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Caramelized carrots

6 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp sweet paprika *
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp vinegar **
salt to taste
1 tbsp minced parsley for garnish

* I used 1/2 tsp chillie powder
** I used apple cider vinegar

Combine everything except the vinegar, parsley and salt.
Cover and cook the combined ingredients over medium low heat for about about 12 to 15 minutes until carrots are lightly caramelized. Add the vinegar cook for a minute then remove from heat. Add salt, parsley and serve.
This recipe is from the book Cooking at the Kasbah.

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Pear jam, home preserving and Global food security

This is the time of the year when we all get excited about thinking of ideas to preserve the summer vegetables and fruits. The Complete book of home preserving has lots of ideas that will come handy. There are about 400 recipes and 48 colour photographs in the book.

The detailed instruction on the book is easy to understand and follow, which beginners will appreciate. It also answers questions the experienced canners may have. There is a produce guide and a glossary that explains everything we need to know from ingredients to canning equipment. The book is separated to seven chapters: getting started, soft spread, fabulous fruits, salsa relish chutney, condiments, perfect pickles, tomato and pressure canning.

When we preserve at home it is free from chemical additives and preservatives. This book gives directions on safe canning and preserving methods.

I think preserving food to have during off-season is lots of fun, which becomes useful when it isn't in season. I usually make jam with berries, chutney with tomato and pickle vegetables. These homemade goods make delicious gifts that family and friends appreciate.

I made about a cup of pear jam to have with puri.

2 ripe pears

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 star anise

Combine the peeled chopped pear with the sugar and lemon juice. Let it cook in low heat, you can cover the pan lightly so it will cook in its own liquid. Add the star anise towards the end when the pear get soft and has a jam consistency or it will have an overpowering taste.

I served the jam with puri. We finished the jam in a couple of days, so I am not sure how it will taste if it is kept for a long period of time in the fridge.

Amaretti cookies

Grace's sweet life is a book full of delicious homemade Italian dessert recipes written by Canadian blogger Grace Massa Langlois. Grace has an Italian background and has learned her cooking knowledge from her mom. With her children's support, she started sharing her love for food with the world.

All the basics are in the beginning of the book with tips and explanations. Grace has put in different types of variations that exist on the recipes. Some of the basics are pastry cream, chantilly cream, sweetened whipped cream, ricotta cream, Italian meringue, egg foam base for semifreddo and mousse, sweet pastry doughty, pie dough, croissants, hazelnut praline, puff pastry and choux pastry.

The pies and tart recipes in the book are presented beautifully. The pastries and fried desserts such as Sicilian cannoli, honey balls, profiteroles and many more are in a different section. The creams, custards, mousses and soufflés section is full of colourful desserts. Some desserts require gelatine. The recipes in the frozen and fruit desserts section will be enjoyed during this heat.

The book has delicious Italian cake and cheesecake recipes. Some cakes require the yeast for cake with vanilla (Lievito Vaniglinato) and liquor, so I couldn't try most of the cakes. I will be looking for the yeast soon :) I would have liked if there were suggestions of what ingredients we can be substitute to replace the liquor, as I don't use it.

The cute mini dessert section has six fabulous looking detailed recipes. I tried the soft amaretti cookies from the cookies and confections section. The recipe in the book makes six dozen cookies so I reduced the ingredients to make one third of the recipe.

Here is the original recipe from the book

3 eggs

1 1/3 cup superfine sugar (I pulsed granulated sugar)

4 1/2 cups less 1/2 tbsp almond meal (blanched almonds dried then finely ground)

confectioners sugar for rolling (I didn't do this part)

silver dragées for decorating (I didn't use this)

Separate the eggs in to two bowls. Let the egg yolk and egg white come to room temperature, leave it covered with plastic wrap for 1/2 hour before whisking.

With a whisk beat egg yolks then add the sugar and whisk until the sugar is combined. Add the ground almond meal and whisk till combined, don't over mix.

With a clean whisk beat the egg whites to barely a soft peak, this is very important don't overbeat.

Fold one third of the egg whites into the almond mixture then fold the rest and combine don't over mix.

Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for about 1 hour or overnight.

Bake in a preheated 325F oven on a baking mat. Roll the cookie dough into 1 tbsp balls. Roll the balls in icing sugar and place a sliver dragée if using in the center. Don't flatten the cookies. Bake 20 cookies per sheet for 25 to 30 minutes rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Place the baking mat on a wire rack and allow the cookies to cool for two minutes. Using a spatula transfer the cookies on to the wire rack to let it cool completely.

