RASPBERRY JAM FILLED BREAKFAST SQUARES

RASPBERRY JAM FILLED BREAKFAST SQUARE

Happy Valentine ’s Day

Suitable for vegans

In 2016, I got a surprise gift of two cookbooks, by my daughter's friend, Mamta, who is a big admirer of my blog and always appreciates and enjoys my cooking. I was overwhelmed that day with those two books, it was not even my birthday, and she was just visiting us. What a kind thought it was of bringing cookery books for me? Isn’t it? After thanking her for such a nice gift and gesture, I told her that I will definitely try some recipes from those books and share them soon on my blog. She herself is a great cook, last time when I visited her, she surprised me with so many nice dishes, which I have to get the recipe for and try soon. Here I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart and wishing her all the best in her life, by selecting a recipe from the book and recreating it.

This is called real love, love does not mean romantic love between a girl and a boy, but showing gratitude, care and affection towards someone is also considered as love. In my opinion, love has many meanings and types, if someone is holding a door for you when you are entering a shop, is also called love for someone. If you choose to be a snow angel for someone and cleaning the yard of an elderly couple, that can also be called love. Love is when you smile at the strangers and get the smile back. A mother's love towards her children can be called as unconditional love because she cares only about the happiness of her children. I have written all this about love because I am posting this recipe on Valentine’s Day in the month of February when people normally say that in this month. love is in the air. If you ask me, love is always there in the air, you just have to notice it, give it and receive it.

The first time I had browsed through the cookbook, that is when I had seen this recipe and decided then and there that that will one of the recipes I will make and post it on Valentine's day. The author used apricot jam but I used raspberry jam. I thought if I use raspberry jam the pink colour of the raspberries will suit the theme of Valentine's Day. So here I am with the recipe, the name of the book is Food made fast-Desserts, and the author is Williams-Sonoma.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1, 1/2 cups brown bread flour (235 grams)/whole wheat flour
• 1, 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (140 grams)
• 1/4 cup Icing sugar (30 grams)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar (185 grams) OR coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (185 grams) OR coconut oil for vegans
• 1 cup Raspberry jam (315 grams)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 325 degree F (165 degrees C). Grease a square oven tray or parchment paper inside the tray.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, oats, powdered sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms fine crumbs.
• Remove 2 cups of the flour mixture and set aside. Transfer the remaining mixture to the prepared pan and press it evenly over the bottom.
• Drop spoonfuls of jam evenly spread the jam up to the edges. Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture evenly over the jam.
• Bake until the top crust and edges are light brown - about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in a pan on a wire rack. Using a sharp knife, cut into squares.

INGREDIENTS FOR JAM

• 200 grams raspberries
• 100 grams sugar

METHOD

• Make a puree in the blender with raspberries with little water.
• Mix raspberry puree and sugar together.
• In a frying pan or heavy bottomed wok cook the puree with sugar on a low flame.
• Keep on stirring; it will take 15-20 minutes to get the consistency of thick jam. Leave it to cool. If you are using a cooking thermometer, check the temperature when it is showing 90 degrees C, it means jam is ready.

I am sharing this recipe as a blog post entry for Meatless Monday, Cook once and eat Twice, Cook blog share, Fiesta Friday, Sweet Inspiration and Hearth and Soul food party. and with Baking Crumbs and whats  for dinner and with Ful plate Thursday

EGG LESS FRUIT CAKE

EGG LESS FRUIT CAKE

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE

EDITED: This recipe was featured on Cook Blogg share link party on 2nd January 2018, check here.

Christmas is a time of joy and fun for everybody, the same is for me and my family. A lot of fun activities take place inside and outside our house during the Christmas season or I should say for the whole month of December.

The first one is the decorating of the Christmas tree, which my grandkids really like and surprisingly, every year they bring in some new ideas for the decoration of the tree. Some of the ornaments are made by them in their schools every year, under the supervision of their teachers and some ornaments we buy from the shops. This year we got a white Christmas tree.

The other fun activity inside the house is the elf on the shelf, every morning the kids are so excited when they look for the elf and really enjoy all the places they find elf sitting. The next activity which they really like is the opening of the gifts on Christmas day, which they get from Santa.

