Round Up ~Lets cook for Halloween

These are all the lovely recipes in the lets cook for Halloween Round up.

An InLinkz Link-up

Announcing Event~Lets cook with Yoghurt

Yoghurt is a very healthy and versatile Ingredient. It can be flavoured, eaten natural, or used in cooking, for dressing, making smoothies and desserts.
This month I am inviting all foodies out there to link up their yogurt recipes.

To Participate:

1. Prepare any vegetarian recipe with yoghurt (eggs allowed) please link your post using the linky below by entering your Dish Name and Post URL
2. Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory. (Any entries sent with out the mandatory link will be disqualified.)
3.Use of logo is  not mandatory but it helps to spread the word if you can use it.

4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.

4. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com

Please use this format:

Your Name: Recipe
Name Recipe URL
Image no larger than 300 pixels.
Event Ends 30th Nov 2014

An InLinkz Link-up

Bread and Butter Pudding

I prefer warm desserts in the Autumn and winter and one of my family favorite desserts is bread and butter pudding. It warming, hearty and simply delicious mid week dessert that can be made in a jiffy and does not really need much preparation. It's one of those desserts that you simply layer everything in a baking dish , pour over a liquid mixture and pop it in the oven and forget about it for 30 minutes, which gives you ample time to prepare your main course. 
I got this Bread and Butter pudding recipe from Sunrise Senior Living care homes  who offer a wide choice of delicious and healthy meals, all devised by award winning chefs.The only changes I made to the original recipe is that I used brown bread instead of white and served the custard separately so that each person could choose to add it to their dessert to their requirement.

print recipe

Bread and Butter Pudding

by Nayna Kanabar October-27-2014

Delectable Bread and Butter Pudding.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices Brown Bread
• 30g Salted Butter
• 15g Currants
• 60ml Semi skimmed milk
• 20ml Double cream
• 20ml Caster Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 2  medium Eggs
• 20g Brown Sugar
• 150 ml Custard

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C /350F , grease an ovenproof dish and keep aside.2. In a bowl whisk together the eggs and 20g caster sugar, add to it the nutmeg, milk, eggs, lemon zest and 20 ml double cream and whisk together.3.Remove the crusts from the bread and butter all the slices and cut them into triangles.4. Place a layer of bread slices in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle some currants, repeat step 4 until all the bread is used up, finish with a layer of bread. 5.Pour the egg mixture over the bread slices and sprinkle the top with the brown sugar.6. Bake the bread and butter pudding in the preheated oven to bake for 30 minutes until golden brown, 7. Remove from oven and serve warm with custard.

Details

Prep time: 9 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: Serves 4

Garam Masala and Coffee Grinder from Qwerkity

I use a lot of spice mixtures such as garam masala, biryani masala and tandoori masala in my cooking. But I hate using prepackaged shop bought spices as they don't have the same aroma that freshly ground spice mixtures do. There is nothing better than the fragrance that is released from freshly roasted  ground spices.

To make your own spice mixture, it is better to make it in small quantities as over time the spice will loose it aroma.Always store spices in an air tight sterilised glass jar. To grind your own spice a good quality coffee grinder is essential. It should have a strong blade and a pulse operation. Spices such as cinnamon should be broken into small pieces.
Before grinding spices, dry roast the individual spices in a pan on a low heat, constantly tossing the mixture so that the spices start to release the aroma.Once spices are roasted, allow them to cool to room temperature and then grind them to a powder in the coffee grinder using the pulse button, this ensures that the motor does not burn out and you can control the texture of the spice mixture whether you want it fine or coarse.

I love the Lloytron coffee grinder from Qwerkity, it is a stylish coffee grinder for the kitchen with a powerful and quiet motor. It has stainless steel blades with a pulse operation which is perfect for grinding spices and coffee.The grinder comes with a  a transparent easy-view lid and  it has an integral cord tidyfor easy storage. The Llottron coffee grinder is the perfect gadget for any foodie. It retails at £ 24.99 and is available from Qwerkity.

print recipe

Garam Masala

by Nayna Kanabar October-27-2014

Aromatic homemade garam masala with flavours of the East

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Cardamom seeds
• 1 tablespoon Cloves
• 4 large Cinnamon Sticks broken into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon Black Peppercorns
• 4 Star Anise

Method:

1. In a heavy bottom pan dry roast the spices on a low heat for 10-12 minutes until thy start to release a spice aroma. 2. Remove the spices from the heat and transfer them to a plate and allow them to cool to room temperature.3.Once spices are cooled transfer them to the coffee grinder and grind them to a fine powder.4. Transfer the garam masala to a sterilised glass jar with an air tight lid and store in a cool dry place.Use the spice mixture to flavour, curries, rice or soup.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 12 mins Total time: 32 mins Yield: 1 small jar

I was sent the coffee grinder by Qwerkity to review, all the opinions and thoughts shared in this post are my own and unbiased.

Coconut Delight Roses-Diwali Special

Today is the Hindu Festival of Diwali, to celebrate I have created this delicious yet simple sweet that is perfect for gifting and serving . I would also like to wish all my readers and visitors avery happy Diwali. Thankyou all for your visits, comments and love that you share with simplyfood, all of which inspire and motivate me.

print recipe

Coconut Delight Roses

by Nayna Kanabar October-23-2014

Tutti frutti and Coconut layered on delicious white chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 200ml Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 200g Dessicated Coconut Flour
• 40g Mixed Tutti Frutti -dried papaya,mango and pineapple
• 2 drops Orange food colour
• 1/2 teaspoon Orange Essence
• 300g White Chocolate

Method:

1. In a bowl add the coconut flour, finely chopped tutti frutti (dried mango, papaya and pineapple) and condensed milk, orange essence and make a dough . Add the condensed milk a little at a time until mixture comes together to form a ball.2. Divide the mixture into two parts and add orange colouring to one part. Make 12 small balls from each of the mixtures, the white and the orange and push the balls into a rose silicon mould. Pack the mixture tightly into the moulds leaving a 5mm gap on top for the chocolate layer. You will have 12 orange coloured delights and 12 white delights.(Alternatively you can make the whole lot orange by adding the colour to all the mixture)3. Melt the white chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave for 1 minute and then at 10 second intervals until chocolate is totally melted. Stir the chocolate to ensure its smooth.4. Pour a layer of chocolate on top of the coconut layer and tap the mould to evenly distribute the chocolate.5. Place the silicon mould rose tray in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.6. After 30 minutes push out the chocolate roses from the mould and serve.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 24
NB -You can add the mixture to a square tray and pack it down after which pour the chocolate over it and leave to set. Once set cut into squares.