Vanilla Custard Icecream

Last year, for Christmas we got an ice-cream machine. I have been wanting to get one for sometime, but knowing me I probably wouldn't have bought it myself so I was quite happy. I have made tons of decent ice-cream and frozen yogurt in it. But this simple ice-cream was something that I really liked. The original recipe can be found here. Since I am new to the world of ice-cream making, I have not really experimented too much. So it is pretty much the same recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

In a large saucepan, heat milk to 175°(I even used a thermometer); Add in the sugar and salt. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into the eggs. Add this mixture to the pan, whisking constantly. I always get nervous with this step. You see its easy to cook the eggs into some pacha mass while adding it to hot liquids. The key is to whisk constantly and add a little at a time. I also turned off the heat. One well mixed, turn heat back on low and stir continuously until mixture reaches at least 160°. The mixture is supposed to coat the back of a metal spoon but I was so intent on using my thermometer that I forgot to check. (PS I use my thermometer to make yogurt too. I feel like a chemist and I like it :D ).

Once it reaches 160° remove from the heat and place it in a ice bath to cool quickly. Stir in whipping cream and vanilla. To prevent a cream layer on top press cling film/seran wrap/wax paper onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Use this mixture to make ice-cream in your machine according to the machine directions. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze for 2-4 hours before serving.

Here is an extra. I had some brownies from the store. I heated those up. Put in a spoon of ice-cream over it and had it. Just plain delicious! Now I can't wait to make some green tea ice cream as well.

Salsa Love

I love salsa. No further explanation. Just a plain fact. I love Salsa. Not the dance form…though I don't mind that too. But Salsa as in the thing we eat with our chips. Especially during Superbowl. We have a very crude version of Salsa back home which usually passes off as Salad. It involves diced tomatoes, chopped onion, chillies, lemon juice, coriander and interestingly, radish. Its delicious. Especially with rice and black dal. I had the Latino/American salsa when I first came to the US.  After I got over that fact that the restaurants served free chips before meals, I remember that my attention was caught by the seemingly innocent looking salsa. But boy I was surprised as the flavors exploded in my mouth. Yep…thats how I think of that moment when I had that first salsa. Tangy, salty, and super hot/spicy with a hint of sweetness. Chunks of tomato and onion and cilantro fighting to make an impression inside my mouth in the middle of all those flavors. Clearly, you see salsa love makes me poetic. Since then I have always judged a Mexican restaurant by the quality of its salsa. So imagine my excitement when I got an opportunity to go to New Mexico this year. What a better way to experience salsa the way it was meant to be. And New Mexico did not disappoint. I tasted every form of salsa. Mild to super hot…full of tomatoes to full of chillies. It was salsa heaven. However, in New Mexico I also learnt that I prefer my Salsa smoother than chunkier, tangier than spicier. Since coming back home I have tried different types of Salsa. But my mind kept comparing it to the New Mexican one and I was disappointed every time. Whether it was store bought salsa, served in restaurants or made (multiple attempts) at home, it was never good enough. Until today.

I have always looked online for my recipes. And when I looked for salsa one of the first hits was always Pioneer Woman's salsa. And I always read the recipe and ignored it. "This seems so simple. Surely a good salsa requires more hard work!" And I always ignored it…while I hunted on. But today I needed Salsa in a hurry. I had 1/2 an hour to SuperBowl and I needed Salsa to go with chips. Also I was in a store and did not have time to surf through all the other recipes. So I went ahead and bought the stuff that I needed. And went ahead to make one of the best salsa I have ever had, if I may say so myself. 

So here is what I used.

• 1 large can  Diced Tomatoes With Juice. The original recipe called for whole tomatoes, but I did not find it. So I went ahead and used what I had.
• 1 can diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
• 1/2 Onion.
• 3 cloves Garlic.
• 1 whole Jalapeño. 
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder.
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice.

Now the recipe called for coriander leaves and I intended to use that. But in my hurry I forgot to use it. And the salsa turned out good. When I remake this I will use coriander and then write about it.

