My 200th Post!!! Doughnuts Two Ways - Daring Bakers

YAY! 200!! I can't believe it! I am so thrilled on being at this mile marker. So cool! {pats self on the back}. I didn't think it would come so soon or in such a way. What better way to reach that marker than with a challenge post. And, a sweet one to boot! LOL

Ok, a quick pause for the official lines... The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

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{VOTING OPEN} A drive through New England and a picnic with Colors

Thank you so much for supporting me so far in PFB 2010. Voting is now open for until 6PM PST on Oct 28, 2010. Please use this link to vote. Thank you very much! :)



As much as Fall portends the beginning of the cold and dreary, I think it is THE most gorgeous time of the year. It isn't too cold for one to step out, take a deep breath and smile and see people smiling back (come Winter and nobody smiles in NYC. They just hurry past!). And, the best part, of course is seeing Nature putting on a simply glorious show! The red and golds of leaves simply warm your heart.

However, it is only for a short period of time that one can enjoy this Nature's dance. And, it doesn't always happen. It's a timing thing. During my stay here in the North East, I have perhaps seen vibrant colors only once before this year.

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Laksa Lemak - Velveteers Oct 2010

This month, the Velveteers challenged each other to go traditionally Asian with a classic seafood noodle soup, Laksa. A simple search will tell you that the Laksa is pretty popular in many East Asian cuisines with each region creating their own take on the spices composing the broth as also the noodles that are served in it.

I was super thrilled when we decided the dish for the month, since this spicy, coconut-y seafood soup has been on my to-do list for a very long time! I love seafood and any dish that use multiple varieties of it to create depth of flavor is a must-have, like the Bouillabaisse. Speaking of which, I had an epiphany as I was sauethe base paste today; Laksa is really an Asian Bouillabaisse!

After debating over the different types of Laksa from the apparently easy Laksa Kelantan to Curry Laksa to the Laksa Lemak, I decided to make the last. I have always liked dishes with freshly ground spices and the idea of creating the base for the soup from scratch using dried shrimps et all, sang to me. It was a done deal.... until I went shopping!

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Lebanese Soup with Moghrabieh

I started watching Glee this season primarily because I love Jane Lynch! I mean, for me, the kids and Glee club itself are largely secondary to the few moments of phenomenal presence that Jane brings to the screen. That said, they do put on good shows and I am a sucker for song and dance although I am thoroughly inept at both. Or, perhaps that's the reason for my affinity to this art form ... :)

Yesterday's episode of Glee was a rerun from the last season. The best moment of the episode was when the kids from the school for the deaf performed John Lennon's Imagine. I LOVE that song. I love the lyrics and the song would be so perfect for any period of time in human history ... :)

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

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{VOTING OPEN} Pizza around the world: Turkish Pide and a Poached Pear Pizza

Thank you so much for supporting me so far in PFB 2010. Voting is now open for round 5 until 6PM PST on Oct 21, 2010. Please use this link to vote. Thank you very much! :)



Recently, I had reasons to do some research on the ubiquitous Pizza. I was amazed to find how ancient the concept of pizza is!! The common history of the birth of the pizza, as a popular dish, is a romantic story of how a poor man's meal became the comfort food of the high and mighty and the prosperous and has since become a truly democratic dish!

What I also discovered in my scouring was that the term "pizza" has been prevalent as early as 997 A.D but wasn't even given the status of being an edible dish until much later. It was initially a baker's tool used to verify oven temperature!!

But, once the concept of the pizza as a bread base topped with sauce, took off, it spread far and wide across many many cultures. The breadth and reach of the far flung Roman and the Ottoman empires must surely have aided the pizza's adoption into people's homes and hearts.

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Pears, Pannacotta, Wine and a Giveaway

*This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated in it. The winner is Heather with her tweet about the event! Congrats Heather!! :)*



I am overwhelmed by the reception that my Project Food Blog posts have been receiving. It is at once empowering and humbling; I am so grateful for your warm patronage, compliments and encouraging critique. And, to show my appreciation, I am hosting a giveaway sponsored by CSN stores, who, as you know, are purveyours of everything from dining tables to shoes to cookware. Details of the giveaway are the end of this recipe post.

