This is another ingenious way of cooking cauliflower, if you ask me. They call it a healthier alternative to fries, and I will agree. Can you imagine a healthier alternative to fries? It was hard for me to, and I always thought this would be a lot of hype and would not deliver. But, I was wrong, and I’m glad I was wrong. Because these little beauties turned out gorgeous. They are so more-ish, its hard to stop eating them. Like you see in the picture below, I served these up with some skewered chicken (recipe to follow in the next post). It was super quick to put together and it was absolutely delicious. It needs very little prep work, so once you pop it in the oven, you can get on with other tasks you may have to complete.
It turns out, that these poppers can be served with some ketchup, but we loved them just the way they were and didn’t even bother with the ketchup.
If you haven’t tried these yet, I really think you should. I know that these baked poppers will make an appearance at my dinner table every now and then 🙂
Baked Cauliflower Poppers
1 head of cauliflower
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper corns, to taste
Preheat the oven to 190º – 200ºC.
Wash and dry the cauliflower and cut it up into florets. Try and maintain the same size to ensure even cooking.
In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower florets, olive oil, salt and pepper. Make sure the florets are evenly coated with the oil and seasoning.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and spread the cauliflower over it evenly.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes, stirring and turning the florets over every now and then, to make sure they don’t burn. I stirred them around every 8 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them and turn them as needed. You don’t want them to burn.
Once they’re nicely roasted, serve them up hot and enjoy.
This would be so much healthier than a bag of potato chips to snack on too.
Bread Pudding
Bread Pudding
12 slices of bread, if they’re a day or 2 old, its even better
500ml milk
5 eggs
150g sugar
Grated nutmeg or nutmeg powder, to taste
1-2 tbsp. butter
1/2 – 1 tsp. vanilla essence
Extra sugar for the layer of caramel
1/4 cup of raisins, or to taste (optional)
1/4 cup slivered almonds (optional)
Mix warm milk and sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Lightly beat up the eggs, vanilla and nutmeg and add to the cooled down milk mixture. Whisk in to mix well.
Chop up the bread roughly or simply tear the slices of bread into smaller pieces and soak it in the milk and eggs mix.
Add the raisins and stir a little to spread them through the mix.
Let it stand and soak in the liquid. In the meanwhile, you can make the caramel.
Make the caramel either straight on the baking tray, if you’re using a metal one or make it in a pot and pour into the baking dish to cover the base of it. I did the latter. Simply melt the sugar on low heat till it caramelises. Keep an eye on it as is can go from a beautiful caramel to severely burnt in moments.
When your happy with the colour of the caramel, drizzle it over the base of the baking tin while its still hot. As it starts to cool it wont spread around the base.
Note that when making the caramel, they say its better to swirl the pot rather and stir it. That’s how I’ve always done it and have never had any trouble with it.
Give the caramel a few minutes to set and then pour in the eggy – milky – bread mix. (I’m sure there’s a better term to use here 😉 but you get the message)
Sprinkle some of the slivered almonds on the top, you can also add some raisins to the topping if you wish.
Add a few knobs of butter on the top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160ºC for about 30-40 minutes.
Here’s what it looks like before baking; all assembled and ready to go into the oven.
This pudding can either be served warm or cold. Its just as good either way.
Baked Fish in Mushroom Sauce
Baked Fish in Mushroom Sauce
300g Basa fillets (You can use any fish fillets of your choice)
1 tbsp. butter
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp mixed dried herbs (I used an Italian mix)
2 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 cup milk
Salt, to taste
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp. Olive oil
1 tbsp. Parmesan Cheese (You can used a processed / Cheddar cheese if you prefer – I used a little of both)
Fresh coriander, finely chopped, to garnish (I left this out since I didn’t have any on hand)
Heat the butter in a pan. Add the mushrooms and salt and sauté on a medium flame till the liquid dries out.
Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes till its not floury and has cooked out.
Now lower the heat and add the milk and whisk well so that no lumps are formed.
Add the herbs and cook for a few minutes on low flame.
In a glass baking dish, drizzle a little olive oil to grease the base of the dish, place the fish and the garlic and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over it.
Pour the sauce over the fish and sprinkle the cheese over the sauce.
Sprinkle the fresh coriander over (if using) and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200ºC for 20-25 minutes.
