Scrambled Cottage Cheese.

Didn't mean to do this post, but the plate looks colourful, so I thought let me proceed. Hubby declared yesterday that henceforth he would like to come home for lunch( I think the german potatoes in the cafeteria got to him). I was very glad cause it meant the kids and I would have an hour to chit chat with him and spend time during lunch. He assumed that it would be burdensome for me if he came home. I would not say that, but i do have to alter my schedule now. More so because the kids and I would manage lunch with a quick made meal than an elaborate one. So the more time i spent in the kitchen would be for dinner.

             Today being day 1, I got to working. I made a simple Indian meal for him which the entire family relished. Chapati's with egg korma, spicy chick peas(kabuli channa) and scrambled cottage cheese(paneer burji).

The first time I got cottage cheese from the market in Lohr was in February. I proceeded to cook it and upon tasting it had this horrible sour taste. The kids refused to eat it and so it was goodbye to cottage cheese. I later came to know that it is made from goats milk but have no clue as to why it is sour. Now the dumbo in me had forgotten that in India i used to make paneer at home. I came to realise it only yesterday when the milk had spoilt(thank goodness, it means the weather has gotten warm) and voila it was flashback for me to my  paneer making days.

         Here's how it goes. Add fresh milk(however much you like) to the spoilt milk and keep it for 24 hours. Then bring it to a very good boil. Strain onto a muslin cloth and tie it up tight so as to drain the whey completely. When done, it is reduced to a lump of cottage cheese. Cut it into cubes or scramble it if you like. Since I did not intend to do a posting, I have no pictures.

Finally here's how the scrambled cottage cheese goes....Chop an onion, capsicum, and tomato. Heat oil in a shallow pan. Drop the chopped veggies along with the cottage cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low flame till done. Serve hot with chapatis.


  

Vegetables in Spicy Garlic Butter.

Ingredients :

• 200 gm mushroom
• 200 gm broccoli
• 200 gm baby corn
• 2 red or yellow capsicum
• 1/2 cup minced garlic
• 1 tbsp pepper freshly ground
• 3 tbsp butter
• salt to taste

Method :-

1. Combine garlic, pepper, salt and butter. Beat well and set aside to infuse.
2. Wash vegetables and cut into bite sized pieces.
3. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Stir in 1 tbsp salt. Add baby corn, cook for 1 minute, strain and set aside. Blanch broccoli in the same water, strain.
4. Toss vegetables in the butter mixture and bake, steam or microwave for 5-7 minutests till crunchy but cooked.
5. Serve with grilled chicken and Mini Jacket potatoes(to be posted later)

Rich Dark Chocolate Cake.

I am back to browsing through my Good Housekeeping magazines. This particular recipe caught my eye, because the ingredients didn't look like the usual ones we use. This recipe does not use any flour at all. I was curious to try it out and see the outcome. I followed the ingredients in the recipe to the T with an alteration in the baking time .....

Ingredients :

• 8 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp coffee powder
• 12 tbsp water
• 1 and a half tsp vanilla or rum essence ( I used rum)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 slices slightly stale bread
• 1 cup almonds
• 200 gm butter preferably white
• 300 gms sugar
• 8 eggs seperated

Method :

1. Mix together the cocoa, coffee, water, essence and cinnamon powder. Stir to a smooth mixture. Set aside.
2. Process the bread to fine crumbs in a grinder or mixer. Pour some boiling water over the almonds and slip off their skins. Process to fine crumbs as well but seperately.
3. In a bowl beat the butter and sugar till fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Add the powdered almonds and chocolate mixture. Stir in the breadcrumbs.
4. Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks. Fold into the cake mixture.
5. Grease and line a large 14 inch cake or two smaller ones.(I used a large round tin)
6. Bake in an oven preheated to 160 degrees. Bake at 40 minutes or till done. The smaller cakes take less time.( This is where I made the change. I baked a good hour and a half since the centre of the cake was still undone after an hour too).
7. Before serving, pile on ice cream attractively at the top.
8. You may also add some chopped fresh or tinned fruit.
9. If you prefer, substitute the ice cream with fresh, whipped cream.
10. For an exotic touch, drizzle over some of your favourite liqueur - coffee flavour goes wonderfully          ( Thats what I did, I used cherry liqueur, though the kids preferred to have it as it is.)

