Tuesday 28 September 2010

Chilli Mogo ( cassava)

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Chilli Mogo (Cassava) Chunky chips deep fried  and tossed  in a spicy and aromatic indo chinese masala and oven baked.

Ingredients:

I Kilo packet frozen cassava ( mogo) chips .
1 green capsicums  finely diced
10 green chillies cut into slits
1 medium onion finely diced
2 teaspoons garlic paste
3 tablespoons soya sauce
3 tablespoons chilli sauce
3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
3 tablespoons sundried tomato paste(or 3 tablespoons tomato puree instead)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 tablespoons olive oil

Sunflower oil for frying the mogo chips.



Method:

1. Boil the mogo chips in salted water till a la dente. Drain and keep aside.
2.In small batches fry the mogo chips and drain on kitchen paper keep aside.
3.In a pan heat the 2 tablespoon olive oil.
4.Add the garlic and onions and saute.
5.Add the peppers and green chillies and saute.
6. Add the salt, chilli powder, soya sauce, ketchup,sundried tomato paste and chilli sauce
7.Cook till sauce thickens.
8.Pour over the mogo chips and coat throughly.
9.Transfer the coated mogo chips to a flat oven proof dish.
10.Cover the dish with foil and leave aside for 1 hour for the sauce to marinade the mogo chips,
11.After 1 hour bake in hot oven for about 15 minutes till mogo chips crisp and colour slightly.
12.Serve hot with yoghurt and mint chutney.


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Some info on this vegetable.
Cassava (mogo)or know also as yuca is a shrubby, tropical, perennial plant.The edible parts are the tuberous root and leaves. The tuber (root) is dark brown in color and grows up to 2 feet long. The dark outer skin is peeled to reveal an inner white flesh that can be boiled, baked or fried .This vegetable is commonly available in africa,asia, mexico and carribean.The cassava plant is often used in substitute for potatoes, it can be made in to cassava flour too.

  

Monday 27 September 2010

Daring Bakers Challenge-September 2010- Decorated Sugar cookies.

Delectable Sugar cookies , iced  with royal icing to making them  cute and adorable and simply mouth watering.

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

The decoration of the cookies had to be on any occasion in September, we were celebrating happy summer holidays, ( cookies decorated in pastels and flower theme) exam success and back to school.cookies decorated with letters and numbers)

Sugar Cookies
Basic Sugar Cookies:

Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

Ingredients:

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten or 1 tablespoon egg replacer (I used egg replacer)
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Method:

1.Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during baking, losing their shape.
2.Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid flour flying everywhere.
3. Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
4.Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
5.Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in cling wrap and then refrigerate it for an hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
6. Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
7.Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
8. Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30 mins to an hour.
Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
9.Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
10. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
11.Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15 mins depending on the size of the cookies.
Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in some cookies being baked before others are done.
Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
12. Leave to cool on cooling racks. Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
 Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated cookies can last up to a month.

 
 
Royal Icing:
Source: Vegetation
 
Vegan Royal  Icing:
 
3 tbsp water

2 tbsp egg replacer powder
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1.Add water to egg replacer and whip with electric beaters until it's thick.
2.Add cream of tartar and 1/2 a cup of the icing sugar and mix until thick.
3.Add another 1/2 cup of icing sugar and whip until thick again.
4.Finally add the last 3/4 of a cup icing sugar and beat until a thick icing forms. If it's too thick  add another 1/8-1/4 cup water slowly while beating until it softens.
5. Divide the mixture into two parts, keep one part white and the other part add  your chosen food colouring for decoration.

To Decorate:

1. Cover the cookies with white icing allow to set , then decorate with coloured icing.
Allow icing to dry over night.


You may like:
Daring Bakers Challenge Piece montée

Friday 24 September 2010

Mexican Veggie Tart


Flaky puff pastry tart with a spicy mouth watering delectable Mexican filling.

Ingredients:

1 sheet ready to roll puff pastry.
½ cup precooked sweet corn
½ cup pre cooked peas
½ cup precooked kidney beans
1 carrot grated
1 onion finely sliced
½ red pepper diced
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tablespoon olive oil.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan when hot fry the onions till brown and almost turning crispy.
2. Add the grated carrot and diced peppers and stir fry for 2-3 minutes till both are softened.
3. Add the peas, sweet corn, salt paprika and tomato puree.
4. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes till masala is dry and moisture free.
5. Grease a baking try and place the rolled out puff pastry on it.
6. Using sharp knife score around all four edges  of the pastry rectangle 2 cm from edge taking care not to cut through the pastry.
7. Spoon the masala mixture onto the pastry with in the scored lines.
8. Bake in a preheated oven 200 º C/ 400 º F for 30 minutes till pastry is golden brown.

Serve hot with salad.



You may like:

Veggie puff pastry parcels

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Chocolate Cereal crispies.



Crunchy cereal, dry fruits, coconut all coated in a golden syrup and scrumptious chocolate.

