Eggless Tutti Frooti Panettone | DB December 2011

Absolutely loved this Challenge!! I have always wanted to make Panettone but was put off by the idea of so many eggs in the dough. But the fact that the Daring Bakers decided to make this lovely holiday bread encouraged me to think of ways of making an eggless version of the same. Just back for a a long vacation I set to work on the recipe and find ways of eliminating eggs from the recipe. After several permutations I managed to replace the eggs with either milk or a mix of water and flax meal. But then I realised that this bread uses a lot of butter too. I decided reduce the butter by half in the recipe, and then replacing half of that with oil.

Daring Cooks February 2012: Potato Rosti

This is a Challenge I could do any day!! We love Patties and I make so many kinds so often I have lost count of them!! Burgers, Cutlets, Tikkis, Vadas, all kinds of vegetarian and vegan versions have been made in my kitchen from time to time. Wish I had as much time to actually sit and blog each and every one of them!!

Daring Cooks December 2011: Asian Style Spicy Filled Buns

Wonderful challenge which I was delighted to complete. My version was of course vegetarian, where I substituted the egg in the dough with an appropriate amount of buttermilk, and we loved the results. Not able to upload photos as am on the road. Am back at my desk and here are the photographs of this challenge. I did this challenge twice. The first time I used all purpose flour and the second a combination of all purpose and whole wheat flour. The second time the buns came out much better!!

Daring Cooks November 2011: An Apple Tea Cake (Eggless)

The Daring Cooks November 2011 challenge was to create a delicious food recipe using tea! Yes, tea! As anyone who reads my blog will know, tea is my favorite beverage. I enjoy it black, milky with sugar, with spices, green, white, herbal, hot and cold!!

Daring Cooks October 2011: Moo Shu Tofu with Hoisin Sauce

Looks like chappati - bhaji right!! I too was surprised to discover that October 2011 Daring Cooks Challenge was a Chinese recipe that closely resembled and Indian dinner platter or a snack popularly called a frankie roll!! Though I was aware of varying types of Chinese, breads, including pancakes, these Mandarin Pancakes came as a big surprise to me. When I got the dough together for them, I found myself looking at chappati dough and not traditional pancake batter. The rolling and cooking process was similar too!! And they did taste wonderful.

Daring Cooks September 2011: Herbed Consomme with Spicy Tomato Brioche

The September 2011 Challenge to the Daring Cooks was to create a delicious consomme and serve it up with some brioche!! Loved it. I make soup really often at home and there is always a batch of vegetable based vegetarian soup stock in my refrigerator!!

Oven-Baked Spiced Savoury Canape Cups

For the Daring Cooks April 2011 Challenge, I made some edible containers well suited to Indian-style savoury canapes. Inspired by Chaat-Papdi, Dahi-Puri, and Raj Kachoris, I made a hybrid savoury container that can hold all your favourite chaat fillings! And its not deep fried!! Indeed, instead of frying, I baked these delicious cups in the oven to get a crisp biscuity finish that is perfect in both taste and crunch.

Daring Cooks March 2011: Filled Potato Patties from Peru

The Daring Cooks March 2011 challenge was wonderful - filled potato patties from Peru. Even though I am really pressed for time these days, I knew I just had to make this particular recipe, albeit with some modifications to suit our tastes!! Details of the filling to follow.

Daring Cooks February 2011: Hiyashi Soba and Tempura

This was a great challenge. I made both the noodles and the tempura. Though I was wondering if the sauce would work for the noodle, I found that it was a wonderful accompaniment to the soba noodle. The tempura was super - though I made a eggless version of the same. Thanks Lisa for a great challenge.

Post Script: The February 2011 Darin Cooks' Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com

Click here for the details of the complete Daring Cooks February 2011 Challenge.

All content, text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2011. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Daring Cooks December 2010: Homemade Sundried Tomato and Pine Nut Seitan Sausages

The vegetarian sausage recipe is superb - loved this challenge. Will pen in details of my alterations as time permits:) Thanks Jenn and Jill for this wonderful Daring Cooks Challenge.

Post Script: Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

All content, text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2011. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Daring Cooks: Spicy Bean, Walnut, and Sun Dried Tomato Pate with Honey Wheat Bread

Pate and bread!! Perfect combination that always reminds me of Michaelmas in London. Brightly lit streets, exotic foods in creatively decorated containers, and loads of colour and warmth all around. Pate is in-season and and so are herbed crackers that go with it. Then again pates remind me of summer in England - they make a wonderful addition to any picnic basket - whether you plan to watch the boat races or head off to the Wimbledon Greens for a day out!!

Daring Cooks Challenge: Spicy Green Chile, Two Bean, and Zucchini Enchilada Bake

Spicy Enchiladas are always a welcome treat and home made ones do taste the best!! Barbara and Bunnee gave us a fabulous May 2010 Daring Cooks Challenge. My version of this recipe included the home made corn tortillas, a green chile sauce, two bean and zucchini filling mix, and grated basil-tomato cheese! For the Green Chile Sauce, I broiled the chiles and the tomatillos in the oven but added no onions or garlic in it. For the filling, I made a vegetarian mix of two beans, zucchini, tomato, and fresh corn, with loads of onion and garlic. The tortillas were easy to make and came out very soft and delicious. I did not fry before baking. I made the bake more like a baked lasagna dish, lining the baking pan with the tortillas rather than making individual stacks. It was easy to cut through the bake for individual sized portions. This is a great recipe and we really enjoyed it. I will definitely make this dish again!!

