Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs

October 14, 2011

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs

You can probably tell that I have a huge fig fixation looking at the number of photos of it that I clicked at La Boqueria. I love how they look – deep purple with streaks of green and a shimmery pink jewel-like inside. Whenever I buy them, I almost always eat them straight out of the box or them bake into a fig and frangipane tart. (It’s a sorry state with just one recipe to rely on, I know.  Point me to a recipe that will blow my knee-high autumn socks off?)

But back to the goat cheese stuffed figs. I’ve always wanted to make them, but somehow I never had figs and goat cheese around at the same time.  That’s mostly because I’m not the kind who plans out a ten minutes recipe ahead of time and puts it on a shopping list (unless it’s a dinner party -  then you must put figs and goat cheese on list right away(!)).  A few days ago, I was in luck. A plump punnet of Turkish figs from the market was sitting on my table and a wheel of fresh goat cheese wrapped in paper was waiting to meet its fate in the refrigerator. Finally.

You need 4 ingredients to make this: figs, goat cheese, honey, and the fourth is where you get to play with flavors: thyme, toasted walnuts,  pine nuts, or coarse black pepper (my new favourite – perfectly pungent to balance the sweetness of the honey and figs). There’s no recipe here, really. Simply slit the figs until you’re 3/4th the way through and stuff with the goat cheese. Lay it on a baking tray and pop it into the oven preheated at 180C/350F for 10-12 minutes. Once out, sprinkle with coarsely ground pepper and a happy drizzle of honey. Eat warm.

If you like, you can also wrap the figs in proscuitto before popping them into the oven.

{ 13 comments }

Nutella Cake

October 12, 2011

Nutella Cake

I have three huge bottles of Nutella sitting on my shelf. My mom would be furious if she knew; but then, that’s my excuse for not making unnecessary trips to the supermarket.

After having my fill of Nutella slathered on toast and straight from the jar, I decided I’d bake some of it into a cake. A dense, moist cake that is speckled with tiny bits of roasted hazelnuts. Nutella cake. I used the recipe from How to Be a Domestic Goddess except that I didn’t add any Frangelico – I wish I had some of my hazelnut extract to add to the silky cake batter. Also, what I also did was top the cake with Nutella instead of ganache and sprinkled it with caramelised hazelnuts instead of plain toasted ones. On second thought, I should have added some finely crushed caramelized hazelnuts into the cake batter too.

This is probably the third cake I’ve baked in my new oven, and I’m still getting used to it. Luckily I have an oven thermometer sitting inside all the time so I can calibrate it based on the readings, because for some reason this oven runs way hotter than the indicated temperature. The nifty equipment’s such a saviour. I’m also becoming pretty good at whipping up egg whites to stiff peaks with a giant whisk. Earlier, I never bothered adding salt, but I noticed that the whites get whipped up quicker with a pinch added in. The salt, apparently, acts as a fantastic stabiliser.

All in all, this recipe’s a keeper. (And it’s gluten free!) Do you have any favourite Nutella recipes for me to put my jars to use?

Nutella Cake Recipe

Serves: 8

Adapted from: How to be a Domestic Goddess (USA | UK | India)

Ingredients:

  • 6 large eggs, separated
  • Pinch of salt
  • 125g soft unsalted butter
  • 400g Nutella (1 large jar)
  • 1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water
  • 100g toasted hazelnuts, ground
  • 100g dark chocolate, melted
  • For the icing:
  • 4 tbsp Nutella
  • caramelised hazelnuts [100g toasted hazelnuts +100g caster sugar]

    • Equipment: 23cm/9 inch Springform tin, greased and lined with parchment

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, egg yolks and ground toasted hazelnuts.
  2. Stir in the cooled, melted chocolate, then fold in the egg whites gently, a third at a time.
  3. Pour into the prepared tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake’s beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack.
  4. For the caramelized hazelnut nuts: Chop the hazelnuts coarsely. In a pan, melt the sugar until it turns amber. Toss the hazelnuts in, making sure they are evenly coasted and then transfer to a silicone baking mat or a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cool. Chop to separate the nuts.
  5. Spread the top of the cake with Nutella. Scatter the caramelized hazelnuts on top of it.