Almond cardamom whoopie pies

Almond cardamom whoopies

This Whoopie pie book is cute and written in a friendly manner. I like that the authors have placed the page numbers beside the recipes, which make it easy to access the recipes. The first whoopie pie I made are pumpkin whoopie pies, which is one of my favourite; I mostly make it during fall.
The introduction in this book is a must read as it will be useful to make whoopies.

Whoopies are soft, round shape cake/cookies that have a creamy filling. It is not quite a cake or a sandwich cookie. For me, it has a childhood taste of something that tastes similar to these yummy whoopies without the cream; I actually prefer without the cream :)
The book makes us go down our own childhood memory lane. It is definite that once you make or taste a whoopie pie it is very likely that you will enjoy it.

The cake or soft cookie part of the whoopie can be made a head of time and it can be frozen up to a month. Defrost 2 hours at room temperature before filling.
Most fillings such as buttercream stay in the fridge for up to a week. Bring to room temperature about an hour before filling. The marshmallow or whipped cream filling doesn't store well so use these right away. Assembled pies store in airtight container for up to 3 days. It can be individually wrapped and frozen up to one month.

There are lots of combinations that have been suggested and experimented in the book for us to try and get started. The book also has places where we can find hard to find ingredients, sources, places in USA where whoopies are sold and about the annual whoopie festival that is held in Pennsylvania.
This book is available online, amazon and at bookstores i.e. Chapters.

First, I tried the Classic chocolate whoopie recipe from the book, however I didn't like the strong baking soda taste in it. I am not sure if there is an error in the amount of baking soda. Although it looks good I prefer not to share the recipe as it wasn't tasty.

Then, I tried this pistachio cardamom whoopies by replacing the pistachio with almonds and it tasted fabulous. I didn't put any filling because we enjoyed the cake like cookies on its own. It had a beautiful aroma.

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (I replaced with rose water)
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup ground pistachio (or almonds, hazelnuts or macadamia nuts)

*can be replaced with a favourite spice i.e. cinnamon, ginger, ground spices
Sift flour, baking powder, cardamom, salt and leave it a side. Beat butter with the sugars until it is fluffy and smooth. Add the egg and beat well. Add vanilla or rose water and beat.
Add half of the flour mixture then buttermilk beat till incorporated. Add the rest of the flour and buttermilk beat till combined. Add the ground nuts and mix till combined.
Using an ice cream scoop (2 tbsp) drop the batter onto the baking sheet or wax paper 2" apart. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F until it is brown, I inserted a skewer to check. Leave the whoopies in the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring on to a rack to cool completely.

Giveaway on Createwithmom
The Smart Mother's guide to a better pregnancy book giveaway worldwide ends July 15th, please leave a comment on the post to enter.

Pasta with spinach, almonds and Nudo garlic flavoured oil

I had a good time at the Nudo olive oil taste testing event last week. I am very impressed by the taste of this delicious flavoured Nudo olive oil. One taste of this oil and you'll know how uniquely flavourful it is.

I tasted a few simple, healthy and delicious food preparations from the chef, Nicole Rumball at All the Best Fine Foods. I made this pasta dish at home, which is an adapted version of the orecchiette pasta the Chef served.

2 tbsp Nudo garlic flavoured olive oil
1/2 cup chopped spinach or collard
1/4 to 1/2 tsp chillie flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pasta uncooked

Cook the pasta according to package instructions.
Heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté the spinach or collard, then add the sliced almonds. Add the chillie and salt. Toss this to the cooked pasta, drizzle a tbsp of Nudo garlic flavoured oil and serve hot.
I found that we don't have to use a lot of this oil to get its flavour.

Nudo olive oil is unique in taste and is made differently compared to other extra virgin olive oil that is in the market. Nudo is an artisanal olive oil that is cold pressed by a small group of farmers in Loro Piceno La Marche, Italy. The olives are pressed within hours of picking so it is fresh with flavour. This high quality low acidity oil has high proportions of beneficial antioxidants.
I tried a few recipes with this oil and found it gives a delicious special flavour and taste that we really enjoyed. We like the aromatic smell of the flavour and the taste, which is prominent.