Keep a close eye on it while it is in the oven, I think I should’ve taken my dish out of the oven a few minutes before. It browned a little more that I would have liked, however, it still tasted fantastic.
Blackcurrant Cheesecake
This cheesecake was requested for, by my brother. He had a friends birthday to attend and the birthday boy is a big fan of cheesecake, hence the request. This recipe is one I hadn’t tried before, so I literally had my fingers crossed while this was coming together. I actually made a second tiny cheesecake, so that we could taste it too.
The cheesecake was a complete hit. We at home loved it too, so I know for sure they weren’t just trying to be nice when they complemented it. I heard that at the party there was quite a scramble for it. There were a couple of pieces set aside to take to someone, but apparently a couple of the boys were found in the kitchen gobbling them down. All that was left were crumbs. Its always so nice to hear that. That’s what keeps me baking.
I followed the recipe I found on Easy Meal Planning for the cheesecake. I didn’t however, have the time to make the sauce for the topping. This cheesecake was originally supposed to be a Blueberry Cheesecake, but my brother who was supposed to pick up a tin for this specific purpose, picked up a tin of Blackcurrant pie filling instead. So we decided to use it anyway. Waste not! Want Not!
This cheesecake had to travel about an hour to its destination, so all I did was use the dull side of a knife to loosed the edges of the cheesecake after it had cooled completely. Then I placed a glass on the table and the cheesecake tin over it just to demould it completely. I simply picked the ring up again and then added the topping. I wrapped it all up nice and securely at the base and covered the top with some al-foil. It reached safe and sound.
Blackcurrant Cheesecake
Yields 1-8″ and a tiny 4″ one or 1 – 9″ cake
For the base
250g digestive biscuits, crushed
60g butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
You can either use the food processor and lightly crush the biscuits till it resembled coarse bread crumbs or you can use a rolling pin. I used the food processor to save time.
Tip the biscuit crumbs in a mixing bowl and add the melted butter. Stir till it is incorporated well and starts to look like wet sand.
Press this mixture into the bottom of a loose bottomed cake tin (you could also use a spring form pan if you have one) and let it come up the sides as well. How high you let it come depends on how you like your cheesecake crust. Avoid making the crust too thick where the base meets the sides.
Bake for 7-10 minutes till it has lightly browned.
While this is happening, you can start mixing your filling.
For the filling
250g cream cheese
450g cottage cheese
200g light brown sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp. lemon zest
Make sure the cream cheese and the cottage cheese is near room temperature and not chilled to get a nice, creamy texture.
Blitz the cottage cheese in a blender with some milk / cream till smooth and creamy. Do not over beat.
Beat together the cottage cheese, the cream cheese, sour cream and the sugar. Add the egg yolks and continue to beat. Add the zest and the vanilla essence and beat till it has been incorporated well into the mix.
Beat the egg whites till they hold soft peaks. Fold the beaten whites into the cream cheese mix.
Pour the mix into the baked biscuit shell.
Wrap a large piece of heavy duty aluminium foil around the base of the tin and up the sides. Place the tin in a roasting tray. Carefully, pour boiling water in the roasting pan till it reaches halfway up the side of the cake pan.
Carefully place the roasting pan in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out just clean.
Remove the foil from around the tin and let the cheesecake cool completely.
Now you can demould the cake and add the topping. I used a tin of black-currant pie filling/cheesecake topping.
(Note that the original recipe calls for 450g cream cheese and 250g cottage cheese. I had just about 250g cream cheese and the local store was out of cream cheese so I used the quantities above and still ended up with a cheesecake that had beautiful texture.)
Nana Braganza’s Beef Stew
Today I am going to share with you a wonderful recipe for which I can take absolutely no credit at all. Yup, you heard that right. This is a recipe that my husband remembers and has committed to memory from watching his mother and Nan cook. Can you believe that!!! I love him to pieces and its things like this that earn him extra brownie points. 🙂 I remember the first time he whipped up this beauty was a few years ago. I was out of town for a couple of weeks on work. I had a few things cooked up and kept in the fridge for him to just heat up and eat while I was away. I knew he was good with puddings, breakfast and the like, but wasn’t too sure if he’d manage mains for lunch and dinner. To my delight, when I got back from my trip, waiting for me was a pot of this beautiful fragrant stew. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. Long story short, we both loved it and from then on, each time we have this stew, my husband actually makes it himself.
