Strawberry Crumble

Typically I don't cook anything for breakfast. When it is the cold months, I can't have cereals with cold milk - and warm milk and cereals are not a combination I like. So being the fruit lover that I am, discovering this recipe was a god-send for me. Once I get this prepared and has it ready in the refrigerator, I can relax the next few days. Just scoop out a few spoonfuls and a quick minute or two in the microwave and I have a hot, wholesome, healthy breakfast ready. And the added attraction is that this is a very delicious dessert too, with a scoop of ice cream to go with it.
Recipe Source: Paula Dean
Ingredients:
4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¾ cup quick-cooking oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sliced almonds
Method:
Preheat oven to 350º F.
In a large saucepan, combine strawberries and sugar. Let stand for 30 minutes. Cook strawberry and sugar mixture, stirring frequently, over medium heat for 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until blended. Stir cornstarch mixture into strawberry mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for 1 minute or until mixture is thickened. Spoon mixture into 6 (5 ounce) ovenproof ramekins.
In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.Mix in the almonds. Divide mixture evenly over strawberry mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Serve warm.

Mango Lassi

The last couple of days had turned out to be so very hot in the SF Bay area where I live. Although the summer is yet to be in officially, it almost felt like mid-summer. We all switched in to summer clothing and yet the body was yearning to be cooled. What else can cool the body better than a classical mango lassi !
Lassi is a yogurt based drink popular in India and can be made in different flavors. If you haven't tried this yet, this is a must try - you sure would come back for more.

Ingredients
2 cups ripe mangoes, peeled and sliced or 2 cups sweetened kesar mango pulp (you can get tinned ones at the Indian grocery stores)
1and 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons sugar or to taste(adding sugar is not neccessary if you are using mango pulp)
Method:
Blend all the ingredients together in a blender to a smooth puree. Serve with a dollop of vanilla icecream if its extremely hot or have it as it is.
It is best if all the ingredients are pre-cooled, rather than adding ice cubes while blending it. Adding ice cubes would dilute the lassi and though many use this method, I prefer the thicker consistency. If I need it colder, I would just add some ice-cream on top.

Lemon Curd

My friend was having her baby shower the other day. When asked what her favorite cake filling was, the mom-to-be was all for lemon curd. So this is the recipe I used to make the lemon curd (though this was not the cake for the shower; this is just a test cake). The good thing about this recipe is that, unlike most of the other ones, it gives a firmer consistency for the lemon-curd, yet melts in your mouth. If you are looking for a lemon-curd recipe as a filling for your cookies or cakes, this would be an ideal one.
Recipe Source:Ina Garten
Ingredients
3 lemons
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs or 5 medium eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Method:
Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.
Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

It was three years ago that Jai got me a box of chocolate coated strawberries for the Valentines day. He thought that as I was a chocolate and strawberries person, I would love this. I did love the gift, until I realized how much it cost! For a box of 12, it cost more than $25; which I couldn't digest. I couldn't really understand what made this so expensive - considering it is only some chocolates and strawberries that is involved. So I had been trying to find out how to make these really decadent dessert and voila, here we are!
Wishing you all a happy Valentine's day!
Source: Food Network
Ingredients
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried very well
Method:
Put the semisweet  chocolates into a heatproof medium bowls. Fill a medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowl of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another 15 secsonds stir and repeat  until melted.)

Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Dip a fork in the remaining chocolate and drizzle the chocolate over the dipped strawberries.

Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

Fruit Salad with Custard.

Last week, it was the  Diwali Celebration at Aishwarya's school. All the Indian parents made a dish each to give a taste of India to the staff and teachers of the school. Since I had a hectic week even otherwise, I thought of making a "make ahead" dish. As I am desserts person, I opted for this one. This is something I could make blindfolded as we make this so often at home. My mom used to make this when I was a kid and I literally "grew up" having this!
This was well appreciated by everyone who had this at the feast and I had the recipe requests from many. So here is a quick, simple and healthy dessert for the holidays.
Ingredients:
Custard powder -4 Tbs (can substitute this with corn starch)
Milk -2 1/2cups
Fruits ( apples,grapes,oranges,pineapple, banana or any others of your liking)-1 cup
Lemon-1/2
Sugar- 5 Tbs
Vanilla extract -1/2 tsp ( if using corn starch)
Jello-1 packet (You will only need half of the Jello for this quantity of fruit salad)
Method:
Mix the custard  powder or  cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cold milk. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil along with 4 table spoons of sugar. Take the milk away from the heat; add the custard mix. Cook this for about 5 minutes or till the custard  thickens. (For those of you who are using corn starch in place of the custard powder, add a little bit of yellow food color to give your custard the usual color and add the vanilla extract to this.) Refrigerate this for 5 hours or till evenly cold. Make Jello as per the directions on the pack but use 1/2 a cup less water so that the Jello can be cut into little pieces after it sets. Refrigerate this till it sets and cut into small pieces. Meanwhile cut the fruits into little bite sized pieces. Add 1 tablespoons of sugar along with juice of half a lemon and mix well and refrigerate this too. After 5 hrs or so mix the fruits  and jello along with custard and serve

Spicy Chocolate'N Fruit Biscuit

When I think of making appetizers for any party or gathering, I think of something that I can make with very little effort, and which won't need much of my attention. Thus I can focus more on making the other courses to serve for the occasion. So typically for appetizers, I try not to make something from scratch, but would prefer to use some off the shelf ingredient that would reduce my cooking time and effort. This is one such recipe that meets all these criteria as I have used the Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated biscuits, which are available at the refrigerated section of any supermarket. I have used apple and bananas for this recipe, primarily because these are the two fruits that are always there at our house. But you can substitute them for any of the seasonal fruits, as long as they are firm and not watery, or you may use only one of them.
Ingredients:
Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated biscuits (any variety)-1 can (16.3 oz)
Semi-sweet Chocolate chips-1/2 cup or to taste
Chilli powder-1/2 tsp
Banana- 1
Apple- 1
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Milk -2 tbs
Method:
Peel the apple and banana and cut it into little pieces. Mix in the salt, chilli powder and the chocolate chips. Roll out each biscuit into 6" rounds; fill it with the fruit mix. Fold dough over the filling and seal it well. Apply a thin glaze of milk over each biscuit. Bake this in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees F for 12-14 minutes or till the biscuits turn golden.

Cinnamony Apples

Haven't we all heard the saying ,an apple a day keeps the doctor away.Then why wait ! Make this and you wouldn't be sorry .This is a yummy gooey apple dessert that can be had with ice cream ,whipped cream or even with your pancakes.Those of you who have a husband,wife or a child who is a doctor keep yourself away from this as too many apples may keep them away from you.:)
Ingredients:
2 medium-large  tart apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoon lemon juice (only needed if the apples are not tart)
1/2 cup water, divided
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon raisins
1/2 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Ice cream  optional
Instructions:
1. In medium-sized saucepan, heat fruit, 1/4 cup water,lemon juice, sugar, raisins, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring occasionally, until boiling. Boil just  until fruit is tender.
2. In small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water until smooth. Add to fruit mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook for 1-2 minutes, until thickened.
3. Serve warm fruit mixture with ice cream or whipped cream if desired