Put the onion, garlic and jalapeños in the food processor. (No chopping etc for me. Why work unnecessarily). Pulse it about 3 times (the number is for consistency purposes), and then add the rest of the ingredients. Pulse it about 6 times more (or adjust according to the desired consistency). Chill for about an hour before serving. 

That's all. Best Salsa ever. Now I really need to go to Mexico!

Chilli Tofu

I am not a big fan of tofu. To say I dislike it is safe. However, recently I took a guest of mine to HMart, the Korean Superstore (note to self: write a post on HMart).. He saw tofu there and he said that it reminded him of his days in China. So I bought some tofu to see if I can make something with it. After hunting for some recipes online, the one thing I wanted to try was Chilli Tofu (original recipe here). It looked really good so I decided to try it out. Result? I went back to the store and bought some more tofu...we have made this dish about 3 times in 2 weeks. Yes..it is that good!

We start by making a marinade. 

(For the marinade)

• 1 block extra-firm tofu cut into cubes.
• 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp soy sauce. I use the low sodium version.

Mix the ingredients and make a paste. Toss the tofu into the paste and coat tofu blocks with it. Set aside. The first time I left it for 20 minutes. The next time I left it for longer. I do not think it matters how long you leave it. Once done spray some oil in a non-stick pan (the first time I made this I used a heavy bottom pan...did not work. Non-sticks are made for a reason. LOL). Saute the tofu until the sides brown. Set aside.

Now for the next part. The things you need are

• 1 large green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green chili, minced
• 3 tsp canola oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp ground coriander powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp garlic-garlic paste
• 2 tbsp soy sauce.
• 1 tsp cornflour mixed into 1/4 cup water
• 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
• Salt to taste
• Green, leafy coriander for garnish.

Heat some oil in another pan. When hot add the cumin seeds and wait for it to sputter. Then add ginger garlic paste and onion. Cook till the onion becomes translucent. When done add coriander powder , black pepper powder and chilli. Toss around and then add green pepper. Cook till the bell pepper softens. Then add the tofu and stir. Finally add the soy sauce and the cornflour mixed with water. Stir and mix well. Remove from heat and serve garnished with coriander.

Tastes best with rice.

Kumato

Today we went to Safeway and were looking for tomatoes when I saw these interesting looking tomatoes known as Kumatoes. We bought them. It didnt taste very different...maybe a teeny tiny bit sweeter.

I found a lot of interesting things about Kumatoes online so I thought I would share starting with the pictures.

Kumato was developed in Spain. It is a hybrid tomato.  sales started off in Europe and Australia. But I guess now its available in America as well. 

A lot of information is available on its website...But here is a gist..

• Kumato® is grown in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey and Canada, where the fruits ripen under optimum climatic conditions to ensure the highest fructose level and perfect firmness.
• The expert growers selected follow strict protocols and crop management procedures that respect the environment.
• As a result of rigorous quality controls from the moment they are harvested through to display at the point of sale, only the highest quality fruits are selected.
• All handling, packaging, storage and transport is carried out in temperature controlled hygienic environments, using methods that comply with international health standards for industrial premises (Eurepgap/BRC/IFS)is truly exceptional. Try it and you will experience authentic tomato flavour. Intense and sweet. Welcome to a world of sensations all the year round. Welcome to Kumato®.

One thing about growing Kumatoes is that it seems you cant! 

"Kumato seeds are not available commercially, and the company that produces Kumato, Syngenta, has said they will never make the seeds available to the public".

Did I like the tomato? I dont know..I could make out that it was MAYBE a tiny bit sweeter. Would I buy it again...absolutely. It looks pretty. Would it be a regular thing on my table? Probably not...Aren't our kitchens flooding with genetically modified food already?

Egg, bacon and tomato sandwich

Ok so now that I am officially on the South beach diet, I am looking for low glycemic food options. And on their website they have this egg,bacon and tomato sandwich which I really wanted to try.