The flavoured Nudo oils are stone ground with the flavouring ingredients such as lemon, garlic, basil or Sicilian chillie. I really enjoyed tasting the flavoured oils at the event. I couldn't pick a favourite as all of the oils are delicious. I liked the spice in the chillie flavoured olive oil, the citrus flavour in the lemon Nudo olive oil, the taste of the flavourful herb in the basil olive oil and the delicious instant taste of garlic in the garlic flavoured oil.
When the olives are pressed with the flavouring ingredients it is more intense and has the real flavour it is supposed to have, unlike the infused oils in the market.
The production of Nudo olive oil is done in a small scale. All the ingredients are from Italy and most products are certified organic; soon all the products will be organic.
The oils are packaged in recycled tin containers, which are cute, eco friendly and preserves the quality of the oil compared to glass bottles. The flavoured oils are in 250ml containers and the cold pressed extra virgin oil is in 500ml.

Nudo olive oil is available at All the Best Fine Foods *, online and at these retailers from many parts of the world.

Olive grove Image from Nudo site

Check out Dolce Vita diaries to see delicious recipes from the owners of Nudo, Jason Gibb and Cathy Rogers. With the initiative of making consumers from all over the world feel closer to their food Nudo has an adopt a tree program. We can adopt a tree from the olive groves and receive information, photos and oil from the tree two times a year. This program provides consistent reliable payment at a fair price to the small scale farmers without depending on harvest. This advance commitment to tend their trees organically helps the labour intensive work of the farmers, as they make this healthy oil with passion for tradition and love for the real olive oil.

*All the Best Fine Foods is a speciality gourmet food store located at 1101 Yonge Street, Toronto. Jane Rodmell the author of All the best recipes is the founder of this speciality store. The store has lots of high quality, new, exclusive food that is fresh and frozen. They have an artisanal cheese room, gourmet food, different types of mayonnaise, mustards, pastas, preserves, coffee, cakes, oils, gift baskets and lots more.

All the Best Fine Foods sells seasonal soups, freshly prepared sandwiches, salads, side dishes, vegetarian specialties, casseroles that would be good to serve at the cottage, picnics, backyard, dinning etc. There are no chemical, additives or preservatives in their food. They also service catering and event planning services. It is a destination for people who enjoy high quality natural food that is from local farms.

Basic Chiffon cake from Tartine

I enjoyed looking through and following the recipes of the book, Tartine by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson. The authors of this book, as many of you know are chefs and bakery owners of Tartine in San Francisco. They use fresh seasonal ingredients in their recipes. The recipes in the book are detailed and the ingredients are reduced for home use. It is easy to follow so we can make bakery style croissants, fruit tarts and tender cakes at home.

I like the black and white images and the colourful pictures in the book. The vivid details in the introduction and other chapters of the book were interesting to read. If I visit San Francisco, I would want to taste the fresh baked pastries and goodies from Tartine bakery after reading this book :)

There are few tips and suggestions throughout the book such as leave the peel and sometimes the seeds i.e. cherry and apricot to enhance flavours in the baked goods. Leaving the apricot pit will make the desserts have an amaretto liqueur taste.

I tried a few recipes from the book, which turned out well. I am looking forward to make the quiche, chocolate cake and ginger pudding soon. There are lots more recipes such as how to make croissants, puff pastries, brioche and more.

Here is the recipe for the basic chiffon cake from the book Tartine.

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 egg yolks (1/2 cup)
3/4 cup water
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest grated
10 egg whites (1 1/3 cups)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice
egg whites at room temperature

Sift the flour and baking powder. Then whisk the 1 1/4 cups sugar and salt to the flour.
In a small bowl whisk oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest.
Make a well in the flour mixture, add the yolk mixture and whisk thoroughly and quickly for about 1 minute until it is smooth.
Beat the egg whites until it is frothy. Add the cream of tartar or lemon juice and beat until the whites hold soft peaks. Add the 1/4 cup sugar and beat on medium high speed until the whites are firm and have shiny peaks.
Add 1/3 of the beat egg whites to the yolk mixture and then fold it in gently to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining whites until combined.
Line the bottom of a 10" springform pan with 3" sides using a parchment paper cut to fit exactly. Don't grease the sides of the pan. Pour the batter into the pan smooth the top and bake in a 325F preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes until the skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on top of a wire rack. Unmould the cake and then peel off the parchment.
The cake keeps well wrapped in the fridge for 4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

This goes to cake recipes event.

Pomegranate orange juice

1 pomegranate

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

sugar to taste

2 tsp orange flower water

fresh mint sprigs for garnish optional

Remove the seeds from the pomegranate without the white pith. In a blender puree the pomegranate with the water, then strain using a fine sieve. Press the puree to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a container and add the orange juice, sugar and orange flower water. Serve with ice cubes and garnish with mint sprig.

