Christmas around the corner

DIY Christmas Cake!

I am in the middle of moving so I can't really do the cake but I am posting this for you guys to give it a try at home for your Christmas..Just follow the link below and enjoy!

http://www.sugaredproductions.com/blog/cake-decorating/ruffled-christmas-tree-cake/

Fish Karahi [ Fish in the Curry]

So, its like 5:13 AM in Jeddah and I'm kind of sleepy not really sleepy yet. And I don't like talking alot about the recipe for now. In short, there are many recipes in Pakistan for making a "Karahi" and mostly they are Chicken Karahi and Mutton Karahi (chicken and beef! yes! ) but what is a Karahi? Good question!
As I said not much of bla bla today, please goto : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karahi

Left to Right: Wok and Karahi

Yes! That is called Karahi! And we make this curry-ish thing in Karahi and serve it in Karahi too! :D


What you need:
4 Fillet of fish
8 Tomatoes - Diced (preferably red and not at all the yellow ones)
3 Green chilies - sliced
5 cloves of garlic (hand chopped)
Half a cup coriander - chopped
Thinly Julienne cut ginger ( to garnish and its important to add it)
Salt to taste
1 1/2 teaspoon Red chili powder
1/2 cup oil

This is what you need to do:

1) Cut big chunks of the fish fillet and shallow fry both sides in a skillet. Until they are done.
2) Pour oil in your karahi ( you can use the skillet or a wok to cook it as well) and throw in your garlic. Don't let the garlic go brown just stir it a bit until you can smell the aroma. Now its the time for the tomatoes to go in.
3) Put salt and red chili powder in it and let the tomatoes cook. Until they leave the skin and the oil is separated.
4) Now take your fish and place it on the gravy and cover the skillet. Let it cook and get all the gravy taste for about 5 minutes.
5) Its time for the green chilies, garlic and coriander . You can simply sprinkle everything on the top.
6) Take it off the heat but I like to cover it for a while so that the garnish improvises its aroma too.

Mine didn't have coriander because I did not have it in home :P Hope you guys enjoy it...The ingredients are easy and you can make it with chicken or beef...I have tried prawns too! =D

P.S: Remember to keep stirring from time to time and keep it on medium-high flame to low flame as needed.

EGG-Sactly Perfect Cake Science

I wanted to share this Cake science with you guys by thecakeblog.com

Street Fruit Vendors - Lahore

Early winter fruits on streets of Lahore, Pakistan

Mashed Potatoes- The Rich and The Light

Been a long time! First Ramadan, then moving to another city and atlast traveling to Pakistan for my brother's wedding. Damn I miss the food in Lahore *yum yum*
Well so the story goes back to a lazy afternoon and I was craving for creamy yet crumby mashed potatoes. Who am I kidding! Almost everyone knows how to make mashed potatoes but still I will go with the recipe because I want to :p

It was a cloudy day so I decided to take a picture by the window

Ingredients:
2 -Small Potatoes (Ofcourse)
1 1/2 Tbsp - Butter/  1tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Black Pepper
Oregano
Milk/Fresh Cream
Salt

I have two versions of mashed potatoes: The Rich and The Light (for foodies on diet).

1- Peel and boil potatoes. You can also boil them without peeling. Check if they are completely done, by poking a knife in it. If the knife goes in and comes out without any tiny hassle. Potatoes are done!

2- Now peel them and cut them in small rough pieces. Do this in a steel bowl preferably.

3- For the rich : Put in the butter and start mashing it with the fork.
    For the light: Put in the olive oil in small quantities and keep mashing.
4- Add salt and pepper according to your taste.
5- For the rich: Add about 2 tablespoon or less of cream.
     For the light: Start adding milk a teaspoon at a time.

Once, you like the texture and the cream-iness in your mashed potatoes stop adding milk or cream. You can vary it according to your taste or cravings. I usually sprinkle some oregano or parsley on it.
You can also melt some cheese for the topping.

And after I was done eating all the cheese....

Serve it as a side dish with your grilled chicken or steak and enjoy !!!

Love Portion - Double Chocolate Mousse with Strawberry Sauce

Chocolate and strawberry - My Love portion, always a great idea for romantic dessert. 
And as my hubby loves chocolate mousse, I decided to put in everything together for his short 3-day trip to home. 
Warning: This may seem too long but it isn't and worth trying!

Lets see what we need :

Chocolate Sponge
Milk Chocolate Mousse
Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse
Whipped Cream
Strawberry Sauce

Strawberry Sauce :

There are several ways of making a strawberry sauce , we shall go thru 2 of them.

