**Cheesy Cream Cake**

                                        

Ok first of all i must mention this here, i am still learning how to get along with my loving Blog,so while clicking here and there i discovered that as soon as you klick on the pic, you can see the enlarged image WOW that's so kooooool :D

I was trying to upload larger images but some how it showed this size so i was like ....ok... at least i can upload my pics na :) But its more fun to see the original size now, wooo I am happy  :)

Okay now a new change: The blog as unabled us to enlarge the pic as soon as we upload so thats really cool, i cna move around and chose the size i want :)

So now to my  Delicious Cake :

I always plan not to make any cream cakes and end up in baking them again : ) not that I don’t like them, its only that my weighing machine is not so happy at it  lol….

 
My friend was coming over so I thought something different as a dessert not the typical Desi meetha, so this was the quickest and easiest I could make. It was really very nicely made and came out so smooth, but then we sat and enjoyed our coffee and the poor creamy cake sat with us amongst my candles…..lol so you see the melted cream :-/

But well we had to gobble up all either way so we chilled and kept enjoying it in small portions and pieces :)

I make it with the crushed Digestive too but I like the short crust pastry better, we just need the baking time and it’s actually very quick…

Here’s what you do first, make the cake base :

 
75 gr Soft Butter
125gr AP Flour (plain all purpose)
75gr Castor Sugar
Dash of Salt
¼ tsp Baking powder

 

-Mix all the above ingredients into soft dough

-Spread it evenly in a round cake form ( I took 26cm)
-Bake in 180°C preheated for 12-15 minutes till nice light golden
-let it cool on a wire frame
-(took an hour nearly as it has to be complete cool for the cream

Cream Cheese for the Filling:

200gr cream spread (Philadelphia)
250 gr Cheese curd (Quark)
100 gr Cheese cream spread ( I took Kiri Kiri)
100 gr castor sugar
2-4 tbs milk
1 sachet Vanilla (sugar optional)
2 sachets of stabilizer for whipping cream

 -Beat all these creams together in a firm structure
-The stabilizer helps the cream to stay stiff
-Pour this mixture on the top of the base
-You can top with any fruit of your choice, I loved strawberries as we have now started the season and they are so juicy and sweet  : )
-Cover tight with a cling and let it chill at least 3-4 hours in fridge -I left it over night and it was quite firm and ultra yummmmmy : )

 Note:
*I cud have added gelatin powder or agar agar in the cream to make it more stiff, but using the stabilizer is actually enough..

 *My  cake base was a bit hard, coz I left it in the fridge over night and obviously the butter was cold and firm then na : ) so if you keep it over night and its hard no worries it softens in 10-15 minutes if you take it out before serving…

*Carrot/Garlic Dip*

A very different taste from the usual raita we make.
This Dip is served with baguettes, onion bread, sausages, and all sort of rice dishes too. It gives a very piquant taste, sizzles on the tongue.

Not every ones fav specially who are too garlic conscious : ) I love garlic and use it very frequently in all my dishes and specially the fresh grated one has a super aroma and taste …

We can use this dip as a side dish along with Shammi kababs to, I make it do that each time I make any sort of kababs.

So here is what you need for it:

200gr yoghurt (1 ¾ cup)
1 big carrot
2 small cloves of garlic (2 kaliyaan)
salt to taste
1 tsp black-pepper from the mill
½ tsp sugar

you have to prepare this dip at least half an hour before to get the taste,
as garlic needs to leave its juices

-beat yoghurt creamy, mix in sugar
-grate the garlic directly in the yoghurt
-grate the carrot and mix in the yoghurt
-season with salt and pepper
-cover it and let rest
-you can add milk if u like to have it a bit runny
-i sprinkled dry peppermint on it too

**Chello Kabab**

Chello Kababs are a Persian traditional specialty. They are served with rice and naan too, more of a flat bread type Khubuz. As we travelled through Iran I remember we had them every other day and were happy with the thought to eat it again and again : )

A scoop of butter on the top makes it heavenly


I have made Cheelos with turkey and chicken but this time i just used lamb minced meat, taste divine!!!!

500 gr minced meat
1tblsp rice flour
4tblsp lemon juice
1 tbs coriander powder
2tblsp crushed brown onion
1 shredded white bread slice
1 tsp salt (more to taste)
1tblsp red chili flakes
1tblsp crushed fresh garlic
Black pepper from the pepper mill
(3-4 twists)
2 tbs oil
1 level tsp garam masala(all spices powder)
2 green chili paste
1tsp bhoona zeera powder(roasted cumin powder)
½ bunch fresh coriander
I took the crispy brown onion and crushed to 2 tbs spoons.
Spares u the time to fry and drain and then grind :)

Grind the meat separately.
Shred the slice.
Grind the green chili paste.
Crate the garlic.
Mix all well with the oil, this keeps it soft and avoids it to dry after frying.

You can add 2 tbs of bread crumbs as well if u have no rice flour as the effect is same to keep them fluffy.
Make any shape you want to, rounds or then flat seekhi the original ones.
Shallow fry on a medium heat.

I sprinkled some more oil after frying to keep them moist

I also add a scoop of butter directly on them before serving while its still hot , the melted butter gives it THE touch and more richness!!!

A very tasty combi with naan or Matar(peas) Pilau!!!!