Ingredients:

480 grams / 16 oz of Kellogg’s special fruit and nut cereal.
30 grams /1 oz butter
60 grams / 2oz desiccated coconut or coconut flakes
120 grams / 4oz mixed chopped nuts
120 grams / 4oz golden syrup
240 grams / 8 oz milk chocolate
60 grams / 2oz cocoa powder

Method:

1. Break up the cereal coarsely, add to a large bowl. Add the coconut and nuts and mix.
2. In sauce pan add the golden syrup, chocolate, butter,cocoa powder and allow to warm up till chocolate melts. Mix thoroughly.Do not over heat,should be heated enough to melt chocolate.
3. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and nuts and combine so that everything is coated in chocolate mixture.. Scoop spoonfuls of the mixture into cake cases and leave to set. Alternately press into a greased tray and leave to set, once set cut into squares.



NB-You can use any cereal of your choice and also add mini marshmallows to the mixture to get rocky road chocolate crunch cereal crispies.



You may like:
Chocolate crunch Barfi

Thursday 16 September 2010

Potato Stacks with peanut and coriander sauce.

Slices of potato, coated in a fragrant spicy mixture and oven baked to perfection. Served with a wonderful sweet and sour spicy peanut and coriander sauce, these potato stacks make a perfect starter dish.

Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes
Spray cooking oil

Spice Mixture:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chilli powder
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon amchur powder
1 tablespoon corn flour

Peanut and coriander sauce:

½ bunch fresh coriander
6 green chillies
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon peanuts.



Method:

1. Wash and peel the potatoes and slice them thin using a mandolin. Place the potato slices in a large bowl.
2. Mix all the ingredients in the spice mixture list and sprinkle on top of potato slices. Toss to evenly coat all the potato slices with the spice powder.
3. Preheat an oven 200 ºC or 400 ºF.
4. Line a large baking tray with kitchen foil, spray with cooking oil.
5. Spread out the spiced potato slices in a single layer on the baking sheet and spray with a little more cooking oil.
6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. You will need to turn the slices over mid way cooking time.
7. Wash and clean the coriander and chop roughly stalks and leaves and add to blender. Deseed the chillies and chop roughly and add to blender with salt, sugar, lemon juice and blend to a fine paste. Add 1-2 tablespoon water if needed.
8. Grind the peanuts coarsely and keep aside.
9. Transfer the coriander mixture from blender into a bowl and add the coarsely ground peanuts. Mix thoroughly and place in a clean jar in refrigerator for future use.
10. Check that the potato slices are cooked; they should be crispy and golden brown. Remove from oven.

To serve,  stack potato slices on  a plate with a little peanut and coriander sauce in between the slices, build stacks of  approx 8-10 slices and drizzle with coriander and peanut sauce.




You may like :
Crispy potato bhajiyas

Monday 13 September 2010

Mini Vegetable pies


Melt in the mouth flaky golden brown pastry, with a tasty vegetable filling.

Ingredients:

1 sheet ready to roll short crust pastry
2 oz precooked sweet corn
2 oz precooked kidney beans
1 small onion finely diced
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 oz boiled potatoes finely diced
2 oz baked beans in tomato sauce.
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper powder
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon sunflower oil



Method:

1. In a frying pan heat the oil when hot add the onions and sauté till translucent.
2. Add the sweet corn, kidney beans and potato and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the baked beans, 2 tablespoons of water, tomato puree, salt and pepper and Tabasco sauce and cook till spices infuse into vegetable mixture. Keep aside to cool.
4. Roll out the pastry and cut six 4 inch round circles and six 2.5 inch circles for lids using a cookie cutter.
5. Line a muffin pan with the six larger circles, pushing the pastry to shape the muffin holes.
6. Fill each pastry case with the filling and place a lid on the top. Press down pastry to secure the lids.
7. Make a small hole in the centre of each lid to allow the steam to release when cooking. Decorate pie tops with remaining pastry trimmings if desired
8. Bake pies in pre heated oven at 200º C / 400º F for 30 minutes till golden brown.
9. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Serve warm with salad.




You may like:
Veggie puff pastry parcels.

Sunday 5 September 2010

Cauliflower curry



Cauliflower curry- Florets of crunchy cauliflower cooked in a garlic and tomato gravy with rich aromatic spices.

Ingredients:

2 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup  green peas
1 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon garlic paste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard  seeds

Method:

1. Place the cauliflower and peas in a microwaveable dish. sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water ,cover and cook for 8 minutes till cauliflower is tender but still firm and florets are holding shape.
2. In a wok add the olive oil and heat, when oil is hot add the mustard seeds and garlic and saute.
3. Add the cooked cauliflower and peas to the wok and stir fry till cauliflower is crisp and dry.
4. Add the 2 two tablespoons of water to tomato puree and make paste, add the salt, chili powder, coriander and cumin powders and the turmeric powder.
5. Pour this paste over the cauliflower and peas and toss till it coats the cauliflower evenly.
6. Stir fry for 3-4 more minutes.
7. Transfer to serving dish .
Serve with hot rotis.

You may like:
Masala aloo in green gravy
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