White Chocolate Mousse with Pomegranate

I just had to get one of those pomegranates - bright red things, who wouldn't be enticed?

Pomegranate - from "pom" meaning 'apple' and "granatus" meaning 'seeded', is rich in vitamin C and is quite tart. It is used on various savory dishes, from salads to soups. The ancient Egyptians fermented its juice to make wine, but it is also used to make grenadine. Only thing is just it's a bit tricky to get the arils - those red juicy sacs - out of peel and white membranes. The juice can stain everything on their sight, so best to be careful.

get the pomegranate and line the counter where you will be working on. coz it will be messy.

cut crown and bottom part. score (not cut all the way through) the peel into 4 segments and submerge the fruit into a bowl filled with water

break the fruit into quarters (which should be easy because you've scored it beforehand!) the arils should sink and the membranes should float. remove the arils from the membranes. drain the arils. for this recipe get around 2 tablespoons of the arils and gently smash it with a mortar to release its juices.

Melt 80 g of white chocolate with a teaspoon of butter in a bain marie or in the microwave. When the chocolate is fully melted, whisk in 1 tablespoon of milk. In a separate bowl whip 1 egg white until soft peaks form, then fold into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the 'smashed' pomegranate bits.

(I would have made this with cream but I ran out!)

Spoon into tall shot glasses and chill in the fridge for about an hour, or until set. Top with more arils before serving. This made 4 shot glasses.

Pink

She appears by the door.

Books!

Been reading for the past few days - one old, 3 new.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - one of his famous works. I've also read No One Writes to the Colonel and other short stories. Next would be Love in the Time of Cholera. I like his work :) Notice the plain cover, it is a Penguin Classic. Thank God for people wanting to share wonderful works at a cheaper price. "We believed in the existence of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it." Check out the site

Meanwhile these 3 books from Stephanie Meyer - so easy to read, so easy to get carried away. Keen to get out and purchase the last of the series, Breaking Dawn. Yes - will definitely see the upcoming movie New Moon!

(At times it feels like I'm back in high school reading Nancy Drew stuff - or maybe even Sweet Valley High now that we're at it!) but hey what the heck! I'm still buying the 4th book! (and maybe even The Host, another Stephanie Meyer creation).

Because to read is to feed the mind. Por que a leer es alimentar la menta.

Leche Flan

After whipping up the egg whites for the pavlova, the egg yolks were definitely not meant to be wasted. All these time I have been experimenting on cupcakes, breads and cakes, all sorts of desserts, but have never really made a lot of Filipino desserts. That's not good is it?

So the first thing that came to mind is the Filipino custard, leche flan. The sweet, smooth, creamy, silky texture makes this dessert a winner and forever present in major occasions - Christmas dinner, New Year's Eve, town fiestas, birthdays, anything worth celebrating that meant good food and good desserts (and out of the 32 teeth in an adult I think half is made of sweet teeth!) . I remember my aunt's leche flan - I can easily eat a couple of servings of those... so the standards are high, can't let myself down with this one.

The mission : create silky smooth leche flan using ramekins (in the absence of the more traditional Llanera - oval shaped metal pans.

After my usual recipe research, I went with this recipe :

Custard
5 eggyolks
2 eggs
1 can condensed milk
1 can water (use the condensed milk’s can for measuring)
1 tbsp. vanilla to add to the mixture
(bring ingredients to room temperature)

Caramel
1/3 cup sugar + 1 tsp water

Equipment
5 ramekins
steamer
foil
kitchen twine

Make the caramel :
In a shallow frying pan, dissolve sugar over medium heat until it bubbles, boils and turns a nice medium brown color. Do not stir, just swirl the pan, to help it dissolve. Be careful of the heat and remember to keep your eye on this - it can easily burn. (and can give bad burns too). Pour a couple of tablespoons into the ramekins, ensuring that the bottom part is covered. (i was able to make the caramel to be slightly darker than usual for a bit of bitterness, to balance the sweetness.) Set aside.