{ 33 comments }

Life updates over a plate of chestnuts

October 4, 2011

Roasted Chestnuts

I think we need to sit down and have a chat. Over some roasted chestnuts. Because that’s what I’m obsessed with these days.

Before one of you jumps up and asks me, “Oh! where do you get these in Bombay?” you’ll figure where soon enough. There have been a lot of things that have happened in the past few months – something that I’ve been quietly planning and was too shy to share until it actually happened. Honestly, I still can’t believe that it’s happening.

***
Earlier this year, I decided to apply for scholarships to fulfil my long standing dream of studying at Le Cordon Bleu. I looked up the scholarship options,  spent a few days to write the essays, filled out the applications and submitted them. And then I waited. Waited with much anticipation. The day the result for the Culinary Trust Scholarship was to be announced, I barely slept. I kept waking up to frantically refresh my inbox for emails from the Trust. Nothing. The next afternoon, I was too distracted to get any work done. Not wanting to wait any longer for an official verdict, I emailed my interviewer. In a few (excruciating) hours she replied. Her email read, “You DID receive the scholarship to Le Cordon Bleu London!!!!!” I shrieked and stood up on my chair, startling my mom who was busy with her Sudoku. I ran to the next room and broke the news to my dad. I felt a surge of energy, a feeling of contentment and gratitude. I won.

***

Remember orangefoodie? The guy who I’d refer to occasionally in my posts; the guy who wrote that post on Paris?

Umm…I just married that guy.

We wed in July after knowing each other for 7 years. We used to attend the same undergrad school and even worked at the same company until I decided I’d much rather bake. When he decided to move to France, there was hardly a chance that we’d live apart. We had to go together. We had to get married. And now that he’s no secret anymore, his name is Arjun. And I’m pretty crazy about him.

***

While we were on our honeymoon in Malaysia, I received a BBM from my friend Maha from Pakistan where she told me she won the James Beard scholarship to study at the French Culinary Institute in NYC. She asked me if I had heard from the trust. I hadn’t. Now, Maha and I’ve been friends for over a year. She had won the James Beard Foundation scholarship to study at Le Cordon Bleu London in 2009. Maha was more than helpful with my own application. She ended her first email with “If you need any help, I’m here.” Nobody says that in a first email. I felt taken care of. I had the best advisor I could have asked for. Thanks, Maha. (Readers from Pakistan: She makes cake, so you’re going to love her too. More on Fatso’s Catering.)

Anyway, I got back to Bombay wondering why I hadn’t won. I was disappointed, but with the chaos of packing, moving cities, and starting a new life in Paris, I didn’t mull over it too much. That night before we left for Paris, on my mom’s birthday, I received a one line email from The James Beard Scholarship that read, “Letters regarding application status were recently released.  Please see attached.” Why bother opening a rejection letter, I thought. I reluctantly downloaded the attachment and spotted the words “I am pleased to announce…” Umm, what? I began reading it again. I had won the scholarship to study Cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Pinch me.

***

So, here I am sitting on my desk in France, with a view of lush chestnut trees from my window. I still can’t believe I won both the scholarships I applied for. I keep going back to the Culinary Trust website to see my name up there. I still can’t believe I’m married and living in the city I’ve always wanted to. I’ve been here for a month now – setting up our first home together, arranging my kitchen shelves, cooking more Indian food than I’ve ever cooked (the craving!) and shopping at G. Detou so I can start baking. The light in our house is absolutely fantastic for food photography, plus the slanted rays means I have more flexibility in terms of time of day to shoot. My uncle gifted me a professional KitchenAid stand mixer for the wedding and I need to go and pick that up from London later this month, along with a bagful of my cookbooks he brought back with him after the wedding. It’s all coming together now.

***

I thought I’d address this since I’ve been receiving a load of email enquiries for baking classes that range from the cute “I’d love to come to your class with my niece” to the demanding, “Where are you?? Need new baking lessons.”  I may not reply to all the mails I get for classes, but I tuck them safely into a folder meant just for these, for the time that I’m back in Bombay and ready to conduct classes. You will be the first to know.

***

So back to the roasted chestnuts. My adorable Korean neighbour and biggest Aamir Khan fan, Sky and I go chestnut picking downstairs with large plastic bags in hand. We make sure we wear sports shoes so we don’t get pricked by the horrible spiky, cactus-like shell and then come back upstairs to roast them in the oven and eat them while they’re still warm, and almost too warm to peel.

