the corn flour to it. combine. then add eggs one at a time and beat well.
Mash the banana and combine well with the cream, vanilla essence, coffee powder. add this combo to the cream cheese-sugar mix.
Pour this atop the set biscuit-butter base. bake at 150 C for 40 mins or till it sets.

For the toffee sauce combine the toffee sauce ingredients in a thick bottomed pan and stir and thicken on a low flame.

Swirl the toffee sauce liberally on it.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing all my friends and foes (!!) a merry Christmas!

Hoping that the season brings you more peace at heart and better comfort on your table.

God bless.

Doughnuts

I've always loved these. i remember craving these at many points of time in my life. half way through i feel guilty and after sating my greed i put it away in the refrigerator. you don't have to feel guilty....gobble the entire gooey ring. and i always thought these were really difficult to make but nope. i'm telling you these chums are pretty easily flipped out of the oil.

doughnuts

milk-1/2 cup
instant yeast-1 tsp
sugar-1 tsp
Heat the milk on low flame; dissolve the sugar and yeast. keep aside and let it rise for about an hour.

maida-3 cups
Put the maida in a bowl and make a hole in the centre.

sugar-4 tbsp
butter (softened)-2 tbsp
yolk of egg-2
oil-adequate
Add these to the hole in the maida. pour the yeast-added milk to the flour. knead softly to make a smooth dough in an oiled bowl and keep it to rise for one or two hours without disturbing it. then roll them out into (just by practically pressing them in shape) mini puris with about half an inch thickness. leave it to rise again. with a round cap of a bottle or so scoop out the middle to make it look like donuts. fry them in very hot oil and ease them out of it when it turns golden brown. dip in chocolate sauce and cool and enjoy!

chocolate sauce

Cadbury dairy milk-3 tbsp (or almost two medium sized bars)
cocoa powder-1 tbsp
powdered sugar-1 tbsp
butter-1 tbsp
water-2 tbsp
Combine all these in a thick bottomed bowl. double boil till the sugar melts.

These make 15 donuts.

The loner in the corner you can see in my first pic is a stunner in your bouche. it's practically no work once the maida dough is done. take a ball of it; thrust a square of chocolate into it. close it clean and fry it out. you can imagine what happens then :)

The white ones i have here are an unmessy variation. an option for those who don't like chocolate (is there?) and a decent bite with your evening tea. (Thomas would enjoy both!) For them you just have to flavour some powdered sugar with cinnamon powder and roll the donuts in them.

Stylish Blogger Award....I Got It Too!!

Isn't this cool!! Toni from boulderlocavore.blogspot.com passed it on to me. Thank you Toni! as with other awards over here it comes with some conditions...(sigh). they are:

(1) Thank the person who gave me the award.

(2) Tell four (or was it three, Toni!!) things about myself! (wait, those who want to say seven things about them are most welcome to do it; Toni no grudges ;P)

(3) Pass the award to bloggers of my choice.

I thank you again. Toni's blog is my chill out joint. and when i'm stressed i quickly kick in there to ease. i like her positive outlook on life and i'm in awe of her "local" quest. i've started dreaming of Hammond's candies thanks to Toni. she's fun and i like it.

I am I am I am...

I feel terrible if i don't read the newspaper.

I love to eat out with Thomas (my husand), Aby and our latest precious addition, Alice.

I love to work.

I like lemon yellow too hehe. currrently it is a green fad for me.

I pass this on to (in random order)

hopie

apricosa

yin

thisdesignercooks (she doesn't give her name!)

ela

amy

On 29 January 2011med passed this award to me and erin handed it over to me on February 3! well, it's been awards week and how many times can someone say i'm stylish! gee :) THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Med is an avid blogger...she whips in the kitchen and whips her camera for her foodie frens enthusiastically...and mind you she's a stunner!

Erin is a gifted baker who recently came up with a darling goodie-monkey bread-ooo i loved it!! i love her choice of recipes and i always flag them. she recently freaked me with her pumpkin puree store in her refrigerator :P

On 13 February 2011 brooks ever so merrily passed it on to me on the eve of V. thank you so much. you should read his seven facts about himself. veddy interesting!!  and you should take a peek at his whoopie pies and the better ones...you better look it up yourself!

