Monday, March 23, 2009
Mango Creme Brulee
Monday, March 9, 2009
Brownies !
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13 x 9 ban with some butter
- Melt chocolate using double boiler method and let cool *
- Beat margarine and sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy( you can use a handheld electric mixer)
- Add eggs (one at a time)
- Add vanilla
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and cocoa powder
- Slowly add in flour mix to butter mix
- Add in melted golden tree chocolate
- Pour batter in the pan and bake for 35 minutes
- When adding flour mix to butter mix, add about 1/2 cup at a time, beat until mixture is mooth and creamy, then add another 1/2 cup.
- 8 oz = 28.35g so if you are using the bigger Golden Tree chocolate bar (50g), use only 4 1/2 bars.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Jollof Rice
Jollof rice is a popular rice dish in Ghana and other West African countries and one of my favorite foods. It is delicious, easy to prepare and you can easily find the ingredients at your local African grocery store. If you do not know where to find an African grocery store, visit www.africanbizbyzip.com and type in your city or zip code ! There are slight variations in how Jollof is made...I make mine with beef or corned beef( see the picture below). This is a dish that is great on its own but also goes well with some chicken and salad. Yummy!
- 1 can (29 oz) tomato sauce or 8 medium tomatoes
- 2 medium-sized onions
- 1 orange habanero pepper
- small-sized ginger root (see pic)
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 tspn of nutmeg powder
- 1 can of corned beef
- 1 Maggi cube
- 3 cups of basmati / jasmine rice
- 2 tbsns of salt
- Wash and peel onions; dice one of the onions
- Place the other onion in a blender, add ginger, pepper and tomato sauce and blend well
- Heat oil in a cooking pot, on medium heat
- Add diced onions and let simmer for 3 minutes
- Add nutmeg and let simmer for 1 minute
- Pour in blended tomato mix
- Let sauce cook on medium heat for 20 minutes
- Mash Maggi cubes and add to cooking pot after 10 minutes of simmering
- After the 20 minutes, add and stir in the corned beef until it is evenly mixed into the sauce
- Let the sauce cook for another 20 minutes
- Add salt
- Wash the rice (twice) and add into the cooking sauce
- Stir well until all the rice is completely mixed in with the sauce
- Let the "Jollof" cook for about 45 minutes on low heat
- Stir every 15 minutes so all the rice cooks evenly
- You can use any long-grain rice for this dish
- You can add frozen peas and corn to the sauce(5 - 10 minutes) before adding the rice...makes the dish more colorful
- Break the corned beef with your spoon when you add it to the sauce
- Keep the lid on the cooking pot at all times...this helps retain the steam which also helps cook the rice.
- Ginger size varies - you can use a small-sized or medium-sized ginger root.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Kashi Mediterranean Pizza
I am a big Kashi fan and this is my favorite pizza from them. This Mediterranean pizza, which is great for vegetarians, has spinach, fire-roasted red onions, sweet red peppers,four signature cheeses, including feta with roasted pepper sauce on a seven whole grains and sesame with flax seed crust. This is a slice of pizza you can feel less guilty about when eating it because it has 4g of fiber and 14g of protein. If you are the kind of pizza eater that leaves the crust behind then prepare yourself...even the crust is so good that you will eat it and want more.
Gulab Jamun
Gulab Jamin is a popular Indian dessert. It is traditionally served on the Indian holiday Diwali but is also eaten throughout the year. You can enjoy this very sweet dessert at any Indian restaurant or buy them at an Indian grocery store.
Crepes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
- butter (for frying)
- In a bowl, beat the eggs then add the milk
- In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar and nutmeg
- Slowly pour the egg mix into the flour and whisk until you have a smooth texture
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat and rub a little butter in
- Pour or scoop the crepe batter (1/4 cup to 1/2 cup) into the pan
- Fry for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side until light brown
- You can use a measuring cup to scoop out your batter
- Depending on how big your frying pan, use a 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup
- After scooping the batter in the pan, tilt the pan in a circular motion so batter covers the entire surface of the pan
- If you really like nutmeg, you can use 2 teaspoons instead of 1 !
- Always rub a little butter in the pan for every scoop of batter
- I am sure other toppings are great but nothing beats the combination of this crepe recipe and some honey!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Creme Caramel / Flan
This is one of my favorite desserts and the funny thing was that I used to hate it when I was a kid! What was I thinking?! If you have never had creme caramel before, this is the time to try it. It is a sweet custard dessert, surrounded by a shallow pool of caramel. Creme caramel comes from the same family as creme brulee.
- 1 cup sugar - for the caramel
- 3 eggs
- 14 oz condensed milk
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 1 tbsn french vanilla extract
- Put sugar in a saucepan and melt on medium heat until gold brown and liquid
- Pour in a baking bowl / ramekin and leave to cool and harden
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Beat the eggs in a large bowl
- Pour in evaporated milk, then condensed milk
- Add french vanilla extract
- Pour the custard mix into the caramel lined baking bowl/ramekins
- Half-way fill a 13 x9 baking pan with water and place baking bowl/ramekins in it
- Place in oven and bake at 350F for 1 hour
- You can also use 2 cups of whole milk or 2 cups of evaporated milk and a 1/4 cup sugar to replace the 2 cans of milk in the recipe above. If you make this change, use 2 eggs instead of 3 and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.
- You can use a Pyrex bowl (8x8) for baking the creme caramel in and use a metal baking pan for the water bath.
- Baking times may vary by 5 to 10 minutes depending on your oven so test the dish after 40 minutes with a toothpick...if it comes out clean, then the creme caramel is done.
- Place in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving
Dorayaki
I first encountered Dorayaki back in my college years during one of my Japanese classes. My professor had just returned from a trip to Japan and he brought with him a bag of goodies, including dorayaki and grean tea. I was , at first, reluctant to try this confection because I never associated black beans and pastry in the same sentence! However, being open to trying new things, I took a bite of this pastry and I have never looked back.
Dorayaki is a Japanese cake with a sweet black bean filling. It actually looks like two mini pancakes stuck together with the sweet black bean filling (anko). It can be enjoyed on its own or with some hot green tea or oolong tea, which balances out the sweetness of the pastry.
Dorayaki can be found at most Asian supermarkets, either in the candy / sweets aisle or sometimes in the "cold" section where cakes and other such pastries are kept. A pack of dorayaki normally sells for between $3.99 and $4.99...cherish every bite you take because before you know it, you are out of dorayaki !
Arnold Select 100% Whole Wheat Thins
- high in fiber - 6g!
- low in cholesterol
- low in fat - 1 g
- low in sugar - 2 g
- NO high fructose corn syrup !!!!!!
Oolong Tea
- It helps you burn more fat and that's always a good thing! :-)
- It helps in the reduction of tooth decay!
- It helps remove free radicals!
- Promotes healthy skin!
- Place tea bag in a cup
- Pour boiling water over the tea bag
- Brew for 3 minutes then remove tea bag
- Pour about 8 oz of water in a mug and microwave until water is boiling
- Place oolong tea bag in boiling water
- Brew for 3 minutes then remove tea bag
Banana-Mango smoothie for breakfast
- Pour the juice in the blender
- add the banana and yorgurt
- blend until you get a smooth texture
- pour into a tall glass and stir in your flax seed