Daring Cooks April 2010: Khutkhute - Goan Vegetable Stew

The Daring Cooks challenge for April was a tough one for a vegetarian. Though our host Wolf was kind enough to discuss a vegetarian possibility for the classic Brunswick Stew, anyone can see this is a meat lovers recipe!! I considered making a version by simply dropping out the meats, but then it would really be no different from some sort of a mixed vegetable soup. Somehow that idea was not gelling with me but I did want to make a stew for this challenge.

Flowers & Falafel for Valentine's Day

Food from the Middle-East is delicious, nutritious, and above all full of variety for both a vegetarian and a vegan diet. It is a cuisine that I have enjoyed and shared for many years now. In London, I would head out every so often to one of the many Maroush restaurants, Ranoush, Beruit Express, or the local falafel sandwich shop for my weekly fix of falafel, olives, pickled vegetables, vine leaves, salads, hummus, and fresh baked pita! Now I regularly prepare a variety of middle-east style foods at home.

So when Michele proposed a Mezze meal for February, I was delighted. Michele kindly provided us (the Daring Cooks!) with 5 lovely recipes!! I chose to make the pita, falafel, hummus from her selection. And I added olives and seasoned cheese, a walnut-yogurt dip, and as it was Valentine's Day a dessert that I adore - Basbousa (An Egyptian Syrup Cake)!!

Daring Cooks January 2010: Tofu Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay or sate is a popular street food dish consisting of sliced and marinated chicken/other meats/tofu, skewered on the midrib of a coconut leaf, and grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire. These tasty morsels are then served with a variety of spicy seasonings and dipping sauces.

It is unclear where exactly Satay originated but it is very popular in most SE Asian nations including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Did you know that Satay has multiple variations depending on the marinade uses, method of cooking and the dipping sauces provided!!!!

Vegetable en Croute

The December 2009 Daring Cooks Challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

I made one with stir fried button mushrooms, fresh herbs, and a jalapeno jack cheese-cream cheese blend! Here you go.


I found this quite similar to the Savoury Vegetable Puffs that I made last December. A firm favourite with diners in many an Indian cafe, I have also found the latter to be more spicy and will go well with a cup of sweet tea. The Vegetable en Croute on the other hand is defiantly main course and would go well with a green salad or a simple soup like my Watercress & Potato Soup.

Vegetable en Croute: The Recipe

Preparation time: Total prep time incl. cooking for the mushrooms is 50 minutes
Shortcrust pastry : 50 minutes

Ingredients:
5.2 oz mascarpone or cream cheese
0.6 cup watercress, rocket (arugula) and spinach
17.6 ounces shortcrust pastry
3 cups button mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp grated jalapeno jack cheese

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/390 F. Put the cream cheese in a food processor with the watercress, spinach and rocket and whizz the lot until you have a creamy green puree. Season well.
2. Cut the pastry in any shape desired, 2 per patty, so you can wrap the vegetable and sauce in it completely (approx. 2-3 mm thick) and lay it on a buttered or oiled baking sheet (it will hang over the edges). Put the mushrooms in the middle. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the watercress mixture onto it. Sprinkle half the hard cheese. Place the second piece of cut pastry on top - press and seal. Trim off any excess as you need to. Using a fork, prick the pastry all over to allow steam to escape and make some decorations with the off-cuts to disguise the join if you like.
   
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and browned. Serve with a fresh green salad. I made 2 individual sized patties.
   

Shortcrust Pastry
Making your own shortcrust pastry as it is very simple to do! Just make sure to not add too much water as that is the key to having a successful shortcrust pastry. Watch this video to check the correct consistency of the dough Making shortcrust pastry

Ingredients:
3.2 cups of plain all purpose flour
7 ounce cold butter
pinch of salt

Method:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you have a food processor you can use that as shown in the above video.
2. Stir in the salt, then add 2-3 tbsp of water and mix to a firm dough. Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface. Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.
3. For best results make sure the butter is very cold.
   

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Vegetarian Vietnamese Pho & Dessert Wontons

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

Great recipes!! Made this tonight for family and friends who are visiting!! Both did very well. Photos follow in a few days:)

Thanks Jaden for these lovely recipes.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2009. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Indian Dosas with Kayi

Debyi from Healthy Vegan Kitchen was the host for the September 2009 Daring Cooks challenge. She decided on Indian Dosas from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal. Here is my version of the Dosas made very simply with a batter of rice and tamarind. The curry has potato, beans, peas, and fresh corn in a simple coconut-chili sauce.

Fragrant Tomato Pepper Rice (for the Daring Cooks), Or so I Thought

Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes the host for August Daring Cooks Challenge chose a Spanish recipe, Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, a contemporary Spanish Chef. Though I am a great fan of Spanish cuisine and a devoted follower of food trends across the globe, I knew instantly that this recipe was not for me:( Sorry Olga, this is a vegetarian blog!! But, hang in there, I did want to do the challenge, and so I immediately set out to make some creative changes - here is the result.

Vegetarian Fish Sticks Anyone?

This month's Challenge came from Sketchy @ Sketchy's Kitchen. The Challenge was: Skate, traditional flavors powdered (slightly altered). Given that this is a vegetarian blog, I knew from the beginning that this Challenge was going to need some creative alterations!! before I go into what I did, I'd like to acknowledge that the original recipe comes from Grant Achatz, found in the Alinea cookbook.


I made the fish sticks at home with barley, potato, and all the seasonings recommended by the recipe. I served it with a mushrooms, bok choi, peas, and corn seasoned with herbs and black pepper. Recipe to follow :)

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2009. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.