I also offer you this beautiful dessert, a Lavender Pannacotta with Pears in White Wine Gelee. Desserts are perhaps the easiest to conjure up when faced with a cornucopia of fruits. Over the last few posts, I have shared some savory applications of Fall fruits and after making this and this I don't feel so guilty about moving onto the comfortably welcoming land of sweets.. :)

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{Voting Open} Farm to Table: Breaking down the Spiced Pumpkin Tart

Voting is now open until 6PM PST on Oct 14, 2010. Please use this link to vote. Thank you very much! :)



{Warning}: This is a very photo heavy post!!

A picture is more than equivalent to a 1,000 words right?! That's about what I am trying to do in this post. I plan to walk you through making a scrumptious Spiced Pumpkin Tart from scratch, flaky crust and silky, smooth filling and all!

For the fourth challenge in the Project Food Blog contest, we were asked to do a step by step photo post. I mulled for a bit over what to make for the show and tell piece. I finally decided to tackle a dish that is classic, elegant and definitely one of learn-to-fish kind of recipes.. :) The perfect tart with a flaky, buttery crust.

Much gratitude to everyone who has voted for me so far and I really, really do hope you will continue the warm patronage all the way to the trophy!!! :D

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Pomegranate and Cocoa Glazed and Pear Stuffed Quail

It's officially Fall or perhaps even bordering on Winter. However, despite the temperatures hovering in the 50s and the heater coming on already, there hardly any other evidence of the season that has sneaked (a sarcastic misnomer here) upon us with a surprising suddenness this year. I mean, it was barmy yesterday and today, what do you know, it's frosty!

In the city, there is hardly any change in foliage. The two trees outside my apartment are still a vibrant green with perhaps a scant few leaves hesitatingly siding with the season. But, last weekend, I got my first real evidence of the changing time of the year. Upstate New York, near the Catskills area, there were trees that were glowing amber especially in the gorgeous late afternoon sun.

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Fig and Balsamic Ice Cream and a review...

{Voting is now open} until 6 pm PST on Oct 7, 2010. Please use this link to vote. Thank you very much! :)



In the last post, I mentioned a bit about an ice cream. And, here I am going to say a bit more about it. As I said before, fig ice cream is a popular ice cream flavor in India, especially around the Bombay area...

Anjeer ice cream is usually made with just fresh figs. But, I wanted to put a twist. Well, the inspiration was from, believe it or not, a frozen custard from Shake Shack. Based on that taste, from about a year or so back, I made a Fig and Balsamic Ice Cream.

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{VOTING OPEN} A Taste of Home Dinner Party for Project Food Blog Challenge #3

Voting is now open until 6PM PST on Oct 7, 2010. Please use this link to vote. Thank you very much! :)

Ras Malai

Luxury: indulgence in and enjoyment of rich, comfortable, and sumptuous living!

My husband and I moved to NYC from our homeland a few years ago. So did many of our friends. When we moved away, we left behind quite a few luxuries that we did not recognise as such until their loss was felt.. immensely. One of those was the simple pleasure of having food that we grew up with, the simplest of meals, Dal Chawal (Rice and Yellow Dal) and the joy of having that cooked, lovingly, by our mothers in exactness to our preferences.

The theme of the third challenge in the Project Food Blog contest was Luxury Dinner Party. For my dinner party, I chose to host the flavors of my home country, which, in many ways has indeed become a luxury, not often enjoyed but always highly cherished by us and our friends. Caught up in a world of professional and other commitments, we find ourselves often yearning for the flavors we grew up with. For many of my friends, who don't often cook, having a home cooked Indian meal is becoming a luxury.

So, I felt that a proper Indian meal was indeed a luxury for all of us and would be a fitting challenge entry.

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