Tag: sugar
Coconut Barfi (Coconut Dessert)
Delicious dessert for Diwali.. super simple and delicious!
- 2 cups fresh ricotta cheese (full fat)
- 4 to 5 cardamom seeds, crushed
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 cups dried unsweetened powdered coconut (grind shredded coconut in spice grinder)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup pistachios, chopped
- 1 9 inch round pie dish, spread some butter all over and keep aside
Add the coconut oil to a medium heavy on a medium heat. Once the oil melts, add the ricotta cheese. Cook on medium heat, constantly stirring for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the cardamom seeds, powdered coconut and sugar. Cook on medium heat while stirring for another 5 minutes or till the sugar melts. Transfer the mixture to the pie dish and smooth the surface with a knife. Add the pistachios over the top and cover with plastic wrap. Let it set in fridge for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into 2 inches squares. Serve room temperature.
Halibut with Tomatoes & Olives
Another super healthy recipe! I made it with halibut as it is a nice, meaty fish but it can be substituted with another fish or shrimp or even scallops. It is simply marinated in smoked paprika- which gives anything super flavor without any calories. The fish is then browned briefly and cooked in a delicious mixture of tomatoes and olives. I served this with couscous with roasted butternut squash and cranberries. The meal was delicious…
- 2 to 3 halibut filets, 4 to 6 ounces each
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Sprinkle the fish filets with salt and smoked paprika.
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup olives, sliced (any kind you like)
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup chicken broth
- Juice of half a lemon
Heat a non-stick frying pan with the olive oil. Brown the fish filets briefly on both sides on high heat. Take them out and keep aside. Add cherry tomatoes, garlic and olives to the same pan. Saute on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the cilantro and the fish. Cook the filets for another few minutes (depending on the thickness). Check for seasonings and serve.
Prosecco Gelee with Orange and Whipped Cream
Everyone loves jello- especially when it is adult jello! I made this to take to a friend’s house. I used Prosecco for the jello and spiked it with a vanilla bean. I wanted to top it with blood oranges but couldn’t find any.. so used regular ones. Blood oranges are everywhere right now .. so it is a great time to make this delicious, light, dessert!
- ¾ cup water
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, slit in half
- ¼ cup cold water
- 2 packets unflavored gelatin powder
- 12 ounces Prosecco
Add the water, sugar and vanilla bean to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir to loosen the vanilla specks and melt the sugar. Take off the heat and keep aside.
Sprinkle the gelatin powder onto the cold water to soften for 1 to 2 minutes. Fold into the warm syrup and stir well to dissolve the gelatin. Add the Prosecco into the warm mixture and mix well. Pour the gelee mixture evenly to 4 dessert bowls or champagne flutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Cranberry and Orange Trifle
So, Valentine’s Day is on Saturday. I though I would do a few desserts this week. I am not a huge Valentine’s Day celebrator.. but any I will take any excuse to make a great meal and an amazing dessert. So here is my favorite- a trifle.. well, why not??
Orange Curd (Recipe from Food and Wine)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup fresh orange juice
- 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
In a small heavy saucepan, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. Whisk in the sugar, then whisk in the citrus juices and zests. Add the butter and whisk constantly over moderately low heat until the mixture thickens, about 8 minutes; do not let it boil. Immediately strain the curd into a bowl. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd and cut 6 small steam vents in the plastic. Refrigerate the curd overnight.
Cranberry Filling
- 12 ounces bag of fresh cranberries
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Transfer cranberries, orange juice and sugar to a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes or till the cranberries have burst open. Turn the heat off and add the extract. Mix well and refrigerate. Take a quarter cup of the cranberries out for garnish.
- 1 packaged or homemade pound cake, cut in slices
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 cup mascarpone cheese
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Whip the cream, mascarpone cheese and sugar with an electric beater till the stiff peaks are formed while being careful not to over whip.
Assemble the trifle by starting with lining the bottom of the bowl with one part of the cake slices (divide the cake slices into three parts). Divide the cranberry filling into three parts and spread one part over the cake. Divide the orange curd into three parts and spread one part over the cranberry filling. Repeat twice more and top with the whipped cream. Garnish with the cranberries. Chill in the fridge, preferably overnight.
