Sugar Art, More Art & Awards

Firstly, thanks Usha yet again for passing on a new award to me... it goes pronto to my sidebar!

Talking about sugar art...
Who cant help falling in love with those delicate flares of glowing orange made entirely with sugar?
This is an inspiration from those pastry chefs creating beautiful desserts and decorating them with sugar art pieces. Of course, this is my first try and it is not perfect, but hey... who says art is perfect?

Sugar Art

Ingredients:

White Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Hardware - Candy thermometer, silpat/parchment paper

Method:

Mix water and sugar in a non-stick or heavy bottomed pan and fit it with a candy thermometer. Boil it on medium-high heat upto the soft ball stage.

Try not to mix it too often, this will prevent the sugar from getting to where it(the consistency) ought to be.

Turn down the heat to medium, and let the sugar reach to hard-ball and at this stage never leave the stove unattended. It turns to caramel very quickly and even the slightest burning can make the sugar bitter.

When it reaches a little above hard crack stage, the liquid should still be golden brown. Dark brown means you could throw out the sugar liquid and try again. That is how careful you got to be.

Spray a parchment paper with oil spray/use a silpat. Take a small spoon, dip it in the sugar syrup and drizzle back and forth into desired shapes.

Remember this does not have to be perfect.

Allow to cool and peel it off the parchment. Use it on cakes, mousse, or any desserts and make your dessert look priceless.

It may not be that obvious, but you can see the use of it in plating one of my desserts: Almond Puri

Now, coming to my art project this week. I don't have the source of this drawing, but you can see what I have attempted.



Time for some award give aways... I have been hoarding on to my awards for a long time now... now I am very happy to give the following to...

Wylde Woman Award to:

Uma http://teluguruchi.blogspot.com/
Purva http://purvasdaawat.blogspot.com/



Rules for Wylde Woman award are:

1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number inbetween - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post.

2. Link back to this blogsite (http://www.TammyVitale.com/)

Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgement to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.


A perfect blend of friendship Award to:

Cham http://spice-club.blogspot.com/
Usha http://veginspirations.blogspot.com/



Premios Dardo 2008 Best Blog Darts Thinker Award to:

Valarmathi http://valar-myblog.blogspot.com/
Sowmya http://creativesaga.blogspot.com/
Paru http://brindavanrecipes.blogspot.com/



Beautiful Site Award to:

Vaishali http://earthvegan.blogspot.com/
Meeso http://meesosweetandspicy.blogspot.com/

Home-made Mango pickle

This is the easiest recipe I could come up with for making Mango pickle. Yes, I try to make my own, and when it comes to mangoes, it has got to be home-made.
It is pretty challenging to find nice raw & ripe mangoes here, unlike in India where the varieties just overwhelm you.

Talking of mangoes and India, reminds me of this wonderful book "The mango season" by Amulya Malladi set in Hyderabad. It gives a beautiful insight into the Indian culture, food, and life. Priya, the protagonist of the story is secretly engaged to Nick, an American, and that her family back in India is not aware of.
Priya reluctantly returns home when she is 27, during the Mango season, to her traditional Brahmin family who are all hell-bent on getting her hooked up to a nice boy of their choice.
The story is about Priya, her fears, what she wants, and what her family wants for her. It is a beautifully written book, and is totally a page turner. If you like books, and different cultures, this is a novel you shouldn't miss.

Now, will get back to our recipe, shall we...

Home-made Mango pickle

Ingredients:

Raw/Nearly raw Mango - 2 large
Chilly powder - 2 cups (yes, that is pretty hot, you may reduce it if you like)
Salt - 1/2 cup (Or) To taste
Light Olive oil - 1 to 1.5 cups (Use only "light" olive oil or use canola/veg oil)
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Methi powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Slice and dice mangoes into very small pieces.



Heat oil, add asafoetida and the mustard seeds. Wait for the seeds to splutter and then turn off heat.

In another dry bowl, add cut mangoes, salt, turmeric, chilly powder.
Lastly add the methi powder. Mix well.



Allow the oil to cool down a bit & then pour the warm oil over the mangoes and mix again.

Allow to marinate overnight at room temperature. You may refrigerate it after that.



Note: I have given the salt and chilly powder measurements as I like to make it. Pls make adjustments if you like it less/more salty or hot. There is no set rules to make this pickle.

Use in small quantities as accompaniments for rice dishes, chappathis, rotis, dosais, or idlis.

This is being shelved for Romaspace's Long Live the Shelf event

Banana choco-nut ice cream: Low fat

There are two kinds of people in this world - People who are chocolate lovers, and people who are vanilla lovers.