This is such a simple recipe and it requires just a handful of ingredients. If you use a pressure cooker to cook your meat, its comes together faster, which is what I did. Unlike typical Indian food, this stew is not spicy but is beautifully flavored. You can serve this up with a couple of slices of hearty bread or croutons or even over steamed rice. I personally think it tastes better on the next day, so we always make a little extra to enjoy for even 2 to 3 meals.
Nana Braganza’s Beef Stew
1lb. beef, boneless (I use what we call undercut, very flavorful n tender, cooks up really fast, but you can use what you have on hand)
4-6 cloves
2″ cinnamon
8 pepper corns
Salt, to taste
Juice of half a lime
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 onions, finely chopped
2 potatoes, cut into small cubes
1-2 fresh green chillies, finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
3/4″ ginger, finely chopped or minced
1/2 cup of red wine
2-3 rashers of bacon, skin taken off and chopped into small pieces (optional, but yum)
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper powder
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
Cut the beef into 2-3 large pieces.
Sprinkle salt, lime juice and Worcestershire sauce over the meat. Add the cloves, cinnamon and pepper corns and toss well making sure the meat is marinated in this for about 10-15 minutes.
Pressure cook with a couple of cups of water till tender. I cooked it on low for 30 minutes after the first whistle. Let the pressure ease of on its own. Cut the beef into cubes. Reserve the stock.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the bacon. Let the bacon fry a little and release its fats. If you’re using bacon you may want to reduce the amount of oil a little. If your not using bacon, simply move on to the next step.
Add the chopped onions and chillies and saute them.
When the onions have softened a little, add the chopped ginger and garlic and continue sauteing.
After a minute or two add the potatoes and continue sauteing.
Add some pepper powder and stir.
When the onions have slightly started to brown, add the wine to deglaze and add the stock that the beef was cooked in with the whole spices.
Let it come to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
Add the meat and let it all heat through.
Check for seasoning and adjust if needed. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so. Once the flavors have fully developed, take it off the fire.
Serve hot.
This recipe has been linked to –
Show me you Plaid Mondays
Wonderful Food Wednesday
Back for Seconds
Wow Me Wednesday
Cast Party Wednesday
What’s Cookin Wednesday
Chef’s Day Off
SRC: Caramel Popcorn
To check out my previous SRC assignments, click here.
Anyway, on to this month’s assignment. This was the first time ever I’ve been assigned an Australian blog, actually, I think its probably the first time I’ve spent this much time on one. My assignment this month was Leigh’s Chit Chat Chomp. What a fun name! And what a beautiful blog. Hi Leigh! I really enjoyed looking through your blog space this month. Leigh is from Melbourne and loves travelling and food. Her travelogues are very interesting. Though I didn’t have the time to go through them all, with Easter prep and stuff, I’ve bookmarked them to read through later. I think I could plan a lovely trip to Australia with tips from this lovely blog. Go on and visit her! You’ll have fun!!! Not to mention you’ll be drooling over her lovely food clicks and recipes. It was fun having so many lovely options to choose from. Oh did I mention that Leigh has a little weekend catering venture that she runs. I have a more than a few recipes I want to try out and I’m sure once you head on over there you’ll be in the same boat with me 🙂
For my assignment this month, I was on the lookout for some feel good food. I just got back from a 3-day weekend trip to Panchgani. More on that later. But coming back to the city had me down with a severe case of the blues. So when I saw Leigh’s caramel popcorn, I knew I was going to make it. Popcorn and caramel – two of my favorite things in one. Its tried and tested comfort food that makes you feel better instantly. Who am I to disagree? Its simple and quick to put together and I enjoyed every bit of it. I halved the recipe this time around since I knew I’d have no problem polishing off the whole lot and didn’t want to be faced with that kind of temptation. And I was right to do so! What a treat this caramel popcorn is! I had to try really hard to keep myself from finishing it off. Lovely caramel flavor, with a tiny hint of honey! I’m so glad I now have a recipe like this in my arsenal. This will be perfect for parties and around Christmas!
Caramel Popcorn
40g popcorn kernels (I used a pack of Act II – classic salted)
1 tbsp butter
1/8 cup honey
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Cook the popcorn according to the manufacturers instructions.