As usual though I had to tweak things a bit. The big one being I did not use the oven to make my tomatoes. I did not want to turn on the oven for two tiny bits of tomatoes. Being green and all that. Here is my version of the recipe, which turned out delicious. I think its going to be a big fav in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Fat slices of tomatoes. 2 for each person.
• 2 teaspoon fresh chopped coriander (for every 2 tomato slices).
• Mustard. The recipe called for Dijon, but I used regular. About 1 teaspoon (for every 2 tomato slices). Just to coat the top of the tomato.
• 1 slice low fat turkey bacon (for every 2 tomato slices)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• 1 egg.
• The recipe called for white wine vinegar to poach the eggs. It seems that putting in white wine vinegar in the boiling water before you put in your eggs help the eggs stay together. I need to try that one out. Today though I used normal water to poach the eggs.

Method:

• Put in a saucepan of water to boil for the eggs.
• Spray a little oil on a skillet and put in your tomato slices. Medium heat works fine. Since I did not turn the tomatoes over to cook I just had to make sure the heat was high enough to cook the tomato slices thoroughly but not high enough to burn the slice underneath. 
• Once the tomato slices are in sprinkle the chopped coriander on top of it. Also spread about a teaspoon of mustard over the tomato slices. Cover and cook.
• If you have a big enough skillet you can use the same skillet to make your bacon. Else, cook your bacon in another pan and when it is done crumble it and spread over the tomato slices. Cook thoroughly. About 10 minutes in medium heat, covered.
• In the mean time poach your eggs to the desired done-ness.
• Once all are cooked, transfer the tomato slices with the toppings onto a plate. Top off with the poached eggs.

Barbeque Chicken

Last week for the first time in my life I went camping. OK now that this confession is out of the way I can concentrate on the food.

So last week for the first time in my life I went camping. Now Mono INSISTED that he makes this trip all rugged and rough, as are all camping trips are supposed to be, I was having none of that. I carried my toilet paper, my face wash, my lens case and solution, and even my perfume...if I was dying in the wilds I was going out in style. In addition I decided that my last meal would not be crappy. You see I was convinced I was going to die. So ignoring Mono's protests I marinated the chicken I was taking to the camp. I wanted good food. It doesn't always have to be too too rough. Not when you are going out just for a night.

And are we so glad that I insisted. Because you see...this barbeque chicken..was excellent!! Without further ado this is what I did. I got this recipe online and you can go here for the original
We need 3 things:

1. Magic dust
2. Barbecue sauce
3. Chicken thighs.

MAGIC DUST

• 1/2 cup paprika
• 1/4 cup regular salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard powder
• 1/4 cup chile powder
• 1/4 cup ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup  garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons cayenne (or less to taste)

Combine ingredients in a container and mix thoroughly. Use some and keep the rest. Trust me, you will use this dust to make this chicken again and again.

For the chicken, I punched some holes in the chicken and sprinkled the magic dust all over the chicken. I left it on the marinated it in the refrigerator overnight. Though I guess you could use the chicken right-away as well.

BARBECUE SAUCE

This is what I used

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon magic dust (recipe above)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Hot sauce (such as Tabasco) to taste

I put all the ingredients into a saucepan and boiled it. Once it started boiling I turned the heat down to a simmer and cooked it for about 10 minutes until it was think and dark. Once it was done I cooled it and packed it up for my camping trip.

Once we got to the campsite I realized that the grill there would not let us use coal. So I improvised and decided to cook it on fire. One thing I did though was cook it on indirect heat. I didn't want my chicken burnt. I cooked the chicken for about 5 minutes without any sauce. After about 5 minutes I coated the chicken with the sauce and cooked it for about another 20 minutes turning it frequently.

The result was delicious. And the best part? I survived to tell you all about it! Only sad part is I dont have any pictures for it. Well...I know I am making it again. So I am sure I will put it up sometime soon.

Statement of Acheivement

The Indian in me needs to put this out.. ;D