I have been wanting one for so long, an ice-cream maker... I used to think of all the low fat ice creams that I could create and not having to buy those tubs from the grocery store to satiate my cravings for ice creams (which is almost every other day!) :)
Yes, I love ice creams and I am never hesitant to admit it. I had a big thing for chocolate ice creams, but as my tastes buds evolve, I lean more towards vanilla these days. But chocolate with nuts beats them all.

As I was looking for recipes on the internet to make a low fat version which was still creamy, I found that there is a real dearth of good low fat recipes online. Most of them are made with tons of egg yolks (I am not against it completely, but it beats the purpose of trying of making it as healthy as possible)
So one day I hear "Alton Brown" (I am a huge fan of this show) of the Food Network mention in some episode that bananas are a good substitute for eggs since they give the same consistency.
And that is how this was born... my own creation, and it is spoon-licking-good.
It is best served in soft-serve stage, but you could freeze it for later use.

Home-made Banana choco-nut ice cream: Low fat

Ingredients:

Frozen bananas - 2 (Remove skin before freezing)
Fat free Evaporated milk - One 15oz can
Skim milk - 2 cups
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Sugar/Splenda - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Chocolate chips & Chopped walnuts - 3/4 cup

Method:

Blend the frozen bananas with the milk in a blender till creamy, and then add rest of the ingredients except the nuts and chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and run it for about 25-30 min. Follow your ice-cream maker instructions as to how much of the mixture it can hold.
I pour 3/4ths of the way up.



The mixture would have turned into a soft-serve by now. Add the nuts and chocolate chips just one minute before turning off the machine.

There you have it! Home-made Banana choco-nut ice cream that is low in fat and sugar.
Note: If any of you come across good "relatively" healthy ice cream recipes, do send across the link to me, and I will definitely try it out.



Sending it to Lore's Original recipe event



Thanks Cham for pointing it out to me. I am also sending this to Meeta's Monthly Mingle August 2008: Fruit & Chocolate

Soybean and Green pepper Fried rice

Wondering why the fried rice looks brown?
This is as healthy as it can get. I used brown basmati rice for this recipe, just because that is the only rice I have been using for the last couple of years.
There we go again, the thing about brown food better than white food!
It probably would taste much different with white rice, but I am sticking to what I know and feel is healthful.
Green peppers, carrots and soybeans are the main ingredients, with a dash of soy sauce to give that little kick. I also used red chilly paste from a Korean market, it comes in a red tub with inscriptions you probably wont understand if you don't know Korean:)
It is just too good! I add them in noodles/rices and other stir-fry dishes, and with its red flare it does its job well.

On a cautious note, I usually have a bad experience cutting green bell peppers. Since their skin is so waxy and the knife very so often takes a break and decides to chop off a part of my skin rather than cutting the peppers.
To avoid this, make sure you cut the peppers skin side down where it is more easier for the knife to get a grip on.

Completely off topic... do any of you, my lovely readers (who really, actually, read all my write-ups before my recipe) watch "Lost" series on ABC channel?
I am beating myself up as to why I did not watch it earlier, in spite of glowing recommendations from friends!
I just finished watching Season 1, and am on Season 2. If you have not watched it, you really are missing some real good action. Trust me, it is not like those soaps that they beat to death on Television. I must warn you, it is very addictive.

Just could not conceal my excitement, so there was my little detour... back to the recipe.

Green pepper and Soybean Fried rice

Ingredients:

Brown Basmati Rice - 4 cups cooked & chilled for at least 2 hrs (I say chilled, so that when the rice goes into the hot wok along with the veggies, it wont get mushy, and will hold its shape well during the cooking process, this holds good especially for white rice if you decide to use that instead)

Julienne Green Bell peppers - 2 medium
Julienne Carrots - 1 cup
Soybeans without shells - 1 cup
Red chilly paste - 1 tsp
Red pepper flakes - 1 tsp
Light soy sauce - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Olive oil - 3 tbsp

(Julienne is a fancy-schmancy term for cutting the vegetables into long thin strips)


Method:

In a wok/a wide open pan take the olive oil and saute ginger and garlic for a few seconds.

Then turn in the vegetables in the order of carrots, soybeans and bell peppers and saute till half cooked.

Add the red chilly paste, salt, pepper, chilly flakes and soy sauce and saute for another 2-3 min.



Add the cooked, chilled rice directly to the wok and quickly stir-fry it for a few minutes till the rice is warmed through, and thoroughly mixed with veggies.

Sprinkle with some green onions and serve with raitha (plain old yogurt with raw onions and cilantro)



Off to Sia's JFI-Soya event
Lore's Original recipe event
And last but not least Rachel's Seasonal Veggies Version of "Go Ahead, Honey - It's Gluten-Free" event