Beware though, a few days ago we thought we hit the jackpot when we discovered a tree that bore even larger chestnuts. We stuffed them in our bags, prepped them and roasted them, but when it was time to eat them, they were spat right out. These big chestnuts were awfully bitter. A little reading proved that they were in fact Horse chestnuts. They’re meant for animals and are slightly toxic for humans. Yikes. Into the trash can they went.

After picking and roasting chestnuts over the weeks, I figured out a few things about them:

* A long incision needs to made on the chestnut. Either across the centre of it, or a cross on the top. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it will let the steam escape, so peeling the roasted chestnuts is a cinch. If you don’t, you won’t manage to get a whole piece of chestnut – I ended up rabbit-teething (using the maxillary central incisors to scoop out the chestnut fresh from the shell). Also, scoring the shell of the chestnut will prevent chestnut bombs going off in your oven (steam can’t escape, the pressure builds up, you get the point), or worse, on your couch when you’ve pulled them out before letting them cool. True story.

* When you’re picking (or buying) chestnuts, choose the ones with nice, shiny shells.

* If a chestnut has a black spot when peeled, discard it. It’s spoilt, or it’s likely that you’ll find a baked creepy-crawly in it (eww).

* It’s a good idea to let the chestnuts sit for a few days before you roast them. The starch will convert to sugar and you’ll have sweeter chestnuts.

* The toughest part really is making incisions with a knife. The smooth chestnut is bound to slip that leads to a cut. My friend tells me that they have a special tool in Korea just for this (these guys have a tool for everything!)

For Bombay folks, you can enjoy the taste of chestnuts in a jar of Bonne Maman Marron confiture. It’s terrific.

Roasted Chestnuts

Ingredient:
1 kg chestnuts (or as many can fill on your baking tray in a single layer)

Method:
Heat the oven to 180C.
Using a small, sharp knife, make incisions in the shell of the chestnut.
Place them on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes, until you see the shell opening up and curling slightly.
Turn off the oven, and let it continue to sit inside (Just for safety, in case some incisions weren’t big enough.)
Transfer to a large bowl. Peel and eat up while it’s still warm.

Once I manage to save some without eating them all, I’ll try and cook something up with them. Do point me to your favourite chestnut recipes.

{ 105 comments }

Borough Market, London

October 1, 2011

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I’m a sucker for food markets when travelling. That’s probably the first thing I look up when planning a trip. Ever since I heard of the glorious food at Borough Market, and the lengths that the committee goes through to make sure only the best producers get a spot near the Thames in South East London, I couldn’t wait to experience this fresh food market at its peak in summer. ‘Excited’ isn’t a strong enough word to express how I felt when I walked into the market.

Producers from all over the country bring in a wide variety of fresh produce to the market, and there are food stalls cakes and patisseries, too. It’s a riot of colours at the market. Vendors hand out free samples, locals and tourists queue up for juicy burgers with enormous jar of pickles and condiments. You can witness ingredients that cover the spectrum from wonderful to weird. I spotted a cheese called Stinking Bishop (oh! it even has a Wikipedia page). Meandering through the lanes of the market and nibbling on Turkish delights along the way is just what one should do on a Saturday morning.

We ate hot dogs, burgers, and lots of pies (loved steak and Stilton) from Pie Minister (so easy to get drawn to a stall with a name like that). I also got pretty obsessed with flavoured waters. I tried Elderflower water for the first time, and loved the mellow, floral flavour of it (this looks like a great recipe if you’re up for making yourself some). The other thing that was new to me was the flavoured water. An excellent excuse not to drink regular water (my favourite was the blueberry and pomergranate sparkling water that I’d buy from the Marks and Spencer food shops at the train stations.) And for dessert we ate banoffee pie and goat milk ice cream.

The market’s a bit overpriced. So just go there with your camera and snack about at the various food stalls over a couple of hours. And if you’re really interested in discounted prices, go after 4 pm. Also, on Thursday afternoons, they usually have cooking demos that might be fun to catch.

I’m a huge fan of community magazines, and Borough market releases one each season. It’s thoughtfully put together showcasing what’s new in the market, telling stories of the people behind the food, customer favourites, and recipes all of which come together with candid photos and exquisite paper. I’ve especially instructed my cousin to pick one up for me for when I won’t be in London. With another trip next month, I’ll be only to happy to add the autumn 2011 edition to my tiny, but growing collection.

