Easter Flan – with a zing!

Usually, I plan lunches and dinner parties way ahead of time. But this time as I wanted to keep this Easter very low-key, I relaxed and took my own time, but eventually I had to rush in the end. So I had to come up with a dessert which was easy and quick.

With no time left to shop, I had to work with what I had.
In my refrigerator, I had eggs, milk, heavy whipping cream, strawberries, and cream cheese. In the pantry I had sugar, flour, condensed milk, evaporated milk, instant vanilla and chocolate pudding mixes. So my thoughts went I can make a strawberry trifle or a tart (very appropriate for spring – although it’s still cold here in NY) or a flan (very Easter appropriate with the eggs involved) or both the tart and the flan (over ambitious!).

So I quickly googled the recipes (our study is such a mess and I can’t get to my baking books)… this recipe looked so easy. I decided to go with it.

The first time I had Flan was in Las Vegas on our vacation in 2003. The minute I took a bite, it immediately reminded me of the Egg Pudding I used to make with a friend’s recipe back home using a pressure cooker! (details in a later blog).

I was a bit nervous whether it would come out of the mould as I didn’t have the flan pan or the ramekins, instead I just used my 6 inch corning ware dish. My contingency plan was – at the worst; I can just scoop out the flan and serve it in bowls or whip up some fresh cream for the strawberries. But this flan came out beautiful and it was such a huge hit that by evening none was left!

I Love it when there are no left over’s. For me, that means that the guests loved it!

I hope you all will give it a try and enjoy as much as we did! I sure will be making this often.

Here’s the recipe –

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
2 tablespoons Kahlua

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Method:

In a small saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat until it starts to melt. Lower the heat and cook until caramelized to a golden brown. (Do not stir or touch the sugar, but swirl the pan to melt evenly.)

Pour into a metal flan mold or 9-inch cake pan. Turn the dish and swirl to evenly coat the bottom. Let caramel cool and harden. (I used my 2.5 quart corning ware dish – it worked perfectly)

Place the dish in a larger roasting pan and add hot water to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the condensed and evaporated milks and Kahlua and whisk well to blend.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake until set and just firm in the center but still jiggles slightly, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.

To serve, run a thin sharp knife around the rim of the flan. Place a platter or large plate on top of the flan and gently flip over so the plate is on the bottom. Lift away the mold.

Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Couscous - quick, easy and delicious!

I have eaten Couscous before in middle-eastern restaurants, at dinner parties etc, but it never caught my attention as it did when I had it at our friend’s in Maine. Nicole had made Couscous one of the days which caught my attention just by its looks; it was looking so pretty and colorful. She had vegetables and beans in it - looked very healthy too. I noticed her twin girls like it and were eating it by themselves. Later, I had a taste of it during lunch and instantly fell in love with it.

I knew I had to get the recipe and try it out at home. Nicole was very kind to share the recipe.

Right after we returned home, I went and bought “Near East Whole Grain Couscous” from a kosher store nearby and tried it out. It was so good and so satisfying. DH is always a bit skeptical about trying new things… but he loved it too. Now it’s a staple in our house.

I have made this so many times now. We have had it as an entree and also as a side dish. Every time it’s a hit!

So, I have stocked up my pantry with whole grain couscous from Trader’s Joe, because I know I’ll be using this very often from now on.

Thanks for the recipe Nicole!

Ingredients:

1 packet Couscous (I used Near East Couscous; any other brand should work fine too.)

Olive oil – 2 tbs
Onion - 1 medium chopped
Garlic – 2 small cloves chopped
Carrot – 1 small; diced into small cubes (I used frozen)
String Beans – 4 or 5, cut into small pieces (I used frozen)
Corn – ½ cup frozen or fresh (I used frozen)
Scallions – 3 or 4; sliced thin
Garbanzo or Chickpeas – ½ can or ½ cup
Black beans – ½ can or ½ cup
Lemon Juice – ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Note: Feel free to add any of your favorite veggies. I’m sure it’ll work with any veggies as long as they don’t turn too mushy.

Method:

Prepare couscous per the instructions on the package. Instead or Olive oil or butter, I used grapeseed oil (Nicole's tip :)) and added a pinch of salt to the water.

In a large skillet, heat Olive oil over a medium high heat and sauté garlic and Onions

Once the onions turn soft, add carrots, beans, corn and continue sautéing till the veggies cook. Takes about 4-5 minutes.

Once the veggies are cooked, add the scallions, chickpeas, black beans.

Add salt and pepper per your taste stir and sauté for a couple more minutes.

While this is cooking, fluff the couscous with a fork and add the couscous to the skillet. Mix everything together.

Turn off the stove, add the lemon juice, mix well and let it sit for a few minutes.

Serve warm or cold as an entrée or a side dish.

Delicious!

Plum Cake Quest

My dear husband, Dantu loves loves loves cakes!
He’s a very generous man with most of the things, but when it comes to sharing cakes – No No No!

I was never a baker before marriage. When I saw how much DH loves cakes, I started to bake for my DH and started to really enjoy it. Today, I love baking! If I am stressed, you can find me baking in the kitchen :). I love the aroma in my kitchen when I open the oven door – it’s so comforting. Always puts a smile on your face.

