Apple Pie

I made lots of apple pies this season and m really happy that m turning pro in it :P "self declared"
I experimented this sometime last year and somehow it wasn't that great, it was just too sweet for my taste and then I just got scared and didn't dare to make it again.
Somehow with all the baking spree this year I decided that I should just make amends and make the best pies I have ever made.

The apple pies that I have tried in the restaurants have been too buttery and heavy- I give up after a bite or two, which doesn't go down well with me.
If I eat something then I should be able to savour it and not give up too easily because its a pain to finish it.
With the right amount of butter and right amount of sweetness here is my version of apple pie :)

For the pie crust, please click on the link below for the detailed recipe:
http://somya-patra.blogspot.in/2013/10/pie-crust.html

Don't forget to thaw the dough 30 mins prior to rolling out and baking.

For the pie filling you will need:

3-4 medium sized apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
3-4 tbsp-  butter (I used salted so I didn't add extra salt in my recipe)
1 inch- cinnamon
1 pc- clove
8-10 tsp- sugar (depends on how sweet the apples are)
1 and 1/2 tsp- corn flour

1. Roll out the pastry and line it on a pie tin with a removable base. Layer this  with apples.
2. Using a mortar pestle, finely ground the cinnamon and clove.
3. In a pan heat butter, sugar, corn flour and the ground cinnamon and clove dust. Stir the mixture well and remove from flame when it starts to thicken and pour it over the apples evenly.
4. Roll out the pastry into a round disc and cut it evenly into thin strips. Cover the pie dish in a criss-cross manner as shown in the picture above.
5. Bake the pie for 40-45 mins @ 200 degrees Celsius.
6. Cool down to room temperature and refrigerate.

I always let it rest so the delicious apple and sugar syrup doesn't ooze out.

You can serve hot by microwaving it for a few seconds.

Foodie Out!!

Crème Caramel- Eggless

Crème Caramel is actually an egg custard which is cooked by steaming egg and milk on a bed of caramel. 

Well my eggless version is quite simple and easy to cook. Some people I know do not like the eggy taste, so its a breather for them. Regardless I am a fan of caramel and this is one of the best ways to have it :)

All you need is:

7-8 tsp- sugar (for caramel)

1/2 tsp- water

4 cups- milk

2 tbsp- custard powder (heaped)(I used vanilla flavoured)

8 tsp- sugar (for custard)

1. In a deep bottomed dish, preferably in which you want to set your caramel custard, put 8 tsp of sugar, spread it evenly along the surface and pour half tsp of water.
2. Put this dish on high flame, the sugar and water will start to burn and form caramel in about 2 mins, make sure to spread the caramel evenly on surface by moving the dish side to side on high flame.
3. Once the caramel has got a nice honey brown tinge, remove from flame and set aside to rest and set.
4. Pour 3 cups of milk in a sauce pan and 8 tsp of sugar and bring it to boil. 
5. In a mixing bowl pour the remaining one cup of milk and whisk in 2 tbsp of custard powder and make sure there are no lumps.
6. Once the milk starts to boil, using a whisk, start stirring the boiling milk and pour the custard and milk mix.  Simmer and keep stirring the custard continuously, you will see that the mix will start to thicken.
7. Consistency of the custard should be such that when you invert the whisk, a drop is formed but doesn't fall- its like a stiff peak. Turn off heat and immediately pour this on to the already set caramel.
8. Let this dish rest at room temperature until it cools and then refrigerate overnight.
9. All set, the custard may look like it will break if you flip- "trust me, been there and done that" Remove the dish from fridge, using a knife, slide it through the edge of the dish so the custard is separate.
10. You will also notice that brown liquid must have seeped in through the sides- thats a good sign- this means that caramel had blended through the custard.
11. Take a plate, big enough to cover the top of the dish and 3-4 inches to spare. Don't hesitate and just flip it. 

Voilà your eggless caramel custard is ready to be served.

I had made a huge dish of custard and had to mentally prepare myself before flipping it.... those seconds were scary but worth the effort.

