An Indian-themed cheesecake for Diwali

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, has always been my favorite of them all. Even as a young child, I loved to hang out in the kitchen, watching my mother as she skilfully kneaded dough, ground nuts and spices, and stirred the boiling vats of syrup that would eventually become mountains of delicious sweets and savories to eat and share. My sister and I would be up at the crack of dawn to have the ritual oil bath and don our new clothes. Then, our guests would arrive to enjoy a huge, traditional South Indian spread for breakfast; and before we fell into a food-induced coma, we'd head out to visit friends and family with trays of goodies for them. In the evenings the neighborhood would come alive with the glow of the rows and rows of oil lamps that we'd set out; and the sky would light up with dazzling fireworks.

Here in the US, Diwali is a far more tame affair, since it is celebrated only by a small minority. Since this year's festival occurred over a weekend, I was keen to continue the festival tradition by inviting some friends over for a vegetarian Indian meal. Since Indian sweets can be a bit too sweet for most non-Indian palates, I knew I'd have to pick a dessert from another part of the globe. I finally settled on cheesecake, whose rich creaminess provides a good foil for spicy food. A good basic cheesecake recipe is very useful to have in your recipe file - you can mix in any number of added flavorings to suit your need! And the good part is that it needs to chill overnight before serving, so you have to make it ahead of time and thereby avoid any last-minute rush. In honor of Diwali I decided to flavor it with some of our favorite ingredients for festive sweets: saffron, cardamom and pistachio.

I mixed in some pistachio paste into one half of the cheesecake batter, poured it over the crust and let it bake until just set. The other half of the batter had saffron and cardamom and went over the first layer. The layers ended up mixing in the center, where it was probably not as fully set as the periphery when I poured the second batter on top; still, the bi-color effect came through and I was quite pleased with the results!

Recipe:
Saffron-pistachio (Kesar-pista) cheesecake (Makes 8-10 servings)
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup skin-on almonds, ground
3/4 stick (6 tbsp) butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
Pinch salt
Filling:
3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Optional flavorings (use different ones if you wish):
1/4 cup pistachio paste
Generous pinch saffron threads, dissolved in 1 tbsp warm milk
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Preheat the oven to 350F(180C). Wrap an 8" springform pan in a double thickness of aluminium foil. Have a large baking dish ready that is big enough to hold the springform pan with room all around to pour hot water - this will be the bain-marie or water bath to bake the cheesecake in.
Mix the ingredients of the crust in a food processor. Press the mixture firmly into the base of the prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until browned. Remove to cool and turn the oven temperature down to 300F(150C).
Mix the filling ingredients in a stand mixer, food processor, or by hand with an electric mixer. Scrape down the sides from time to time to ensure everything is well mixed. Divide the mixture into two equal parts. Mix the pistachio paste into one half, pour into the pan, and place the pan into the water bath with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until just set.
Meanwhile, mix the saffron liquid and cardamom into the other portion of the filling. Spoon the second batter gently (gently, unlike what I did!) over the part-baked cheesecake, return the pan to the water bath in the oven, and bake for another 45-50 minutes. The cake should still be jiggly in the center.
Turn off the oven and let the cake stand in the cooling oven for an hour. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath after an hour has passed, and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight before serving. Cut into portions with a knife that has been dipped in hot water, and rinse the knife in hot water in between cuts.

Maya's Adventures in Pastry-Land

By the time you are reading this, I will be away visiting the land where humankind was born: Africa! I'm happy to say that I managed to complete my first ever Daring Bakers' Challenge in spite of the craziness building up to the 3-week trip.
The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.


I was really excited to do this challenge since I have always wanted to try my hand at puff pastry, which is considered the most difficult of pastry doughs to produce. I watched the recommended video - Michel Richard made it look pretty easy, easy enough to forget that he had probably been doing it for some 30 years previously! So out came the rolling pin, and I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.


I'm always intrigued by recipes that showcase both the science and art of cooking. Puff pastry is definitely a great example. It essentially consists of many thin layers of dough sandwiched together with thin layers of fat, made by rolling a block of butter inside a case of dough, and then folding, turning and re-rolling several times. When placed in a hot oven, the water in the butter gets converted to steam, which pushes the layers higher and higher. At the same time, the heat is cooking the flour, setting the gluten around all those air pockets, and eventually creating a puff that holds its shape. How's that for some cool food chemistry at work!


Back to my effort - I though the first two turns were pretty hard, I had to concentrate on rolling evenly to get the butter out to all the corners. Definitely time to put the upper-body strength to use! It got a bit easier to work with on subsequent turns but I did have the occasional tear or butter leak, so I was pretty much on tenterhooks till I had the vols-au-vent baked. After anxiously peeking into the oven several times hoping it was going okay, I was rewarded with this sight: well risen puff pastry shells, waiting to come out of the oven and be filled!