Brooks: you were a radio DJ; tht interests me a lot...i kinda dreamed in between of working with our radio channel here...and i like to have a radio in my bedroom and one in my kitchen and turn it on the same time..

I saw that vintage photo of yours...priceless!! i think you should put it up along with that post. it's really good.

I like your blogging pace...helps me catch my breath!! oh yea!

I take time to read your notes because you write well!

On 28 Feb 2011 shabs passed this award to me. she's a lovely person who's constantly worried about packing pounds and baking her goodies....she bakes superb! thank you shabs...and here's to all your extra pounds...my award... 

Bell Pepper Cheese Spread

Livya, it's yours again. i tried Livya's Hot Cheese Sauce but her perfect sauce turned into a cheese spread in my kitchen! however, it was a show-stealer for some days on our breakfast table. i never thought my bro would like it coz he generally likes only anything with a bite of meat or fish in it. the simplest sandwich made out of this is with a dab of tomato sauce. it's good and quick and if you have some boiled shredded chicken pieces i'm sure it's heaven.

bell pepper (green capsicum)-1 big
processed cheese-400-500 gm
olive oil or any veg oil-3-4 tbsp
lemon juice or vinegar-1 tsp
pepper powder

Cut the capsicum in big pieces and put in a baking dish. bake at 150 C for twenty-twenty five mins. cool and peel. run in the grinder with the oil till it becomes smooth and creamy. add a little cheese and beat again. add the remaining cheese along with the lemon juice and pepper powder and beat till the whole thing turns a decent glop. refrigerate and use within five or six days. you can freeze and store for later use but i don't prefer this.

Courtesy: eatgreek.net

Lumpia Chicken-Cheese Rolls

I was compelled to finish the tin of processed cheese in my mum's freezer before i leave. so i'd been snooping around for feasible cheese recipes. and i came across this simple recipe in eatgreek.net. thank you Livya for contributing to cheese depletion :) this recipe didn't turn out to be so simple for me because i had to roll out the dough to make the sheets. we don't get pastry sheets here readily available. if you can buy yourself some, these rolls are there before you as quick as wind. i have also been hunting for various delicious fillings for these standard rolls of mine. you can try my spring roll filling which is spicier and colorful. or you can use more chicken and less veggies and season with cilantro and mint for an Asian taste. it's all equally exciting.

filling

chicken pieces-500 gm (boiled in a little salt and pepper; deboned and shredded)
processed cheese-1 cup
olive oil or any vegetable oil
pepper powder

Boil the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. debone and shred finely by running in the grinder just once. cut the cheese. grate it or run in the grinder just once. mix the chicken and cheese thoroughly and loosely adding enough pepper. if the cheese is salted (mine was) check for salt and add only finally after mixing the chicken and cheese. keep this aside.

rolls

maida (Toni, it's all purpose flour!)-2 cups
water or preferrably milk-as reqd; 1/2 cup or a little over that
salt-to taste
egg-1
fat (dalda) or oil-1tbsp

Sift the flour. add the beaten egg, salt and fat or oil. add enough water or milk and knead well to make a smooth dough. keep it covered for twenty mins. make small balls and roll out each into mini puris. after the entire dough is rolled out like this take a small puri and oil it well on one side. take another puri and stick it on the oiled one. roll out the doubled puri into a roti size thinning out especially the edges. do the enitre lot like this. on a hot tawa fry the big-sized rotis slightly on one side. turn quickly and fry slightly on the other side. take off the tawa and even as it's hot separate them carefully. do the entire lot like this to get slightly done maida rotis.

Take adequate amount of filling (1-11/2 tbsp) and put it on the edge of one roti. roll it tightly gathering the sides within and as you finish rolling it stick the other edge on the rolled roti using maida batter (mix some maida and water to get a viscous batter). do up the whole stuff like this. this is time-consuming and i don't so much enjoy it. i feel like a line cook!! dab some olive oil or vegetable oil on the rolls and bake them at 150 C for ten-fifteen mins turning sides. make sure they don't burn. adjust the time likewise. have it hot with sauce of your choice. this batter and filling gives you twenty-twenty five rolls. freeze the rest and bake them to your convenience.

Courtesy: eatgreek.net