 Note : The batter turns out to  be quite liquidish, so I was wondering if it would finally turn out to be a cake. I was relieved it did and it turned out to be one of the moistest cakes I had ever made.

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

May 13th was Father's day in Germany!! It seemed to be a busy week for the kids with both mother's and father's day in close succession. They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!! So, there I was in the kitchen, baking a Pineapple upside down cake while the kids were busy with their cards!!

Ingredients :-

• half cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 can pineapple slices drained
• 4 eggs separated
• pinch of salt
• half cup sugar
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method :- 

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2. Melt butter in a pan. Add the brown sugar and stir until blended.
3. Pour this mixture into a 10 inch diameter baking tray.
4. Place the drained pineapple slices on top in one layer and set aside.
5. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1 tbsp butter until smooth.
6. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with salt until stiff. Fold in the sugar, 2 tbsp at a time Fold in the egg yolk mixture.
7. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Fold into the egg mixture in 3 batches.
8. Pour the batter over the pineapple and smooth level.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
10. While still hot, place a serving plate on top of the baking tray, bottom side up. Flip cake over. Serve hot or cold.

Final verdict : Anna was surprised to see the gooey texture on top and didn't like the look of it!! For the first time in her life, she refused to eat cake:-(  Dad was very happy and loved it!!!

Black Forest Cake!!!

As I mentioned in my post here, Wednesday was a cause for celebration at home. And I chose to bake the family's favourite!! The Black Forest cake. Though I had seen the recipe many months before, I had not understood this particular sentence....sprinkle cake with Kirsche. Now I know that Kirsche is cherry in Deutsch and since the cake is a wet cake, we are supposed to soak it in a cherry liquid. I tried the dictionary, google translator but none could help me as to what the liquid is called. Not knowing who to ask, I just let it be.

       Since the past 2 months, we have had Maria come home to tutor the kids in the German language. Maria and I love to discuss and share information about our respective countries. I happened to share with her my new found passion for baking and asked her about Kirsch. Not only did she tell me what was it, she wrote it down for me and explained in length where I would find it in the supermarket.

 It is called Schattenmorellen.

The recipe I saw was for a very large cake. I was not confident of trying in such large measure, so I proceeded on my own and will share what I baked.

Ingredients :

• 4 eggs
• 200 gms sugar
• 350 gms flour
• 100 gms cocoa powder
• 200 gms butter
• 1 and a half tsp baking powder

For the filling and topping :

• 1 bottle cherry conserve(cherries soaked in sugar water)
• 2 and a half cups whipped cream
• 3 packs whipped cream stabilizer
• 3 packs vanilla sugar
• grated chocolate
• fresh cherries for decoration

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Grease a square baking tray.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together and keep.
3. Beat eggs and sugar together till frothy.
4. Add butter and continue beating.
5. Add slowly the sifted flour, continue beating and mixing well.
6. Pour batter into the greased tray and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or insert knife and check if it comes out clean.
7. Allow the cake to cool well.
8. When completely cooled, slowly remove out from tin and slice  the cake through in between to form 2 layers.
9. Prick each layer slightly with a fork, then sprinkle with the cherry water. 
10. Whip the cream along with the stabilizer and sugar in a bowl until it starts to thicken.
11. To assemble, spread one cake layer with cream and then cherries. Then place the second layer cake, on top of it cream and then cherries.
12. Spread the remaining cream all over the cake. Press grated chocolate on the sides and on top and decorate with cherries.

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