My quest for this recipe started around 5 years ago when I saw my husband’s love affair with Nilgiri’s Plum Cake. He absolutely loves it. So I started searching for recipes, modified some using cocoa powder etc. I have tried many recipes of plum cake over the years. Though I have not been successful in replicating Nilgiri’s Plum cake exactly, this is the closest I have gotten. Nilgiri’s cake is a bit more darker than mine, but I bet my cake tastes as good as the Nilgiri’s as I put in all my hard word and my love into it. Right Honey?
If anybody knows the recipe for Nigliri’s cake, please do share, I would greatly appreciate it.

My husband loves this cake and I usually make this in big batches – 4 at a time.

This recipe has evolved over the years and I have included a little bit from many recipes which I found over the net and books. Unfortunately, I haven’t kept a good track of the sources, but a big thank you to all who publish their recipes on the net.

So, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

Golden Raisins – 1.5 cups
Tutty-Fruity – 2.5 cups
Rum – 1 Cup (I used Meyer’s Rum as that’s what I had at home)
Broken Cashews – 1.5 cups
Broken Walnuts – 1 cup
Broken Almonds – 1.5 cups

Butter – 2 cups (4 sticks)
Eggs -12
Sugar – 4 cups + 1 cup for caramel
Vanilla – 4tsp

All purpose flour – 4 cups
Baking powder – 3 tsp
Salt – 3 tsp
Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp
Cloves powder – 1 tsp
Dry ginger powder – 1 tsp
Nutmeg powder – 1 tsp

Method:

Soak the raisins and tutty-fruity in the rum for atleast 12 hours (I sometimes soak it for a week – things don’t always go according to your plan :))

Keep the Eggs and butter out on the counter the night before to ensure they are at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F with a rack in the center of the oven.

In a large clean mixing bowl, sift together all purpose flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg powders.

Prepare the caramel – In a saucepan, add 1 cup of sugar and 2 tbs of water and bring this to a boil on high heat. When the sugar starts to caramelize at the outer edges, (DO NOT stir at this point else the sugar will start to crystallize) reduce heat to a medium high and swirl the saucepan a couple of times if needed. Within a few(5-7) minutes the entire sugar will melt and turn to a dark brown color and start to boil. At this point turn off the heat and slowly add 1 cup of water stirring at the same time. Make sure everything is completely dissolved. Your caramel is done. Let it cool.
The entire process takes only 5-7 mins, so be close to the stove.

Drain the soaked dry fruits. Mix them with the nuts and 3 tbs of all purpose flour (This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake).

In another large clean mixing bowl using a hand held mixer (I used my kitchen aid mixer for this with a paddle attachment) beat the butter and 4 cups sugar till it is light and fluffy, add the eggs one-by-one and mix it well. Add Vanilla and slowly pour in the caramel and mix well on a slow setting.

Add this liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well with a rubber spatula. Now add to the mixed batter the floured dry fruits and nuts and mix well with the spatula.

Grease the baking pans with butter, place parchment papers at the bottom of the pans and butter them too. Flour the greased baking pans.

I use 2 bread loaf pans and 2 8 inch spring foam baking pans.

Pour the cake batter into greased and floured baking pans.

Bake the cake at 350 for an hour or till the toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the pan (may take a few more minutes depending on your oven).

Once the cakes are done, remove from the oven and cool them for 20 mins. At this point, you can pour a little brandy (1/3 cup) over the cakes – this adds more moisture and flavor to the cake.

Remove the cake from the cooled pans and you can pack these in parchment paper and store in air tight containers.

The cakes stay good for a month or so depending if they last for that long. :)

Enjoy!

One more food blog? Why?

I grew up in a big family in a small steel plant town. We had neighbors and friends from all over the country. Since I stayed at home through my college, I grew up watching my mother manage the kitchen from morning to late night. She was always ever ready with extras for un-expected guests, who showed up almost everyday. She’s a super fast cook even today and an expert in stretching the ingredients. Boy! can she do the magic?

Being the oldest daughter in the family, like many other girls in India, I was inducted into cooking fairly early. I used to help my mother in the kitchen and sometimes do the entire cooking myself. I used to experiment with other regional recipes and developed my own style.

My childhood memories are very close to the kitchen. I remember studying in the dining room while my mother and aunt cooked. Visiting cousins, relatives, friends always used to hang out in the kitchen. The ladies will be inside the kitchen, the men hang out in the dining room… and all the talking about family and food used to happen there.

Today, I have an open kitchen and dining area. Invariably, whether it’s just me and my husband planning things or just hanging out or friends visiting or a party… we always end up in the kitchen and around the dining table. I love to cook for my family and friends and entertain.

Today, my sisters and brother are in different corners of the world and each of us have our own style of cooking. Managing work and family, add to the mix the time differences, we hardly have time to talk about recipes or swap them. So this is my effort to document for my siblings and our next generation the recipes I have learnt from family recipes, friends, books, cooking shows, some from neighbors in the internet world and some – my own creations.

I don’t consider myself an expert in produce or nutrition or the history of the recipe. I just love to cook tasty and beautiful food for my family and friends. It’s more therapeutic for me.

So, Welcome to the Heart of my Home – my Kitchen!