For the custard:

organic, free range.. and whites were not 100% separated, as you can see! :)

Mix all ingredients carefully, without beating so as not to introduce air into the mixture. The lack of bubbles is the key to having a smooth flan. I used a silicon whisk and a jug and was just gently stirring, while giving the whisk small circular motions. I would occasionally check by taking the whisk out and letting the liquid drip to see if there are still unincorporated parts of the egg whites. This took quite some time (and a lot of patience, I surprised myself). Strain mixture carefully.

i used the can of the condensed milk to measure the same quantity of water

Pour onto prepared ramekins (probably just 1.5 inches high - depends on your preferred serving size)

[left] the caramel at the bottom of the ramekin and [right] the custard slowly poured on top

Cover each ramekin with aluminum foil and secure using kitchen twine.

Boil water for the steamer then lower heat to medium low. Steam for about 45 min or until a knife comes out clean.

Let cool, then chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

To serve, run a non-serrated knife along the sides of the flan. Set the ramekins on a hot water bath for a couple of minutes just to melt the caramel and make the unmolding easier. Invert the mixture onto a plate in one swift motion. Cross your fingers and remove the ramekin.

Serve as it is, or garnish as personally preferred.

this one was served with a couple of fresh blueberries

Happy days :)

Guinness Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting

Cupcakes - Pretty, tasty, quick and easy.

There is just something about cupcakes that can make anyone grab a piece and shove it blissfully into the mouth. Is it the nice swirls of frosting? The cute garnish?

I think this one is mainly because its chocolate flavor - and with a little bit of booze too :)

This recipe is from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but i used whole milk instead of soy milk.

3/4 cup milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Guinness
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting (i just really threw this one together)
200g butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
3 cups icing sugar
2 tbsps whiskey

To make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together the milk, vinegar, Guinness, sugar, oil, and vanilla and beat until foamy. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and beat until well incorporated.

Fill your cupcake containers til 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
Beat the butter using an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Add the Bailey's and half of the sugar. Beat until smooth. Add the second half of the sugar and beat until smooth.

Garnish as you wish. I used cachous and colored sugar crystals.

Never mind that the frosting was haphazardly spread on top. It was yummy.

Pavlova

They consider it an authentic Aussie dessert, despite the Russian sounding name. The Pavlova - who would not want to eat one? - crispy on the outside, sweet, soft and chewy on the inside, generously smothered with cream, and made more beautiful with unpretentious fresh fruits.

5 egg whites at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp sifted cornflour
1 tsp white vinegar
1 1/4 cup caster sugar (1/4 cup sugar for every egg white)
pinch of salt
food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 110C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Beat egg whites, vanilla, vinegar and salt until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until thick and glossy. Fold in cornflour (and food color, if using)

Spread onto prepared tray and bake for 1 hr, until crisp.
Turn oven off and let cool, with the oven door ajar.

The vanilla cream was made of 2 cups thick cream, whipped until soft peaks were formed, spiked with a bit of sugar and around 5 tbsps of whiskey (more if you want it extra boozy)

To assemble, spoon vanilla cream on top of the meringue. Garnish with fresh fruits (usually berries, or something tart, to balance the sweetness of the meringue).

this one was topped with strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and some cachous for extra glitter, and some mint tips for extra greenery!

SpiceStop : Garam Masala

Garam masala, the heart and soul of Indian cooking, was all used up for Saturday's lunch, so I had to make a fresh batch ;p Garam means "hot" and masala "mixture" in hindi, and while there are also quite a number of garam masala recipes available, I found a new one which I thought would try - this uses black cardamom and black cumin.

black cardamom and black cumin

Unlike its green counterpart, the black cardamom has a smoky and almost mentholated flavor. The pretty intense taste is quite unique, and I have not actually used this much other than for the occasional curry.

Black cumin (cumin noir! or shah jeera) is sometimes confused with caraway, which is sometimes called the same thing in some places (don't ask me why). This has an extremely different taste from the usual cumin - quite bitter when raw, but it changes when cooked.