Because we were leaving for The Lake District soon after, I couldn’t buy too much produce to cook with. But I did buy a big block of unpasteurised fleur de sel butter and a dense loaf of walnut sourdough. Toasted bread and a smear of this butter – heaven.

But did it beat La Boqueria? Not quite.

Borough Market
Borough High Street, Borough, London SE1 9DE.

{ 14 comments }

Beautiful Barcelona

September 30, 2011

My trip to Barcelona was quite unplanned, and with 4 days on hand I decided I’d just walk around with a map trying to cover the major tourist-y places and let my nose lead me to my food.

In the four days I was there, I fell in love with Barcelona. Madly in love with the food, the colour, the architecture, the narrow winding streets, Gaudí’s gorgeous mosaics, street performances, crema Catalana, and of course, La Boqueria. The preview of the country in a box totally lived up to it.

I ate the best Nutella ice cream I’ve ever eaten from a tiny, nameless stall on the Ramblas. I’m not a big ice cream person (I know!), but somehow I ended up buying 2 scoops everyday.

Nutella ice cream

That’s Plaça de Catalunya – from our room window.

Plaça de Catalunya

How adorable is this couple sharing a meal?

happy-couple

There is something about the prawns in Barcelona. They are so sweet and tender. Nothing like anything I’ve eaten anywhere else.

prawns

I seriously contemplated stealing this blue chair. So pretty.

blue chair

Flowers – quite possibly the quickest way to make someone happy if you’re not going to bake them a cake.

Florist

Ate a paella packed with flavour and a spectacular view of Port Vell to boot.

Paella

I’d always get distracted by cute little restaurants (how can anyone not?)

Took a walk down the harbour and ate waffles covered in melted chocolate.

Port Vell

Walked. Got lost. Then figured it all out. Then got lost again.

Crash course in Spanish jamon.

Spanish jamon

Ate squid ink paella. It felt weird eating something so black.

squid ink paella

With every peek into cute cafes I’d make a secret wish.

Took a little time off at the Cathédrale Sainte-Eulalie.

Cathédrale Sainte-Eulalie

The aquarium….Umm, I’d rather be eating them.

Attended a paella-making class.

Paella

Marvelled at Gaudí’s work.

Gaudí’

Loved spotting pretty lamp posts.

pretty lamp posts

Ate churros with hot chocolate.

churros with hot chocolate

Took a free walking tour with a super fun guide who made sure we wouldn’t miss the almost inconspicuous shrine of Santa Eularia.

shrine of Santa Eularia

Drank lots and lots of Horchata (you absolutely MUST have it when you get a chance). [Horchata]

Horchata

And make sure you go to this shop.

Spotted several human statues.

More cute bake shops. More secret wishes. (Of course, that’s a pail of horchata in my hand)

Cupcake dreams

That’s probably the apartment I want to live in on my next visit.

Or this one.

{ 12 comments }

Locals at La Boqueria

September 17, 2011

View the slideshow One of the best (and the most delicious, of course) ways to observe cultures is to see how the locals eat, how they buy their produce, how they chit chat with sellers and each other about what’s in season and what they’re planning to cook for lunch. Here are some moments I [...]

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La Boqueria Market, Barcelona

September 14, 2011

View the slideshow While I was creating a list of places to visit in Barcelona for my trip a few weeks ago, the first name I added was ‘La Boqueria’. Just so I didn’t forget, I highlighted it three more times. Arguably Europe’s best food market, La Boqueria (bo-care-ia) has been operative since the 13th century, and [...]

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Postcard from The Lake District

August 18, 2011

I’m currently holidaying in the picturesque Lake District in England. Lush meadows, scenic bedroom views, long drives, and picnics in the boat are the order of the day.  Today, we visited the famed Grasmere Gingerbread shop that has been making gingerbread every single day since 1854. The story goes that the original handwritten recipe is [...]

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Homemade Tiramisù

July 12, 2011

This has been the longest I’ve been away from the blog, and I’ve missed hanging around here with you. I am so happy to be back here and talking about my favourite thing in the world: baking. But before I move on to that, I owe you guys an update. Thank you so much for [...]

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