So, the day before yesterday, I finally get down and make the ginger bread which I'd been itching to make ever since I saw the recipe on tv. But sadly, that's the thing with following stuff on tv, these recipes are often faulty and their production team should really get their points straight. I guess some of the fault also lies with the cook itself, who doesn't know the difference between one or one and a half teaspoon of baking powder in baking, or who proposes 2 tablespoons (I mean c'mon, really?! you think we are that stupid?) of cinammon powder. So obviously, the recipe I posted of the ginger bread, clearly, CLEARLY needs to be revised, and let this be a headsup to anyone following recipes on tv, be on gaurd, and use common sense too!

Here's how it goes. Use one teaspoon of baking powder. Use one teaspoon of cinammon powder. If you want your bread to taste as cinammony as gingery, by all means use two teaspoons, but since we are making ginger bread, and not cinammon bread, for me, one teaspoon would suffice. AND, last but not the least, and in addition to the last point, use two tablespoons of ground ginger, using a mortar and pestle, this way all the lovely juices come out and it would flavour the bread most deliciously.

When I was going through the recipe, I clearly found 2 tbsps of cinammon to be too much, so I used 2 tsps, but the next time I make this bread, I will use 1 tsp only. Also, I found the bread not gingery enough for me, and although the cinammon wasn't really overpowering the ginger, it almost did, and I wanted to taste the bite of the ginger. So, I decided to decorate the bread with some whipped cream.

Here's what I did. I took a pack of cream, whipped it with some icing sugar, till it was light and fluffy. Then ground some ginger, about a tablespoon of that, and added that together with its fragrant juices into the cream and finally the juice of one lemon, to add a little sour taste to it. I cut my bread lengthways in half, and put one third of the cream on the cut side of the bottom piece, and put the top piece and dolloped the rest of the cream on the top and sides, and made little swirls in the cream with the help of the edge of the spatula. Left it in the fridge to set for a while, and in the evening, had it with some ginger and lemon tea.

Alternatively you can use flowery infusion teas or even some coffee if you prefer.

By the way, this faulty recipe on tv was the creation of Farah Jahanzaib on Zaiqa. Just a headsup you know.

Saw a really delicious Nigella Lawson cookbook, called Kitchen, Recipes from the heart of the home, at a bookstore. I practically drooled over it, but I had run short of cash by then and then decided against buying it, one because I can find almost all of her recipes online, and so I don't really need to get the book then, and two, because most of the recipes by British cooks, or even American or French or Italian for that matter, use ingredients which are either not available here at all, or not readily enoungh. And of course, cooking should be about using innovation, good taste and old methods using what you have in your kitchen and store cupboards. You don't have to go overboard and get this and that, burning a hole in your pocket. That said, I'll have to be a little careful next time I go food shopping, if I go that is, cause I tend to get a little carried away with the money in my hands (read plastic) and so much food to choose from and ideas swimming in my head, especially now since I have no job.

That said, something new and exciting is right across the horizon, and my old love for theatre is being reignited (I say reignited, though it never extinguished or even faltered for a bit), and I have something to look forward too, and something to keep myself busy too, cause heaven knows I need it.

PS. Why do people make sad love songs?

Apple Crumble and Ginger Bread recipes

Here are two recipes for you to enjoy! I haven't tried them yet but saw this on tv, and it looked easy enough and delicious, so I'm looking forward to making this maybe on the weekend.

Apple crumble
Ingredients

3 apples

Juice of one lemon

¼ cup water

½ cup flour

½ cup walnuts

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup grated coconut

6 teaspoons brown sugar

2 and a ½ teaspoons butter

Cook apples in a little bit of water and some sugar, pour over pie dish. Make crumble with all the remaining ingredients, use your hands if neccesary and use cold butter and tumble on top. Press with spoon and bake for 20 minutes for 180 degrees.


Serve with a scoop of vanilla or praline icecream. Usually eaten at breakfast or after dinner treat. Easier than making apple pie! While I was reading up on its history, I found out that it's supposed to smell so good while it's baking and when it comes out of the oven, that you just want to dive right in and... die in it's heavenly sweetness!