Though I had several excellent ideas for the vol-au-vent fillings, both sweet and savoury, I had no time to execute them all, so I decided to keep it simple. I filled the shells with lemon-scented crème fraîche and fresh raspberries, and added a swirl of raspberry coulis to liven things up.


Overall, I was really thrilled to have pulled off the puff pastry challenge! And yippee - I still have some dough waiting in the freezer for when a vol-au-vent craving strikes again :)

Go green!

Continuing with my end-of-summer series, I made pesto this week. Now that the weather is turning cooler, it will soon be curtains for the large pots of basil that I tended through the summer...though maybe a small one will live through the winter on the windowsill!


I tend to think of pesto as less of a recipe than a technique. The idea lends itself so well to multiple adaptations - think arugula-hazelnut, or red pepper-walnut, or cilantro-cashew...you can swap in pecorino or piave cheese as well. This time, though, I decided to stick to the classic trio of ingredients: basil, pine nuts and parmigiano-reggiano cheese. Add garlic and olive oil, and you're well on your way to making something tasty and versatile that needs only 5 ingredients!


I'd like to say I made this the traditional way, hand-chopping it with a mezzaluna, but alas...I don't own one. It's on my list of hmm-looks-great-but-do-I-really-need-this kitchen gadgets! I did, however, chop up all of the ingredients by hand first, using a knife, before tossing them all into the food processor to finish off the whole thing with a few pulses. This helps preserve the identity of the individual ingredients without blending them all into a featureless mush. And it doesn't take too long either.


Pesto can be used in so many ways - dip hunks of crusty bread in it, or serve over pasta, or mix with some goat cheese for a sandwich spread. Here, I've used it as a dressing for a salad featuring some of my favorite health foods: quinoa, broccoli and green beans. Quinoa is one of the superfoods that everyone is talking about these days. It is one of the few vegetable sources of protein that has all the amino acids, with the goodness of whole grains too. Legend has it that the Spanish invaders in Latin America tried to destroy quinoa fields to rob the Inca warriors of this source of their strength!

The quinoa had bright flavor from the pesto and was accentuated by the crunch of the broccoli, green beans and slivered almonds. A pinch of chili flakes added some heat, and the whole was finished off with some salty, tangy feta. Healthy and delicious!


Recipes:
Basil pesto (makes about 1 cup)
1 large bunch basil, leaves only
1 large handful pine nuts
3-4 cloves of garlic
Small hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated
Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed (about 3-4 tablespoons)
Chop the first three ingredients using a sharp knife, then toss into a food processor. Add half the cheese, then process in a few short pulses. Add the rest of the cheese and pulse a few more times. Scrape into a bowl, stir in the oil and check for seasoning. Drizzle some more oil over the top, cover and refrigerate up to a week.


Green quinoa (Serves 2)
3/4 cup quinoa
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
1 large handful green beans, trimmed and cut into 1" lengths
1 1/2 tbsp pesto
Pinch chilli flakes
2 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine-mesh sieve and place in a pan with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down, cover and simmer till the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Fork the pesto and the chili flakes through the cooked quinoa and leave to cool a bit.
While the quinoa is cooking, blanch the broccoli florets and green beans in boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Drain and refresh with cold water. Shake dry and then add to the quinoa. Toss the salad together and divide on to plates. Serve topped with the feta and slivered almonds.

One peach, two ways

The peach season is sadly drawing to a close - where did summer go? So I thought I ought to write about my experiment with two peach desserts before we move into fall. The good news, though, is that these would be pretty good with apples or pears too! Now that's a reason, if any, to look forward to the season ahead.
Peaches are my favorite summer fruit. Well no, mangoes are, but sadly, if you grew up eating mangoes in India, the ones you get here in the US pale in comparison. So you might say peaches are my mangoes now! They present a similar sensory experience, plump and perfumed, with the same sensuous mouth feel, and they come with hot weather! I had some beautiful peaches from a trip to the farmers' market - big and juicy, their fuzzy blushing cheeks just begging to be bitten into. After devouring several, I set one aside for this dessert experiment.
Have you ever been out to dinner with people who don't even glance at the dessert menu? Happily, I don't count myself in their ranks. Even on the days I feel I've eaten enough, I always accept the proffered menu in the hope that some of the offerings will change my mind! That said, I do believe in cooking and eating healthy, so that you don't have to feel guilty about those occasional indulgences (a buttery croissant, a macaron or two, panna cotta...). The two fruit desserts I've featured here are, I'm happy to say, just right for those days when you need your sweet fix without feeling like you need an extra 15 minutes on the elliptical the next day. They are quick and easy to put together as well.
The first half of the peach was diced, sweetened with a whisper of honey, and baked under a crisp topping. Unlike many others, this is not loaded with butter, but is packed with heart-healthy ingredients like oats and walnuts. I swapped in orange juice for some of the butter, to keep it crumbly enough. The topping comes together super-quick in a food processor - I've included a picture of the cute mini-processor I used, so handy when you have a small quantity.