Apart from these indoor activities, we go shopping, which is a lot of fun during this festive season because shops and malls are decorated with Christmas decorations and lighting. Another fun activity which we do as a family is a tour/ride of the neighbourhood area to see the decorations and lights of all the different houses. Some houses look really beautiful with a lot of decorations and colorful lighting. There is so much effort and money that goes into these decorations, it is commendable that people put in so much effort during these dark nights!

The other attraction in our town is the Airdrie festival of lights, which is one of Canada's largest light displays. This festival attracts visitors from the past 21 years and is open to the public from 6-9 pm every day in the month of December. If you are nearby and interested in this event, here is the link.

There is another family-friendly fun activity that takes place in Calgary is the Calgary Zoo lights. These lights are the center of attraction in Calgary, and a highlight during the December holidays for many Calgary families. So these zoo lights are a package of fun and learning activities for the kids. A lot of activities are taking place at the Calgary Zoo, even in the winter months, they are teaching children about the migration, hibernation, conservation and behavior of all types of animal. Here is the link

Coming to the recipe, this Christmas instead of baking any cookies I made this - a dried fruit cake. This is a very simple, tried and tested recipe in which I have used buttermilk. I am very sure; if you try this recipe you will enjoy this cake as I did. To make instant buttermilk, take one cup of milk and add one tbs of lemon juice/vinegar and let it stand for 10 minutes at room temperature and the buttermilk is ready.

Recipe link- Joy of baking.com

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 and a half cup (200 grams) all-purpose flour/white bread flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 3/4 cup sugar (150 grams sugar)
• 2 cups dried fruits (300 grams)
• 1/2 cup melted butter (115 grams)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup buttermilk

METHOD

• Grease a cake pan with some butter and sprinkle flour on top of it.
• Heat the oven to 190 degrees C.
• Sieve the all-purpose flour with baking soda and add sugar and cardamom powder in it, now mix the dried fruits in it.
• Mix all wet ingredients-butter, essence and buttermilk.
• Now mix all the wet and dry ingredients together, mix well and pour the batter into the greased tray and bake for 50 minutes, till the toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool on a cooling rack, slice and serve.

I am sharing this recipe with Cook once and eat Twice and with Full Plate Thursday and with Heart and Soul link party and with Cook blog share and with Sweet Inspiration link party and Fiesta Friday and with meatless Monday.

CHERRY TART

CHERRY TART

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE CELEBRATING

My love for cherries is never ending, whenever they are in season, I am tempted to try new recipes with them. Cherry season is very short here in Calgary, though I do realise that frozen cherries are available throughout the year. This year I chanced upon farm stall that was selling fresh cherries in bulk for a very reasonable price, I bought lots, 12 bags in total, then I washed, pitted and froze them in small zip lock bags for future use. Now I know I will enjoy them through the winter.

Three years ago, when my daughter with her family, was coming back after a holiday trip, I wanted to give her a surprise with a new recipe made with cherries. That is when this recipe was initiated the very first time, but now it is made every year whenever cherries are in season. This recipe can easily be made with frozen cherries so even when fresh cherries are not available, this recipe turns out pretty good.

This is a fusion recipe in which I have combined an Indian cheese (Chena) with cherries. Chena is a homemade Indian cheese, which is very easy to make. You have to boil milk and while milk is boiling, add few spoons of vinegar; the acid in the vinegar will separate the whey from the milk solids which we have to extract. Sieve the whole thing to remove the watery whey, then leave the milk solids in the sieve for 30 minutes, Chena is ready. This Chena is used to make paneer, which is a well-known ingredient of north and East Indian cuisine. Many sweet and savoury items are made with paneer, including many restaurant dishes.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

FOR TART (For graham cracker crust)

• Two cups graham/digestive cracker (Finely crushed)
  
• One cup sugar
  
• 8 tbs butter
  

FOR FILLING

• I cup sliced cherries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Chhena/homemade crumbled paneer
• pinch cardamom powder

METHOD

For crust

• Mix crushed graham cracker, sugar and butter thoroughly.
• Press mixture into small individual pie trays ( 3 inches )
• Bake in the oven for 6-7 minutes at 180 degrees C/256 degrees F
• The tart is ready, cool it well.

