Cake House

M angoes are the hot favorites now and from so long I was thinking of making this mango cheesecake and this occasion was right and special to me, as my little one loves mangoes and it was her birthday. This is a cake which can be made easily and is so creamy and melts in mouth. The smooth, silky and texture of the cheesecake will be loved by all. In this recipe, instead of gelatin we can also use agar agar / China grass. In this hot weather, this chilled cheesecake is so refreshing to have. You can make this two days prior to the day you want to serve the cake. It should set well. I made this on the previous day of my little one’s birthday and had to cut the cake without completely setting. Though it turned out to be amazing on the second day. Ingredients: Mango pieces- 1 cup Cream cheese- 250gms Amul cream- 150ml Sugar- ½ Cup Gelatin- 1 tsp For base: Marie biscuits- 1 packet Butter (melted)- ¼ cup Method: Add gelatin to hot water and stir till it completely dissolves. Crush the marie ...

I know I was absent for so long as I was enjoying my vacations with my parents and inlaws. During this time, I ate whatever I wanted without any restrictions (from my husband who was in Bangalore). Whatever food we make, it wont come up to the mark when compared with Mom’s food, something we always be craving for. Today I am going to introduce a new recipe (new to me) called blondies. I accidently came across this recipe, when I was searching for something else in “Laura in the kitchen” blog. In that recipe, the blondies are made with white chocolate chips, as I didn’t have them I tried with dark chocolate chips and the result was too good. We can make this in advance and pack this as gifts or for any parties, or as a snack for kids. These are hard to resist when they are made perfectly. This chewy, flavor rich blondies makes a perfect dessert. This is so quick and easy dish, that I made this so many times. Mixing all the ingredients and throwing in the oven and at last an aromatic des...

Potatoes, mushrooms, shallots, parsley and a coulis from red paprika's Slice 2 potatoes and boil them in salted water for 5 mins. Then fry them with some finely chopped garlic in one pan, the 4 thickly sliced (big) mushrooms in another pan. Dry the mushrooms on kitchen paper. Use the same pan to fry some chopped shallots and parsley. The coulis we had in the fridge, made from bell peppers that first have been blackened under the grill, then after the skin was taken of, liquidised in the blender. Serve as shown A circle of potatoes The mushrooms on top of them Followed by the shallots and parsley Topped by the coulis Toast with guacamole and smoked salmon Potato, sardines, courgette Use an apple corer to create 6 cylinders from 2 small potatoes. Cut off the skinned ends and boil them in salted water for about 6 mins. In the meantime slice lenghtwise 2 small courgettes. Grill them in an oiled griddlepan, about 4 mins on each side. Add the potatoes. Replace the courgettes with sa...

Sometimes you do not want to go out shopping. Today I found a nice saithe fillet  (any firm fish will do) in the freezer. Rick Stein supplied an easy recipe, but we decided to fry the potatoes, forget the olives and to cook it all on the hob and not in the oven. This is what we found in fridge, larder and garden:   2 new potatoes 8 cherry tomatoes 3 sundried tomatoes 3 anchovies sliced in long strips Capers Fresh parsley and coriander Rosemary                                                                          Cut the potatoes in wegdes and boil them in salted water for 10 mins. In the meantime do the cutting and ...

Slice half a shallot finely, soften in some butter. Add some white wine and boil till almost evaporated and syrupy. Add some cream and reduce till you have a thick sauce. Use this to mix with the vegatables later For the meatsauce I took 3 cubes of chickenstock we froze earlier, added a tsp of honey and a tsp of thyme leaves and reduced till syrupy. Grill the chops in a very hot griddlepan, we like them pink, so about 3 mins on each side. In the meantime boil the asparagus 2 mins, then add the broadbeans and cook for another minute. Done!

Our fishmonger showed us nice big sea-trout fillets, skin on. Back home we turned to Rick Stein to see what to make of it. We decided on two preparations: Japanese fishcakes made from the tail part, with ginger and spring onions and fry the thicker part wth a soy, ginger and chili glaze Sea-trout: 2 big or 2 small fillets Ginger root: 4 cm, very finely chopped Spring onions: 1, finely chopped Chestnut mushrooms: 4 (2 finely chopped, the rest thickly sliced) Garlic: 1 clove finely chopped Chilli: 1 small, finely chopped Egg Soysauce Balsamic vinegar Sesame oil Caster sugar Coriander: some sprigs Salad: for instance 4 green asparagus and rocket Cut the fillets in half. Put the top, thicker halves aside and start with the tails and remove the skin. Pinbone them if necessary. Cut them lengthways into long, thin strips. Then cut across into very small cubes. Too small and you end up with pate, too big and it won't hold together. Put the cubes in a bowl and mix with half the gi...

  A recipe we found in The Guardian by Yotam Ottolenghi Normally we do use mackerel, but today we made it with sea bass.   If you don't have any sorrel in your garden or                       growing wild nearby, you'll be hard pushed to get hold it, so it's well worth ordering some in advance from a   greengrocer. It's wonderfully sharp, in a non-citrussy kind of way, and goes well with anything nutty. If you can't get hold of any, just up the quantity of parsley in the pesto and add a bit more vinegar. Serves four!     3 large courgettes (700g) 3½ tbsp olive oil Salt and black pepper 2 tbsp lemon juice 8 small or 4 large mackerel fillets, pinboned 25g rocket leaves For the pesto 75g sorrel 15g parsley 50g pistachios 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1 tsp cider vinegar ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp honey 3 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp olive  Put all the i...

S orry all for my absence from blogging for 2 weeks as I was busy with some personal work. I am back now with a very popular North Indian dessert called Phirni. Phirni is also known as rice pudding. Phirni can be made according to one’s taste. I have made so many dishes out of strawberries, so when my friend bought some, I thought of making phirni out of it.I usually make phirni, as it is easy to make. I thought of adding some strawberries for a unique taste. The red luscious pieces of strawberries is a feast to the eyes. My mom used to make this, refrigerated and used to serve this when we came back from school. So when I am here for vacations I thought of making this by adding some strawberries and my mom loved this new twist. Adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor Ingredients: Strawberries- 8 nos Rice- 4 tbsp Milk- 2 cups Sugar- ½ cup (As required) Cardamom Powder- 1 tsp Pistachios (blanched)- 9-10 nos Method: Cut the strawberries and keep it aside. Soak rice for an hour and grind it to a fine...

    Tinned mackerel pate with quick-pickled onions      A recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall     120-125g can mackerel fillets in oil, or similar canned oily fish fillets     1 tsp English mustard     1 tbsp creme fraiche     Pinch of cayenne pepper     Lemon juice     Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dark brown bread, to serve      For the quick-pickled onion      1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped      1 large pinch caster sugar      2 tsp cider vinegar      2 tbsp finely chopped dill or parsley      Prepare the onion first: put it in a bowl, sprinkle over a good pinch each of salt and sugar and a grinding of pepper and toss. Leave for 10 minutes to soften (if the onion releases a lot of liquid, ...

Zuchini, pecorino and...honey Slice the zuchini, grill in a hot griddlepan, s erve with grated pecorino cheese, d rizzle with honey           Mushrooms, shallots, blue cheese     Slice the mushrooms, not too thin and the shallots. Fry in a little butter till just           browned. Put on the beard, cover with blue cheese and put under a hot grill till the cheese     has melted.          Tomato, cheese and coppa     Slice diaginally a French baguette. Put on sliced, if possible, black tomato, then some     cheese. In the meantime fry some thinly sliced coppa or pancetta in a dry pan. Dry on        kitchen  paper. Put on top of the cheese     Mushrooms stuffed with broadbeans, crispy pancetta and blue cheese     Brown the mushrooms in s...

Sea trouts: 2 Butter Pancetta (or bacon): a few slices Chestnut mushrooms: 12 in thick slices Garlic: 1 clove, finely chopped Parsley: 2 tbsp, chopped Flour: 25 gr Lemon: 1 or 2 Another recipe from Rick Stein. Start with the fish. Remove the heads, then using the tip of a very sharp thin knife start getting the top fillet away from the bones till 2,5 cm from the tail. Turn the fish over and repeat with the other fillet. Snip off the bone with scissors just before the tail (that will keep the two halves together. Fry the garlic in some butter till they just start browning. Add about half of  the mushrooms and 1 tbsp parsley and fry another minute. Take out to cool a bit. Put the pancetta in the pan till nice and crisp. Put the stuffing on the lower fillets and cover with the pancetta. Then cover with the top fillet and use string to tie around the fish Dust the fish lightly with plain flour and fry about 3 minutes in some oil, without moving them Warm the plates in t...