For the other half of the peach, I did a cheat's version of pesche ripiene, the Italian dessert of baked peaches stuffed with crushed amaretti cookies. Well, I didn't have any amaretti, but I did have ground almonds and amaretto liqueur, so that was what went into the center of the peach half, topped by the thinnest sliver of butter to keep things moist and flavorsome. Into the oven they both went, and emerged looking like this:

Okay, I must confess, I caved in to my baser instincts and added a scoop of ice cream - but there was that empty spot on the plate, just begging to be filled! All in all, this was a great dessert plate for two to share, you get some variety without the portion being too large or the desserts being sinful. A glass of Muscat (or Prosecco, for a lazy Sunday brunch!) would be good with this, I might venture to add.


Recipes:
Honeyed Peach Crisp (Serves 1 or 2, but can be scaled up)
1/2 of a large peach, diced
1 tsp honey
1 tsp cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tbsp rolled oats
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp coarsely broken walnuts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp orange juice
Pinch salt
Preheat oven to 375F(190C).
Toss the peaches with the honey and cornflour and place in a ramekin. Meanwhile, whizz all the other ingredients together in a food processor till crumbly. Crumble the topping on to the peaches, packing it down firmly. Run the tines of a fork on the top lightly a few times, then bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.


Stuffed peaches, my way (Serves 1 or 2, but can be scaled up)
1/2 of a large peach, stone removed (You can blanch the peach before using if you like)
3 tbsp ground almonds
1 tbsp brown sugar
Pinch salt
1 tbsp amaretto
2 tbsp dark rum
Thin sliver of butter
Mix the almonds, sugar, salt and amaretto with a fork till crumbly. Pack this filling into the center of the peach half. Place in a ramekin, pour the rum over, place the sliver of butter on top, and bake alongside the peach crisp for roughly the same length of time.

Mmm...muhammara!

I love mezze platters. They are wonderful to share with a crowd, sipping wine, nibbling on salty olives or feta, enjoying the crisp cool salads and crunchy falafel, and feeling the whoosh of steam when you tear off a bit of warm puffy pita bread to dunk in those delicious dips.
My favorite of the dips is muhammara, a roasted red-pepper and walnut dip that sadly doesn't feature as often on mezze platters as its more familiar cousins like hummus and baba ghannouj. While I love them all, they don't come close to this one for complexity of taste and texture. Silky roasted red peppers are wonderful when combined with earthy, nutty toasted walnuts - red pepper pesto or romesco sauce, anyone?
The balance of flavors is rounded out by some fairly common ingredients - vibrant garlic, smoky cumin and a little heat from crushed red pepper flakes. Some versions have breadcrumbs in there as well, but I didn't use any and I liked it that way! You can make it thicker or thinner depending on your taste. What lifts this dip from the mundane to the simply sublime, though, is a splash of pomegranate molasses that adds a subtle tart-sweet background to everything. It is available at most Middle Eastern grocers and is an inexpensive purchase - a little goes a long way. I acquired a bottle on a recent visit to Sahadi's in Brooklyn, and I now add it to vegetable stews and salad dressings.
Muhammara is good as a dip, or you can use it in any number of other ways. It all comes together in the food processor in a flash. It makes an excellent sandwich spread too. Slather generously on some nice crusty bread, top with greens of your choice, some crunchy vegetables and feta or goat cheese for an exotically delicious tartine. The picture below is of my lunch: Multi-grain bread spread with muhammara, piled with arugula and topped with a slice of pan-fried eggplant. I placed a slice of fresh goat cheese on the eggplant for the last minute of cooking so it would get all nice and oozy with the heat. A tall frosty glass of fresh watermelon juice completed a delicious repast.

Recipe: Muhammara (makes about 1 cup)
Two large red peppers, roasted and peeled (I roasted my own but you can use bottled ones)
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped fine
1 fat garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses (available at Middle Eastern grocers)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and process till a puree forms. Transfer to a bowl, taste and season if necessary. It's really that easy! Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Tastes good, good for you!