FOR FILLING

• Mix cherries and brown sugar together and heat in a pan to make compote.
• When compote is ready, mix Chena and cook further for 8-10 minutes so that water from the Chena can evaporate and mixture can thicken. Leave it to cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C.
• Fill the mixture of cherry, sugar and Chena inside the tart and bake in the oven for 2-3 more minutes.
• Serve chilled as a dessert after the meals.

Note: - Ready-made tart can be used. If you are using readymade tart shells, first bake the tart shells in the oven for 7-8minutes and after adding the filling, bake for another 2 more minutes.

I am sharing this recipe as my blog post entry to Meatless Monday, Fiesta Friday, Hearth and Soul blog hop and Coo once and eat Twice and with Cook Blog share and we are pinnable. and with Full Plate Thursday and Sweet inspiration link party.

CINNAMON ROLLS AND A POST ON A SPICE - CINNAMON

CINNAMON ROLLS AND A POST ON A SPICE - CINNAMON

Cinnamon is the oldest and most versatile spice in the world and is used in many savory and sweet items, a delicious spice which is used in the culinary world from ages. It is mainly used in cooking as a condiment and flavouring agent. Cinnamon is actually the bark of a tree which is removed and dried. Cinnamon sticks are long, brown and their shape is like a cigar. The sticks and their powder are both used in different cuisines. This spice is widely used in American, European, African and Asian cuisines, this is the reason it is a famous spice of the world.

In Indian cuisine, this spice is used a lot in savoury dishes like rice, lentil and vegetable curries, stews, yoghurt salads, drinks, coffee, tea and in many snack items. And it is also used in sweet items like cakes, cookies, murrabas (Fruit preserves), puddings, fudges, and traditional sweetmeats etc. It is also added in many spice blends of different states of India, the famous one is Garam Masala.

In Indian homes, it is not only used as a fragrant spice but also as a medicine. My mother always used it in a masala tea for the treatment of a sore throat, in which she added- cinnamon, honey, black pepper powder and clove powder. This masala tea really works and helps us to relieve symptoms of a sore throat, till today we are using her tea formula. According to Ayurveda, cinnamon is called the ancient healing spice of the world.

There are enormous health benefits of this spice; even scientific researchers have shown that this spice has a lot of health benefits. Check this website-

This article in the newspaper - “Washington Times” explains that Americans love cinnamon and they use it in all dessert recipes, pies, cakes, bread, rolls, coffee to mention a few. The title of the article was “Cinnamon unites cuisines of the World”. It seems when people adopted recipes from other cuisines, this spices also traveled with the recipes throughout the world.

This is a simple recipe, it is easy to make the dough like for bread or a plain bun and is very simple to spread butter and sprinkle the mixture of cinnamon-sugar, give round shape and bake it. My grandchildren love this cinnamon rolls, they happily take these rolls in their lunch boxes to school.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS FOR DOUGH

• 2 cups brown bread flour/whole wheat flour
• Half packet active dry yeast (5 grams)
• 1tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp. oil
• more oil for coating

FOR CINNAMON FLAVOUR FILLING

• 2 tbsp. Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. butter

METHOD

• In a cup, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water, add sugar and salt in it. Mix well and leave it - around 5 minutes till the colour of the water changes and becomes foamy.
• In a big bowl take flour add salt, oil and this foamy water of yeast, mix more water and make a soft dough, coat all sides with oil.
• Cover with plastic wrap to let the dough rise, let it double in size. Keep it in a warm place for 1-2 hours to rise.
• Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl.
• Punch dough down. Divide into 2 big balls. Roll the ball thin on a flat surface. Apply a thin layer of butter and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of the rolled out dough.
• Cut long strips of the dough and roll giving round shape as shown in the picture.
• Bake at 356 degrees F/ 180 degrees C for about 20minutes till they are golden brown.
• Cool on a rack, this can be served hot or cold.

I am sharing this recipe as my blog post entry with Hearth and Soul blog hop and Meatless Monday

and with Fiesta Friday and Sweet Inspiration link party and Cook once and eat Twice and with Tasty Tuesday and simple and in season and with We are pinnable and Cook blog share and Full plate Thursday