This refreshing drink Pomegranate orange juice (Hassir roman b'limmoun) is from Cooking at the Kasbah.

This recipes goes to Sara's Event Cooking with Love Series hosted at Torviewtoronto"

Mango chutney

2 mangos cubed without peel
1 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white vinegar
1 tsp mustard seeds* slightly crushed

* I used a combination of black and brown mustard seeds.
Combine everything and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour until it gets to a thick consistency like jam, stir often.
Serve hot with rice and flatbreads or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

This recipe is from the book, The Vegetarian Kitchen Table Cookbook by Igor Brotto and Oliver Guiriec. I tried a few recipes from the 275 recipes included in this book, as I found it easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to find.
I like the variety of dishes they have included in this book. It is separated into appetizers, salads, light bites, soups, main dishes, sides, basics and condiments and desserts. The selections of recipes are not specified to any type of cuisine.
There are many dishes with a variety of flavours and combinations that we can make for any occasion. The book has a few pictures of the dishes. It is a useful book for beginners and the experienced cooks. This book is available online i.e. Amazon and at bookstores i.e. Chapters/Indigo.

This recipe goes to only series mango at Anu's site, Mango mania 99, dish name starts with M

Cooking at the Kasbah: Red bell pepper and garlic confit

Morocco and Andalusian culture fascinates me and I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Cooking at the Kasbah by Kitty Morse. This book reflects the beautiful culture and tradition of Al Maghreb Al Aksa (the land where the sun sets). It starts off with the colonial history of Morocco, which influences its culture and cuisine.

Kitty mentions that the art of making ouarka the paper thin dough for b'stila originated in Morocco. Couscous is the staple diet of Morocco and mint tea traditions also started there.

Cabbage salad

2 cups any type of cabbage sliced

boiling hot water

Slice the cabbage and keep in boiling hot water for 5 minutes, then drain and add the ingredients.

1 tbsp onion

1/4 cup carrots grated or sliced

1/4 cup vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt to taste

1/2 tsp chillie powder to preference

Mix everything and leave in the fridge for an 1 hour before serving.

Inspired by the book Street food from around the world and goes to souper sundays and cookbook sundays.

Cardamom pastries

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cardamom ground

4 oz butter melted or sunflower oil

4 oz milk boil and cool

oil to fry

icing sugar garnish

Mix the flour, baking powder and cardamom. Then add butter or oil and make like a crumble. Pour milk and knead till the dough is smooth. Make walnut size balls. Then roll into a 3" log and shape it into a crescent.

Heat oil and deep fry till it is golden brown. Drain and toss the fried pastries in icing sugar.

This Al salooq is adapted from the book The middle eastern kitchen by Ghillie Basan.

Chocolate beet cake

1 1/3 cups self rising flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups sugar

9 oz beets cooked and pureed

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup oil

icing

1/4 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp beet juice

Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, then stir the sugar.

Puree the cooked beets in a blender and remove the juices with a strainer. Leave the juice aside for the icing. Add the beet pulp, eggs, vanilla, oil and blend in a blender till it doubles in volume. Pour the beet mixture to the dry ingredients by gently folding with a spatula.

Pour the batter into an oiled and lined 9" baking pan and bake at 350F for 40 to 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. If the cake starts to brown too much on the edges cover the top with an aluminum foil by making a large hole in the centre to let the steam out.

Remove the pan from the oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes in the pan. Then leave the cake in a rack to cool completely before putting icing.

Make a thick icing and spread it over the cake by letting it to drizzle down the sides of the cake.

This soft delicious cake recipe is adapted from the book Bake and decorate and goes to the New u event, ABC series dessert and cooking concept chocolate fest.

Oats and dry fruit cookies

Happy new year to all my readers!

Thank you for following me, leaving lovely comments, and for supporting and encouraging me to share a part of my life with you.

Oats and dry fruit cookies

3/4 cup oats ground to a fine flour consistency in a food processor

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup dried fruits raisins, apricot and dates

Combine all the dry ingredients. Beat butter and sugar, then add egg and beat till it is creamy. Combine the dry ingredients and mix the dried fruits with a wooden spoon.

Makes about 24 cookies. Drop with a tablespoon or grease the hands then make balls and press flat lightly. Bake on a waxed cookie sheet at 325F for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the tray. Cool completely and serve.

This recipe is adapted from the cookie book by Jill Snider.

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