I have been wanting to make my own granola for a while now, and I'm pleased to say I finally did! Since moving to the US, I've adopted the convenient practice of eating cereal for breakfast, hoping that the extra milk will make my bones stronger when I'm old and grey ;) Although I must confess to fantasizing about fluffy idlis and crisp dosas every now and then - sadly, these items are now relegated to the "on weekends only" category!
Breakfast cereals may look healthy, but they can actually be l-o-a-d-e-d with sugar. It is also an exhausting task to read through their lengthy lists of ingredients! Making granola at home is almost ridiculously easy. It's also very economical, and makes a good amount, so you'll have some to give your friends as well. I used rolled oats, wheatgerm, flax seeds, and almonds, all toasted together with pure honey and a drizzle of vegetable oil, and then mixed in dried cranberries and chopped apricots. This yielded a mix with a satisfying crunch, not too sweet - just the right way to start your day! 

You can ring the changes endlessly, using different combinations of fruit, nuts and seeds to suit your taste. Coconut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, pecans, dried blueberries, dates, raisins...your imagination is the limit!


Recipe:
Honey-toasted fruit and nut granola (makes 10 cups, or about 20 servings)
6 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheatgerm
1/2 cup flax seeds
1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped (you can also use ready-slivered ones)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup honey
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Preheat the oven to 300F(150C).
In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients excepting the fruit till well mixed. Heat the oil and honey together over low heat till the honey loosens up completely. Pour the warm honey mixture over the dry ingredients and stir till evenly moistened. Spread the mixture over two rimmed baking sheets and bake in the oven, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Stir in the fruit for the last 5 minutes of baking, just to dry up any excess moisture in them.
Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Simple yet stylish brunch for two

The incredible edible egg. That's the slogan of the American Egg Board, and I love it! (Though I am less fond of their efforts, or lack thereof, to end battery farming of hens) Eggs are among my favorite things to cook for brunch on weekends. They're inexpensive, versatile, and best of all, quick to cook. Perfect for those mornings after a night on the town! Omelets, pancakes, frittatas, scrambled eggs...you can ring the changes endlessly and come out looking like a pro!

One of my favorite ways to cook eggs is to make a tortilla - also known as a Spanish omelet. This is for those days when you have a wee bit more time to lavish on your eggs, but it is a great dish to whip up if guests stop by unexpectedly, since you're quite likely to have potatoes and onions at hand.

Tortilla is good on its own, or with a nice green salad. Cut into small cubes and serve with drinks as part of a tapas platter, or sandwich with some crusty bread and head to the beach for a picnic! For today, though, I settled on a bright, lively salsa to accompany it - what better way to make use of those home-grown tomatoes and serrano peppers? I added some black beans as well, for a color and texture contrast.

The tortilla is proof that you don't need expensive ingredients to produce a truly delicious dish - just a little bit of love and care. Make sure to cook it on a low heat, running a butter knife around the edge every now and then. Flipping it may seem tricky, but all you need is a heatproof oven glove and a flat plate larger than your pan for it to work properly. The result? Thick, satisfying wedges of omelet, each bite laden with mellow sautéed onions and buttery-soft potatoes. You can make it thicker or thinner, well-cooked or a bit runny, depending on what your taste is.

And for dessert, I made one peach, two ways - an experiment at using a single peach to make two simple, light and healthy desserts, perfect for my husband and me to share! (Okay - I confess the ice cream was an added indulgence) I was pretty pleased with the results, so I will share that in a separate post.

Recipes:
Tortilla de patatas (Serves 2-3, depending on how hungry you are)
5 large free-range eggs
3 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
Extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Peel the potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise, then slice them thinly. Do the same with the onions.
In an 8" pan, heat a generous slug of olive oil, then add the potatoes and some salt. Fry briefly, then turn the heat down, cover an cook till the potatoes are almost done. Add the onions at this point, and fry till softened but not colored. The traditional method involves deep-frying the potatoes, then draining the oil away, but for health reasons I prefer to use this one. I think it tastes pretty good as it is.
While the potatoes and onions are getting done, crack the eggs into a bowl, season to taste, and beat with a fork until combined. Once the potatoes and onions are done, let them cool briefly, then add them into the bowl along with the eggs and stir till well mixed. Pour the mixture back into the pan, turn the heat to low, and cook for about 20 minutes, running a butter knife around the edge every now and then. When the surface looks like it is almost fully set, turn the tortilla out on to a flat plate larger than the pan, and slide it back in to cook the other side, about 10 minutes. Cut into portions of the desired size and serve.
Tomato and black bean salsa (Serves 2-3 as an appetizer with chips, or as a condiment)
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup cooked black beans (canned is fine)
1 serrano pepper, chopped fine (You can use any hot pepper of choice, seeds in or removed, depending on how much heat you can handle)
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp each ground cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper
Juice of half a lime
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before eating, for the flavors to meld.