For the caramel sauce, place the butter, honey and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir it till the butter melts down.
Turn up the heat to a medium and bring the mixture to a boil for 3-4 minutes or until it turns golden and has thickened.
Take off the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda and stir well to combine.
Pour the sauce over the popcorn, mix to coat the kernels well and spoon onto a lightly greased baking tray to set.
Break into pieces and serve.
Check out these little chunks of deliciousness!!!
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Cheese stuffed Whole Wheat Garlic Breadsticks
Week 6 of 12WOCT: Thin Mints
Nothing could be simpler than making these treats. But the end result is so satisfying. You get the subtle mintiness from the dark chocolate and the crunch from  the crackers and all in all, I think its a fantastic combination. I know I’ll be making these often.
Thin Mints
Makes a dozen
120-150g good quality dark chocolate
A few drops of peppermint extract (Its fairly strong, so start with a couple of drops and add gradually till you get the strength of flavor you’re looking for)
12 crackers (Ritz / Monaco)
Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler.
Add the peppermint extract and stir well. Taste and adjust flavoring if needed.
(Note: If you accidentally add too much extract, you can still salvage the chocolate, simply add more melted chocolate to the bowl and mix. This should dilute the flavor.)
Dip the crackers in the chocolate and lift up using a fork. Let the excess chocolate drip off.
Place on a sheet of parchment paper and refrigerate for about 20 minutes to set. Alternatively, you could also leave these to set at room temperature.
Enjoy your very own almost homemade Thin Mints.
Don’t forget to stop by and check out what the others have brought to the table for Week 6 of our 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats series, hosted by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic.
Week 5 of 12WOCT: Besan ke ladoo
Besan ke Ladoo
1 1/2 cup tightly packed Chickpea flour (besan)
3/4 cup ghee (clarified butter), melted
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Some raisins for topping
In a nonstick pan, over low heat melt the ghee and then tip in the chickpea flour (besan). Mix well and cook for about 7-8 minutes on low heat or till the mixture starts smelling nice and nutty. Keep stirring all the while so that it doesn’t burn.
Take off the heat and leave it to cool completely.
Add the sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well and let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes.
Divide into 24 portions and roll into small balls (ladoos). Place a raisin on top and this yummy treat is ready.
Note: If the dough feels too soft when shaping into balls, don’t worry. Shape them anyway and leave them to stand for about 15-20 minutes. The mixture should dry out a little during this time. Then re-shape them into balls and they should hold their shape now.
I placed them in little brown paper cups. You can then easily place them in little boxes to give them away.
Don’t forget to check what the others have put together for this weeks edition of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic.
Fish N Chips with Homemade Tartar Sauce
The results were amazing. I was astonished at how simple the entire meal was to put together. We were feasting on Fish N Chips in no time at all. Would I dare compare it with the one from Pop Tate’s. This time around, hell yeah! My version was just as good, if not better and my husband agrees. Now we no longer have to go out to tuck into a platter. Every single element on this plate can be made from scratch. Isn’t that wonderful.
Fish N Chips
Serves 2
For the fish:
4-6 fillets of fish depending on the size (I used 2 Premium Basa fillets from Hypercity and cut it into smaller pieces. You can use any fish you like, preferably not the tinier ones.)
I simply crumb fried these fillets. I used the same recipe like the one for Crumb Fried Prawns.
Try not to fidget with the fish while it is frying as it is fairly delicate. Once it develops a nice golden brown crust on one side, flip it over and let the other side cook.
For the chips:
Use 2 potatoes, more if you’d like a larger portion of chips. I used the recipe for my Homemade French Fries.
For the tartar sauce:
1/3 cup Mayonnaise (This time around I used some store bought Mayo, that I happened to have on hand, but you could just as easily whip up some on your own. Click here to find out how.)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
Some chives, chopped (I didn’t have any fresh chives at hand, so I used dried chives)
A spoon of Pickled Sweet Cucumber Relish (I had a jar of this so I used it, otherwise I would’ve just thrown in some finely chopped cucumber)
A large squirt of lime juice
Place all these ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix.
Check for seasoning and adjust the ingredients as required to suit your taste.
Keep refrigerated till you’re ready to serve. Stir before serving.
This recipe is linked to –
Real Food Wednesday
It’s a Keeper Thursday
Full Plate Thursday