Awesome to taste and I don't miss the eggs.

Hope you enjoy it too :)

Foodie Out!!

Corn Fritters

Great party snack and totally yummy and healthy. I saw this recipe on TLC one time, although that recipe used eggs for batter and since there is only vegetarian cooking at my place, I decided to make some innovative changes of my own! :)

Easy and Quick recipe... Here's what you need:

200 gm- Sweet Corn
1 and 1/2 cups- all purpose flour (maida)
Salt to taste
1 tsp- pepper
1 tsp- chili powder
4-5 tbsp- yogurt (dahi)
1 chopped- green chili
1 chopped- tomato
1 tsp- thyme
2 tsp- olive oil

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour and yogurt until it resembles a thick paste- you can add more yogurt if the current measurement isn't enough.
2. Add olive oil to this so the batter can rest.
3. Add corn, chili, tomatoes and all the other ingredients and mix well to combine.
4. In a non stick pan, spoon the batter, about 5-6 at a time, flatten them using the spoon.
5. Add more oil both sides cooking until golden.

You can serve this with a dip made of yogurt mixed with chopped chili and coriander and salt.

We enjoyed this at a family dinner :)

Foodie Out!!

Eggless Royal Icing for cupcakes/cookies/cakes

Its a great recipe that I have stumbled upon and am really happy to have found it.

I am not very fond of cream icing on cakes and cupcakes. Various reason being easy to melt and for immediate consumption only... the shelf life is a turn off for me.

Royal Icing on the other hand is perfectly set at room temperature, adds colour to cakes and looks really fancy. Even easier to pipe out and draw out designs.

All you need is:

100gm Icing sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp- corn flour
2-3 tsp- milk
1/2 tsp- vanilla essence
1 tsp- lemon juice
Few drops of food colour as per choice.

1. Sieve icing sugar and corn flour together to get rid of lumps and mix well.
2. Add on one tsp of milk at a time and whisk until combined into a thick paste.
3. Add lemon juice and vanilla essence and whisk the mixture, make sure there are no lumps.
4. Divide the mix into equal portions and transfer to different cups with different food colours.
5. If the mix is too runny then add more icing sugar until its a paste with flowing consistency and can be easily spread. If its too hard and not spreadable then add more milk.
6. Transfer this to a piping bag or a poly bag and close it immediately. If its out for long then it will dry out.
7. Snip one end of the bag and pipe out designs of choice.

I had four colours of different consistency. The ones too runny were used in the flooding technique where you mark a boundary on the cupcake and fill it in.

For drawing out designs I used wet on wet technique, where on already flooded area I simply drew out designs or wrote something- This way both the colours merge with no distinctive boundary.

The ones which had a tighter consistency can be used to draw out drapes. They have more strength and can be used to stencil.

For a first time experience, I think I did a pretty good job...

Looking forward to practice this again...

Hope you have as much fun as I had trying this...

Foodie Out!!

How to make Baked Beans at home...

I have always had canned baked beans and its just too sweet and artificial for my taste.

Since one fine day I was in experimenting mode, I decided to make my own version of baked beans of what I perceive it to be without referring to any site.

All you need is:

1 and 1/2 cups- Kidney beans (soaked 6-7 hours)
8-9- medium sized tomatoes
Salt to taste
3 and 1/3 tsp- Sugar
1/2 tsp- black pepper
1/2 tsp red chili powder
3 pc- clove
1 inch- cinnamon
1 pc- black cardamom
2 tsp- butter
1 cup- water

1. Pressure cook the beans for at least half hour and let it rest until the pressure is gone.
2. Grind tomatoes, heat a low bottomed pan, put butter and sugar until it nears caremalization.
3. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, red chili powder and stir well.
4. In a mortar pestle finely ground clove, cinnamon and cardamom to dust and add to the tomatoes.
5. Cover and cook on high flame after adding 1 cup of water.
6. Cook until the mixture is no longer raw and transfer this to a baking dish. To this add the cooked beans and mix well.
7. In a pre-heated oven cook this for 30 mins @ 190 degrees Celsius.