Paneer Makhani (Indian Cheese Cooked in a Tomato Butter Sauce)
This is a very popular dish served in Indian restaurants. Some friends were coming over with their kids and I thought of making Indian food that day. Since I was cooking a vegetarian meal, paneer was definitely on the menu- I just didn’t know what kind to make.
As I thought about all my choices, paneer makhani came to mind. I looked in my blog and realized I have never made it before- how can that be?? It is one of the more popular Indian dishes out there.
This version is the easy and quick one- it is done in about half an hour. There are other versions out there with more complex flavors but I don’t see any reason for that- this one is delicious and simple and best of all a big hit with everyone.
All you need is a can of crushed tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic. One key ingredient is roasted cumin seeds- they impart a lovely, sweet, nutty flavor- not as smokey as the regular cumin seeds. I usually roast some cumin and always have it on hand. Another important ingredient is dried mint- I garnished the dish with some. It provides a delicious flavor as well. In case you don’t have the dried variety, add some fresh mint into the processor with the onions, ginger and garlic.
Try this dish next time you want to have a healthy, quick and easy Indian dish…
read more …
Coconut Rum Flan
Flan is my all time favorite dessert. I grew up eating it and love everything about it. My Mom would serve it to us with a drizzle of fresh cream. It was the most glorious dessert ever.
Over the years I have tried making it- but have not been very successful. The flan usually doesn’t invert well and breaks apart. The reason is not enough eggs- I don’t like the custard dessert too rich so I don’t end up adding too many eggs. So my solution is to have my Mom make it for us every time she comes to visit. She doesn’t have a set recipe for me to follow and I have never watched her make it.
Last year I modified a recipe and tried it- no luck- it broke apart. Finally the other day while I was cooking for some friends, I decided to make flan. I was watching food television and saw someone make coconut rum flan. That is all I needed to get inspired. I tweaked the recipe to my taste and came up with this recipe.
I am thrilled with it. The texture is perfect- soft yet firm. It is not too sweet- exactly the way I like it. Everyone enjoyed it a lot. I also like it because I can make it with low fat milk and although it has quite a few eggs- at least the dessert has protein.
For caramel
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from the side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.
Pour into the glass dish and swirl so caramel coats the bottom.
For flan
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 1 (14 ounce) low-fat coconut milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 5 eggs
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
You will need a round 9-inch glass dish and a large roasting pan.
Heat the milk and coconut milk with the sugar until the mixture simmers. Whisk the eggs, add the rum, salt and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add ½ cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture and mix well. Add the tempered egg mixture into the milk mixture mixing well. Strain the entire mixture before pouring it into the glass dish.
Place the glass dish into the roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with hot water- about ½ inch high. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until just set but still wobbly in center. Refrigerate over night or at least 2-3 hours.
Top with the coconut and serve chilled.
Miso Marinated Salmon
I love miso flavored anything. I first had the alaskan butterfish marinated in white miso at Ming Tsai’s restaurant, Blue Ginger in Boston. It was so fabulous that I replicated it at home with great success. Alaskan butterfish or black cod is quite expensive and is definitely not for a regular weeknight meal. I wanted to use similar flavors and try it with another fish. Salmon came to mind since it is one of the healthiest fish to have and it is not as expensive.
I bought fresh Alaskan salmon at Whole Foods. I am a little leery about using the farm raised variety, especially since they add color to make the salmon pink- I really don’t like that idea at all. I would rather have salmon less often and pay more for the wild variety.
I bought a big piece and and marinated it with white miso, tamari and a little mirin. The flavors are wonderful together and compliment the fish really well. I also made a fried rice with the fish – I had fresh corn and bok choy in the fridge and decided to combine the two in the rice (recipe to follow on Monday).
It was great healthy meal. My daughter does not like salmon- at all. So, I had her try a bite (she hated it) and then gave her the fried rice and made a chicken sausage for her on the side. She is usually such a good eater that I didn’t have a problem with her not enjoying the fish. It is probably the only fish she doesn’t like. All in all it was a successful meal.
- 4 salmon fillets (6 oz each, about an inch thick)
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon butter
Mix the miso, tamari, sugar, honey and mirin together and marinate the salmon for 2-3 hours.
Arrange fish in a shallow dish lined with aluminum foil. Spoon the left over marinade evenly over the fish. Distribute the butter evenly over all the fillets.
Broil 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
Serve with fried rice.