 
 
Ginger bread
Ingredients

1 and a ½ cup flour

½ cup butter

One egg

½ cup maple syrup

1 or ½ tsp baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon powder

1tablespoon ginger grated and pounded



Beat butter with brown sugar.

Add egg. Beat

Add ginger. Beat

Add maple syrup. Beat.

Add flour mixed with baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder. Beat.

Add a little water if mixture is too thick.

Scrape into loaf tin and bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.


Serve with nutella spread on top, or with a fresh flowery or fruity infusion tea, or your favourite coffee!

Mmmmm...

Fried potato and cheese cakes with baked tomatoes, basil and garlic

One of the good things about working with fresh foods is that you can get the maximum amount of flavour from the food without really having much to do with it. And I think its great to work with fresh fruits and vegetables, not the least because there is so much you can do with them, with so little.

Today I made these wonderful little potato and cheese cakes, which are sort of like aaloo cutlets, except they are much better, if I may say so, and for some fresh infusion in the palatte, some baked tomatoes in basil and garlic.

So here's what I did.

For the potatoes:

I had about 5 medium sized fresh potatoes, and the thing to look for while getting fresh ones, is look for ones which have their skin breaking out in places, revealing the golden flesh inside. You boil them till they are tender. Meanwhile, I took half a cup of mozerella and half a cup of cheddar cheese, grate them together finely. Plus set aside a few cubes of cheddar to be filled inside the potato cake. Now you can use any kind of cheese you prefer, but I really like the milky strands of mozerella and its mild sort of pungent taste.

Ok, so when the potatoes are boiled, I peel them while they're hot, the skin comes off so much more easily that way, then mash them up with a fork in a big mixing bowl, add the grated cheeses, a good shake of salt, fresh ground pepper, chilli flakes for some heat, a tablespoon of mustard paste, some fresh corrainder leaves chopped roughly and the juice of one lemon. Mixed it all together. Then heated some olive oil for frying, got shallow bowls for some bread crumbs, cornflour and one beaten egg. Shaped each potatoe cake with my hands, put a tiny cube of cheddar in each, dipped them in the egg, then the cornflour, the egg again, and finally the bread crumbs. When I had shaped four of these, I fried them till they were golden brown, then put them on a platter, spritzed some lemon juice on top, and garnished with fresh corrainder leaves and lemon.

For the tomatoes:

Use the freshest tomatoes possible. I got together four medium sized tomatoes, cut them in half. Slicked a baking tray with some olive oil, put the tomatoes, cut side down into the oiled tray, then put the cut side up again, and covered them with crushed garlic, fresh ground pepper, salt, and last but not the least basil leaves. Wonderful aromatic little leaves, these will do wonders for your tomatoes. Finally some more olive oil on top of the tomatoes and the juice of one lemon squirted all over. And what this is going to do is, that its going to make some wonderful aromatic juices blended together with the tomatoe, garlic, basil, lemon. Give them about an hour in the oven on gas mark 4, turning them the other side with some tongs after about 30 minutes. When they're done, I take them out of the tray with the tong, and pour all the delicious aromatic juices over the tomatoes. And I'm telling you the flavour is going to hit your mouth and infuse it with a fresh almost summery taste.Voila!

And you can serve it with roasted lamb chops, baked chicken, or beef steaks. All yum!

Blueberry and Pear cake recipe by Nigel Slater

So, after making this rather delicious feel good cake, I thought I'd share this recipe with you all. It's Nigel Slater's from his book the The Kitchen Diaries, a cookbook, that is not at all like a cookbook, but rather like a diary, with seasonal food cooking and absolutely gorgeous pictures. And here you'll see some of my own pictures.

Here's the recipe! Enjoy! Also I've made slight variations of this recipe, adding whatever fruit that's in season, a teaspoon of cinnamon and vanilla extract, some brown sugar for a lovely goldenish colour to the cake, all go very well.

Blueberry and Pear cake

Butter – 130 g

Unrefined caster sugar – 130 g

Ripe pears – 2

Eggs – 3

Plain flour – 130 g

Baking powder – a teaspoon

Blueberries – 250 g

A little extra sugar

You can use any fruit you have at hand, apples and peaches work really well too and serve it with fresh cream or vanilla ice cream.