Its great with a dollop of butter and bread...

Enjoy! Foodie Out!!

Cheese Custard Pie

I have a small memory attached to this recipe.... I was about 12 and it was "Sports Day" in my school. I was in Karate and we had a special performance for the audience where in I was one of the kids to break a tile :(

Small, tiny and feeble me.... scared to the core and never before had I practiced this act I was doomed...  managed to just crack the tile along with hurting my elbow... the show was just a nightmare for me...

Sad and dejected I came back home. My sister who danced to "Macarena" with other cute toddlers in the same event, happily narrated the story to my mother....

My mom condoled me and as a special lunch treat made Cheese Custard Pie.... it was warm, cheesy and moist and I gobbled it up and slept like a baby... maybe it was the meds or I was just dazed with all the crying ... It seemed like the best thing I had...

All these years I have been begging mom to make this pie at home... but she claimed that it wasn't good.... Finally I decided that I should just go ahead and beat some pans and bake this recipe.

Its not the same recipe what my Mom made.... My version has vegies but its quite delightful to eat :)

For the Pie Crust, click on this link for the full recipe:
http://somya-patra.blogspot.in/2013/10/pie-crust.html

I blind baked the crust first for about 10 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius so the pie would remain crispy, after that I made the filling given below:

Filling for Cheese Custard Pie:

200 gms- Button Mushroom (Chopped to cubes)
200 gms- Baby Corn (Chopped- 1 inch)
1 big Capsicum- sliced (1 inch)
1/2 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste
2 tsp Olive oil

1. Chop the vegetables- Heat olive oil in a skillet. Once hot add mushroom and stir. Cook the mushroom on high flame, don't crowd them and spread them evenly. Mushroom will give out its own stock, let it cook in its stock until it starts to brown.
2. Add capsicum and baby corn, stir fry until done. Add salt and pepper and pour this onto the baked pastry on the pie tin. Spread it evenly and keep it aside.

White sauce:

1 and 1/2 cups of milk

1 and 1/2 tsp corn flour

Pinch of salt

1. In the same skillet, once the veggies are done- pour milk and stir in corn flour and salt.
2. Bring milk to boil, stirring continuously, keep on till the sauce thickens to a honey consistency- make sure there are no lumps.
3. Pour this over the stir fried vegetables on the pie crust evenly.
4. Grate some cheddar cheese as per your liking on top.
5. Bake for another 15 minutes until it turns golden, at 190 degrees Celsius.

All done... My family simply loved this recipe... hope you like it too..

Foodie Out!! :)

Pie Crust

For an Indian household... pie's are very rare to come by. My version might not be the best ... since I'm yet to taste the best and get inspired...

As mentioned in my previous posts... all the recipes that I try are a mix of recipes that I have come across online through blogs and Vblogs along with my own judgement and experience of things and some my own inventions.

I experiment a lot in the kitchen and one of my favorites is making pies... Hence I'm writing a separate post for just the crust. Be imaginative and make your own filling... Of course I shall also post my versions of different fillings that I have tried and tested.

For a Pie Crust all you need is:

2 cups- All purpose Flour
Pinch of Salt
4 tsp- Butter (cold)
Ice cold water for kneading

Procedure:

Pies usually have a buttery and flaky crust which gives a very crisp and crumbly effect.

1. Take a mixing bowl, mix in flour and salt.
2. Add butter cubes straight out of the refrigerator, and with your hands lightly mix the  butter gently breaking it. Once the butter is combined the mixture will look like wet sand.
3. Now add cold water in small quantities and knead the mix into a soft dough.
4. Once done, wrap the dough with a plastic sheet/ cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator.
5. Make sure to thaw the dough before use, take the dough out from the fridge and let it rest for at least 30 mins so it softens and is ready to be rolled and lined on a pastry tin. 

In a small pie tin- it normally takes 20 mins to cook @ 190-200 degrees Celsius. 

Enjoy, Foodie out!!