2 cups strawberries

3tbsp sugar

One way : 

1) Thaw strawberries at room temperature. Put them in a blender with 2tbsp of water. Blend until there are no lumps.

2)Now put it on stove at medium heat, let it simmer and then add sugar.
Once the sugar is dissolved, take the pan off the stove let it cool.

I like my strawberry sauce thick when using for chocolate mousse. And with less sugar kind of sweet and sour with its original taste.

The other way:
Repeat step no.1 above and pass the mixture through sieve to separate the seeds and other lumps. 
Now repeat step no.2 and you are done :D
You can add 1tbsp of corn syrup when sauce is on stove to give it the thickness.

Chocolate Sponge: Well to be honest I used the one from the supermarket :P.
Dark chocolate sponge works very well! Just crumb it not too much and keep aside.

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp Vanilla 
1/4 cup sugar

You can use wonder whip by Foster or anyother ready-to-use whipping cream.
I used fresh cream. Whip the cream until almost stiff. Then add sugar and vanilla. and whip until the cream hold the peaks.

Chocolate Mousse:

100g of Bittersweet Chocolate
8 egg yolks , divided
4 cups heavy cream, divided
100g of Milk chocolate
4 tbsp Vanilla Extract, divided
1/2 cup of butter at room temperature, divided

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 1 2/3 cups heavy cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Transfer to an air tight container and keep it in the fridge.
2. Using Bain-Marie technique melt the 1/4 cup of butter and chocolate. Stir in the sugar, 2tbsp of vanilla extract and take it off the stove.
3. Now add one egg yolk at a time, mixing it well. This will form a thick mixture. Add all 4 yolks.
4. Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and place into a large bowl.  Add 1/3 of the bittersweet-chocolate mixture to the whipped cream; whisk until well combined.  Add remaining bittersweet-chocolate mixture, until well combined.  Make sure there are no lumps. Do not whip it or anything just mix it with the help of plastic spatula.
5. Transfer bittersweet chocolate mousse to a pastry bag fitted with a large, plain round tip. Or you can just spoon it in the glass later on. Lets not make it a heavy work. :P 
6. Repeat entire recipe, substituting milk chocolate for the bittersweet. ( Yes, that's why we divided almost everything)
7. Transfer milk mousse to pastry bag as well. If you do not have one, relax, don't worry we will use spoon or ice-cream scoop. And if your mousse is not thick enough then do not transfer it to the pastry bag.

Assembling- The most exciting part !

Take dessert glass or whatever glass you want to use. Press down the layer of crumbled cake in the glass and add a spoon full of strawberry sauce. Now pipe the Bittersweet chocolate mousse. Let it rest in the fridge for atleast 20 minutes. Now pipe the milk chocolate mousse. Let it set in the fridge for other 20 minutes. Top it with left over whipped cream or more strawberry sauce. Depends on how you like it :)

You can also scrape some chocolate with the help of vegetable peeler and for the topping on the mousse.

Beside the cups I also layered the mousse into a dish for family-time!

For the hearts : 

Drop the sauce by help of a spoon or use a round small tip and then make a line by using the tip of toothpick from one end to other ... That's pretty much it <3

Bruschetta with Olives and Tomatoes

Been a looooonnnggg time guys! Ramadan is always a busy month. For me Ramadan is all about "eat, pray and love"  Lol like literally! So, anyways I will be posting recipes and some restaurant reviews soon.
For now there is something my family loves as an appetizer, the crispy french bread with aroma of garlic and butter with melting cheese! And yes I am talking about Bruschetta!

What we need:

1 Baguette
3 Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Olives (Sliced)
4 Cloves Garlic
3 Tablespoon Butter (At room temperature) Or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Half a bunch of Parsley
Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheese (Optional)

Instructions:

Take your and cut it the way its shown in the picture above, its better to use nice bread knife. Slices should be atleast 1/2 inch thick.

Chop your cherry tomatoes in small cubes, set aside.

Now chop the garlic cloves and parsley by hand or use machine to chop finely. Mix it with the butter.

Preheat the over at 450°F. Spread the butter mixture on one side of your slices and place it in the tray.

Then top it with tomatoes and olives. I am a cheese lover so I sprinkled some with mozzarella cheese and oregano before placing the tray into the oven.

Once, the cheese is melted or lets say after toasting the Bruschetta for 5-7 minutes take the tray out and serve warm. Please make sure don't over toast them! They will be hard as rock (Believe me on that)

Now this was one way of doing it. You can also coat the slices in olive oil and just rub the garlic on each slice, toast them and then top it with whatever you like.

They are best to serve with dinner or even as an evening snack. I baked few with the toppings and rest just with cheese and butter mixtures.