Set the oven at 180 C/Gas 4. Line the base of a square 21-23cm cake tin with a piece of baking parchment, or line with a little butter and flour.

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy in the food mixer. Whilst this is happening, peel and core the pears and cut them into small chunks. Break the eggs, beat them with a fork, then gradually add them to the butter and sugar. Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold them gently into the mixture. Scrape into the lined cake tin. Rinse the blueberries, then tip them up, together with the pears, on top of the cake mixture. Scatter a couple of tablespoons of sugar over the top. Bake the cake for 55 minutes, then test for doneness with a skewer. If it comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven, then leave to cool for ten minutes.

Food Shopping Splurge

Recently went out and really splurged with food shopping. Its such a comfort to choose good food, and select from a wide variety, estimating and planning. And its a such a pleasure to have something stored in your kitchen to eat and to cook :)

Obviously when the things were rounded up by the cashier, mum's eyes popped open, but I was taking care of it, so it was ok.

So here's what I bought, and all are needed in your kitchen and in the storage, so it was all good! I wanted some fresh fruits and vegetables but there wasn't enough time for that.

Some really good mature cheddar cheese
cream cheese spread
blueberries in syrup
preserved cherries from Swat
nutella
a good fresh french bread
brown bread
fruit and nut bread
mixed nuts
raisins
flour
penne pasta
macarroni
spaghetti
green olives
mushrooms
chocolate bars
Frankfurter sausages
chicken nuggets
chappli kebab
butter
margerine
custard mix
vanilla essence
brown sugar
baking powder
instant soup packets

And this should take care of it!

Met my bestie after a long long LONG time today! It was so much fun! Madiha makes everything happy and good and cheerful and chirpy again, just the kind of person she is!!! I love you Madi!!!

We went for some pasta at this really noisy place, which of course we didn't know would be this noisy, cause we tried it for the first time. But the garlic prawns were good. After a long chit chat, and loads of much needed catching up, we decided to go to cinnabon for some sweet. Loved their warm cinnabon with coffee, plus with her around, it was sooooo much better!

You know how sometimes, food tastes that extra bit special cause you have someone special sharing it with you, or the time becomes extra special because you have that special someone to share food with. So either way, you end up having more fun, than you would've if you'd been alone, or if you had no good food to enjoy. Of course...

Life is short, so you should fill it up with people you love, and who love you, and always be positive and enjoy each other's company as much as you can.

There are many human relationships which we have or make during our life time. Some are naturally given to us by fate, such as parents, siblings, relatives etc, and others we choose, such as friends or partners or lovers. And I think its the variety of these relationships that add beauty and meaning to your life.

When while talking to your best friend you realize that you can achieve anything, be anything, do anything you want, because you have the potential for it, because you have what it takes, and because you can go the distance. They've known you and you've known them. You know each other's weaknesses and strengths. You know what the other is capable of. And you know the troubles, the grief, the little eccentricities about one another.

By the way, here's the recipe for the cinammon buns!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients

Rolls:
1/2 cup warm Water

2 packages dry Yeast

2 Tablespoons Sugar

3 1/2 ounce package Vanilla Pudding mix

1/2 cup Butter, melted

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Salt

6 cups Flour

1 cup Butter, softened

2 cups Brown Sugar

4 teaspoons Cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Margarine

1 teaspoon Vanilla

3 cups Confectioner's Sugar

1 Tablespoon Milk

Make Frosting:

1. Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Make Rolls:

1. In a bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

2. In large bowl, prepare pudding mix according to package directions.

3. Add margarine, eggs and salt. Mix well.

4. Add yeast mixture. Blend.

5. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled.

6. Punch down dough and let rise again.

7. Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size.

8. Spread softened butter over surface.

9. In bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon.

10. Sprinkle over top. Roll up very tightly.

11. With knife every 2 inches.

12. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart.

13. Take hand and lightly press down on each roll.

14. Cover and let rise until double again.

15. Bake at 350 15−20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden. DON'T OVER BAKE.

16. Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting