Cake House

A simplfied recipe by Ash Mair. Buy a whole guinea fowl in order to have the carcass as well, to make a nice stock that then can be used for a tasty sauce. Buy a pigs trotter as well. Do this the day before. Remove the breasts and the legs. Put the rest with the pigs trotter in an ovendish and almost burn it at 300C (about 15 mins). In the meantime brown 2 sliced carrots, 1 garlic colve and a bay leaf in some olive oil. Add 50 ml fino sherry and 50 ml port and reduce till the liquid becomes sticky. Add 1 liter of chicken stock, 2 onions cut in half (incl the skin!), one or two tomatoes, some thyme, a bayleaf, 8 crushed black peppercorns, 2 celerystalks incl the leafs, a tbsp tomato paste. Add the carcass and pigs trotter and bring to the boil, then simmer for at least half a day. The next day take out the vegetables and meat and strain the liquid trough a fine sieve. Then reduce till you end up with a nice thick sauce. Discard the vegetables, give the meat from the trotter do ...

Olive Oil and Herb Drop Biscuits It seems like every time it snows here in the Northeast, I get this urge to make something homey and comforting. Yesterday was no exception. We had a really pretty snowfall. Just enough to make every surface bright and glittery like a Christmas card. I made a big pot of this  soup and whipped up these super easy biscuits. When I tell you super easy...truly...they could not be easier.   Olive Oil and Herb Drop Biscuits 1 C. buttermilk or 1 C. milk + 1 t. cider vinegar 1 C. whole wheat flour 1 C. cake flour 2 T. golden flaxseed meal (optional) 1/4 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 1/8 t. freshly ground black pepper 1 T. Parmesan, grated 1 T. finely chopped fresh herbs 2 T. cold butter, cut into small cubes 2 T. extra virgin olive oil Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. If you do not have buttermilk, combine the milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the f...

Potato Soup with Caramelized Tipsy Onions I love the flavor of caramelized onions. It's deep, sweet and tasty! And these onions are happy...they've been doused with some port wine! I think I made up this potato soup just to have some kind of a stage for the onions! Don't get me wrong, the soup is delicious, but I think the onions make it really special. Experiment with your favorites. If you don't like onions, try topping this soup with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, a pesto of fresh herbs or crumbled bits of bacon. Serve this with a hearty bread or some biscuits and it's a great winter meal. Potato Soup with Caramelized Tipsy Onions 2 T. olive oil, divided 3 medium onions, one chopped and two cut in half and sliced 2 - 3 stalks celery, sliced 4 sprigs sage, tied with string 2 bay leaves 1 clove garlic, chopped 6 C. chicken or vegetable stock 4 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed 1 T. butter pinch of sugar leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme 1/2 C. port wine 1/2 C. c...

Pumpkin Scone with Spiced Glaze Everyone has their own strategy for handling all of the Thanksgiving gluttony. Some of us may think that skipping breakfast and lunch and diving into the festivities with reckless abandon is our best bet. Not so! The good news is that you shouldn't starve all day.  It will just lead to even more overeating later. You may be able to skip lunch, after all, so many of us eat an early dinner on Thanksgiving, but a good breakfast will serve you well! These pumpkin scones are a great option for Thanksgiving morning! They are special enough to feel like a treat, but with some tricks, they are a much lighter version of regular scones. I use about fifty percent less butter than most scone recipes, half of the flour is whole wheat and they still taste like coffee house scones! So, treat yourself on Thanksgiving morning, guiltlessly, and enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner and time with your family. Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin Scones 1 C. whole wheat flour 1 C...

M y kid is a huge fan of Cbeebies channel. She already knows each and every programme and at what time it comes. One after the other she tells about  each and every programme. Like that one day when I was giving her lunch, I saw the programme called “ I can Cook”. In that, you all might know, kids will be cooking easy dishes and my kid loves this programme a lot. I saw this dish which was very easy to make and looks very cute. My little one was asking me how it will taste and all. So I thought of giving it a try and made it with the help of my kid. These savory bites are so delicious and are very easy to make. Addition of butter, cheese and milk will make this more healthy and nutritious for kids. The herb used in this is dried thyme, which gives a unique taste and a scintillating aroma to the dish. We can sprinkle some sesame seeds on top while baking, but I like it this way - plain and simple. Ingredients: All Purpose Flour / Maida- 100 gms Butter- 25gms Milk- 4 tbsp Cheese- 4 tb...

Virtuously Sinful Fudge Cookies These are the naughtiest tasting cookies you'll ever not feel guilty about eating!  They are made with no butter or eggs.  They puff up into chocolate domes in the oven, then flatten out while cooling to turn into the most satisfying cookie; chewy interior with a thin veil of crispiness on the outside.  They couldn't be more simple to make either.  Mix it all up in one bowl, without need of a mixer! Virtuously Sinful Fudge Cookies 1 C. all purpose flour 1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 t. baking soda 1/4 t. salt 4 T. canola oil 1/2 C. granulated sugar 1/4 C. dark brown sugar, packed 1/3 C. low fat vanilla yogurt Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and add the canola oil, both sugars and yogurt. Using a sturdy spoon, stir to combine the wet and dry ingredients, but do not overwork it. Dro...

Roasted Vegetable Curry This recipe is based off of a recipe given to me by my sister's neighbor, John. His version is a Chicken Curry and it's fabulous! I begged for the recipe after eating it at my sister's house. He was kind enough to give it to me with a bottle of the curry that he likes to use. The flavors are so great, I knew it had to be good with vegetables too...and it is! I may have mentioned this before, but if you think you don't like curry, please try this! My husband has always said that he doesn't like curry and this is now one of his favorites! The curry seems to be balanced by the coconut milk in this recipe and I think that may be why he likes it so much.  You can certainly use any vegetables you want. The ones I've listed in the recipe are just some that I had in the fridge, but make it your own and add your favorites. This curry is so simple. The hardest part may be chopping up the vegetables. Just put on some great music, maybe pour a glass ...

Foul Medames with Fried Egg My Armenian family all grew up in Egypt.  They came to the United States a few years before I was born, so we ate quite "globally."  There was certainly a lot of Egyptian influence in our home.  One of my Dad's favorite breakfast dishes was foul (pronounced fool ).  I like it for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Foul Medames are Egyptian fava beans (apparently, broad beans here in the United States, but I think we all refer to them as fava beans).  You can find them in any Middle Eastern grocery store, dried or canned. I like to use the canned.  They are just more convenient.  If you don't have access to a Middle Eastern grocer, I've seen canned fava beans in my local grocery store.  You'll have to experiment with different brands.  Some of the grocery store brands have a tougher outer skin that is not as appealing. In making foul, the beans are simmered a bit, mashed just a little, and traditionally served with a hard ...

Sesame Almond Biscotti Thins Last spring, my friend and I decided we'd start sketching outdoors from time to time. We live in a really beautiful area near a river with lots of great spots to set up, relax and draw. One sunny day, we met in a shady spot near the water with our bagged lunches and our sketchbooks. I had stuck a package of Almondina cookies in my bag for "dessert." As we sat, and talked and drew and nibbled and talked and nibbled and nibbled, I realized we'd polished off the entire package (not hard to do!). They are crazy delicious! Almondina are super thin, crunchy biscotti-like cookies chock full of nuts, seeds and fruit. Paired with a hot cup of coffee or tea, they become complete. As delicious as they taste, they are quite a guilt free cookie - except for when you eat twelve of them at once! They are made with whole wheat flour, barley flour, egg whites, no added fat and they are low in sugar. I had saved the package of my Almondina cookies and using...

I ts time to celebrate. It is my blog’s 2nd anniversary and also Diwali. I cannot believe that its been 2 years that I started my small space. Thank you all for your support and encouragement. The diya was made by my little one at school Coming to the festival  Diwali, the festival of lights is here and everyone is busy buying crackers, diyas and most importantly sweets. Almost all the sweet stalls are filled with people buying sweets for friends and family. Since I grew up in Andhra, I enjoy the colours of diwali, lights, crackers and so on. Now as all are busy making sweets, I thought of making some for my little one as she is very fond of sweets and if the sweets are homemade, that will be very natural and healthy. I have made two varieties of burfis. One is almond and the other one is chocolate burfi. I only had plan of making almond burfi, but as I was going through my old cookery book, I came across this chocolate fudge which is very easy to make and can be made within minut...

Kale and Pear Salad This salad is kind of a nutritional overachiever. There are so many super-foods incorporated in it, but they are not all there just for the health of it! They all add flavors that compliment each other. It really is a delicious salad, but honestly, it just makes me feel so good that I've had a super healthy lunch. In fact, while photographing, I felt the  need to perform some "quality control" and couldn't stop myself (see photo below). At that point, I just hoped I'd gotten enough photos that I'd be able to use! Let me just tell you about some of the powerhouse ingredients in this salad. We've all heard a lot about kale lately. It is one of the most nutrient dense foods. It's incredibly high in Vitamins K, A and C, fiber and antioxidants. It can lower cholesterol, reduce your risk of some cancers and can detox our bodies if eaten regularly. Honestly, there are so many health benefits to eating kale, you can read more about it at  W...

Slice 1 small onion and 4 small leeks. Peel 2 small potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Sweat onion and leeks in 25 gr butter. Add potatoes and 3/4 liter chicken stock. Boil softly for 20 mins. Add a good glug of cream. Blitz. Taste. Add water if too thick. Taste. Add pepper and salt to ones liking. Serve lukewarm with slivers of smoked salmon

Blueberry Banana Muffins I've attempted to bake low fat, lower sugar, healthy muffins more times than I'd ever be able to count. I've got to tell you, they've all been pretty terrible. The texture always seems kind of weird, they tend to be dry, rubbery and they lacked taste. These were a huge surprise for me...for a few reasons. First, when I initially tasted them, kind of warm...out of the oven, I thought they were sort of dry. Disappointed again. They sat on the counter until completely cooled when my daughter came in from school. As soon as she tried one she commented on how moist it was! I just thought she was being nice. Then my husband tried one and said the same. What? I had to have another! It was moist. Really moist! My next surprise came when I went to type out the recipe from my notes. I thought I had put three tablespoons of oil in them, but my daughter said I told her there was no added fat. So, I broke out the muffin tins and started all over again. I p...

The day the power came back...thank goodness! My Dad always seemed to find humor in my love of complaining.  Apparently, I've got a reputation for it.  With a smirk on his face, he’d ask me how this went or that went just to hear my detailed and over-dramatic stories.  He’d laugh whole-heartedly through all of my expletives.  Honestly, sometimes I played it up just to hear that laugh.   For the past week, I’ve thought of all of the complaining I  could do once I got back online. Hurricane Sandy flew through our small part of the world, destroying property and lives.  I’ve never seen or heard anything more frightening or powerful. My family and our neighbors were without power for nine very cold days.  I’d have to say that dealing with the cold was one of the most difficult parts. Yet, knowing what others have lost, I really cannot complain.   Sitting at my desk now in my warmed-up home, I just want to focus on the good that came from this ho...

Start with the sauce. Fresh orange juice is nice, but a good quality bottle can do the trick. Grate 1 cm of fresh ginger. Boil 1/2 liter in a saucepan with the ginger and 2 tbsp caster sugar till more then half has evaporated. Add 1/2 liter of chicken stock and reduce till thick and almost sticky. Cut through the fat (not the meat!) of a duck-breast in diagonal lines, 1 cm apart. Repeat that crosswise. Heat a saucepan , dry, and put the breast fatside down in the pan on a medium heat. The fat should brown and become crispy but not burn. This will take 12 mins. . Pour away the fat that melts from time to time. Then turn the breast around and brown for another 4 mins. Drain on kitchenpaper and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm in alufoil and rest for 10 mins to avoid the blood coming out after slicing. The meat should be still reddish. Warm the sauce. I served it with some gratin dauphinois we still had in the freezer and some carrots, peas and beetroot. Sliced the duck and decorate...