To make this batch I used :

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 ½ tsps black cumin seeds
4 tbsps whole coriander seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 ½ tsps dried ginger
4 pods of black cardamom
10 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
10 pcs small dried bay leaves

Dry roast ingredients in a shallow pan over a medium fire, be careful not to burn. When the seeds have turned to a slightly darker color, take away from heat, let cool, then grind using a coffee/spice grinder. Place in an air tight container and keep in a dry place.

Fills half a recycled bottle of Doritos salsa - I suppose this spice mix is also 99% fat free!

Rocky Road

Sometimes my sweet tooth just takes over like a maniac grabbing the steering wheel while singing "We Are the Champions" (?!) So while at the checkout at Coles, those chocolate bars sensed the raging desire and started screaming right at me. "Take me, take me!" they said, but the Turkish delight drowned the rest of the voices and two bars made it to the bag.

However it wasn't going to be just an easy way out, there had to be some process!

Rocky Road
2 Turkish delight bars, cut into cubes
350g dark chocolate buttons
raspberry flavored marshmallows - a couple of good handfuls
3 tbsp crushed peanuts
a handful of shredded coconut

Melt chocolate buttons. Place all ingredients together in a mixing bowl and mix well. I placed them in muffin trays just to make individual servings. Chill, and devour.

SpiceStop : Moroccan Spice Blend

Everyone has their own version of things. Even my parents have a different approach on cooking the same thing. The same goes with spice blends, I find that two spice blends are never the same; they may have the same ingredients but different quantities... (something like that). The beauty of homemade spice blends... is that you can add or decrease whatever you like, without veering too far off from the real thing. :)

This spice blend is made of :

15g cumin seeds

10g dried chili flakes

15g fennel seeds

10g ground smoked paprika

15g green cardamom pods

10g dried ginger

1 cinnamon stick

10g dried turmeric powder

15g coriander seeds

Dry roast in a shallow pan - be careful not to burn the seeds, around 2min. Let cool, then grind using a coffee/spice grinder. Transfer in an air tight container and keep in a dry place.

Native Aussie Edibles

Bush Tomato (Solanum centrale)

Nicknamed "desert raisin" because of its sultana-like appearance when ripe, the bush tomato is a native Australian plant that like the full sun and has low water requirements.

It has a strong spicy and slightly bitter aftertaste and as such is most recommended for curries. Also called "Kutjera", and it is one of the 6 edible wild species out of 100 in Australia. This needs to be cut back hard in winter, not too much humus, but add potash as it starts to flower.

Saltbush (Atriplex nummularia) or "old man's saltbush" is an interesting tasting plant. Its name "atriplex" is derived from the Latin word which meant "a plant substitute for spinach". True enough, fresh leaves are great and can grow big enough to make wraps, or in salads, or as a leafy bed to grilled meat and vegetables. The leaves can also be dried and use as you would dried herbs - with bread, pasta, etc. Indigenous Australians used to collect the minute seeds which are the ground and roasted for damper.

Samphire (Tecticronia verrucosa) is endemic to Australia and is a distant relative of rock samphire, its European cousin that grows along the coast of the UK. It has long been used in stir fries or salads. This plant also loves the salty soil, likes the heat and has minimum fertilizing requirements. This variety can be occasionally watered with a saline solution to enhance flavor, and can be harvested as soon as the leaf spikes have grown to 10cm or more.

Patience is a virtue that I usually easily run out of - hopefully this time I'd get busy doing other things while waiting for these yummy treats to grow so that I can give them my own version of TLC :)

Rain Kissed

* took this shot while dreaming of a DSLR for christmas...

Flower Power 2

With the changing seasons come the change of scenery, and almost 5 months after I've gotten to know the first few blooms, here are a few different varieties that continue to be a surprise .. (and at least this time I know some of their names!) :

Yes, the wisteria has a couple more flowers out :

I am yet to identify this wonderful fuschia one :

Small but beautiful

White and fragrant

Lilac!

One agapanthus, coming up :