Creamy Sheer Khoorma

This sweet dish is such a delight and a must on Eid no doubt, but I make it every now and then too. I love its creamy thick structure : )

Another dish full with childhood memories, the big silver pot, the tray with pitted dates, the bowl with sliced nuts…. And Mom full ready to start cooking it..

I know I was crazy for the dates and used to pick them extra to fill my bowl : )

Those were the days……

Here’s what you need to do :

1 pack of already fried Sewiyyan (vermicelli they are a bit brownish)

7-8 seeds of small cardamom

1 tbs of raisins

4-5 full cooking spoon of ghee/butter

 

1 ½ L full fat milk

250 ml pack of cream

½ tsp cardamom powder

2-3 full cooking spoon of sugar and adjust to taste

 A good amount of nuts: (around ½ cup together)

Dry Coconut flakes

Boiled and peeled Almond halves

Pistachios fine sliced

8-10 soft dates (left from Ramadan : )

I never use the dry choharay)

4-5 strands of saffron

1tbs kewra essence

 

Heat a heavy bottomed pot with ghee/butter; don’t let it burn just slightly melt

          Add in the cardamom seeds and let splutter

          Add the raisins and fry till they fluff up

          Now break in the vermicelli not too small just crush slightly half in the middle

         Stir evenly so none of it is dark brown just vey slightly as they are already a bit       fried

        Now pour the fresh milk and add all the nuts too, let it boil once then add the dates in it and pour the cream slowly and keep mixing

Add the sugar, taste and adjust accordingly, add the cardamom powder too

Now just cover the lid half and let it cook

The taste comes out when it is cooked on slow heat at least an hour

The vermicelli will increase in volume and the milk will get thicker so watch out hat it does not burn

The dates will get softer and thicker yummz this gives a divine taste in sheer khoorma : )

As you see the butter laying on the top slowly means it has been cooked well

      Drop in the Kewra essence and mix smoothly

Take the pot away from the stove and set aside and sprinkle the saffron strands and cover the lid

The saffron leaves its light pale yellow color and gives a heavenly aroma

Your sheer khoorma is ready to serve

 

Some like it cold but I love it while its still warm and the soft dates in it are a delight: ) Its always a big demand apart from  Eid : )

**The Hidden Hazards of Microwave Cooking**

This is THE one topic that is important to me and weighs heavily on my mind.

I have been spreading and talking and discussing it as far as possible in my friend’s circles, meetings, gatherings, of course there are always pro and contra views about it, but the more one informs itself and takes serious interest to find out the truth, we realize what harm we have been doing to ourselves and our families over the years!

 
I have taken part in seminars regarding this theme and I must say I wish I could write all what all came in my knowledge, I will surely share whatever I can as I have translated most of it so hope it will make sense somewhere : )

                                                “You are what you eat”

 You have to understand what Micro “RAY” is

The German invented the first microwave-cooking device to provide mobile food support to their troops during their invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II

These first microwave ovens were experimental. After the war, the US War Department was assigned the task of researching the safety of microwave ovens.

But it was the Russians who really took the bull by the horns.

 
After the war, the Russians had retrieved some of these microwave ovens and conducted thorough research on their biological effects. Alarmed by what they learned, the Russians banned microwave ovens in 1976!! Microwaving distorts and deforms the molecules of whatever food or other substance you subject to i..

                       "How Your Microwave Actually Heats Your Food"

 Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation—waves of electrical and magnetic energy moving together through space. EM radiation ranges from very high energy (gamma rays and x-rays) on one end of the spectrum to very low energy (radio waves) on the other end of the spectrum

 Microwaves are on the low energy end of the spectrum, second only to radio waves. They have a wave length of about 4.8 inches—about the width of your head.

Microwaves are generated by something called a magnetron (a term derived from the words “magnet” and “electron”), which is also what enabled airborne radar use during WWII. Hence the early name for microwave ovens: radar ranges.

A magnetron is a tube in which electrons are subjected to both magnetic and electrical fields, producing an electromagnetic field with a microwave frequency of about 2,450 megahertz (MHz), which is 2.4 gigahertz (GHz).

Microwaves cause dielectric heating. They bounce around the inside of your oven and are absorbed by the food you put in it. Since water molecules are bipolar, having a positive end and negative end, they rotate rapidly in the alternating electric field. The water molecules in the food vibrate violently at extremely high frequencies—like millions of times per second—creating molecular friction, which heats up the food.
 
If the food or object place in the microwave had no water it would not be able to have this resonance heating type effect and would remain cool

Structures of the water molecules are torn apart and forcefully deformed. This is different than conventional heating of food, whereby heat is transferred conventionally from the outside, inward. Microwave cooking begins within the molecules where water is present.
 
Contrary to popular belief; micro waved foods don’t cook “from the inside out.” When thicker foods are cooked, microwaves heat the outer layers, and the inner layers are cooked mostly by the conduction of heat from the hot outer layers, inward.
 
(My input: Many must have noticed how fast your food becomes cold after u have heated it in the micro wave for 10-15 minutes, the rice gets harder and dried up, the bread get stiffer and the liquid has a skin on it which is usually “DARK”)

 Since not all areas contain the same amount of water, the heating is uneven.

Microwaves heat food by causing water molecules in it to resonate at very high frequencies and eventually turn to steam which heats your food. While this can rapidly heat your food, what most people fail to realize is that it also causes a change in your food’s chemical structure.

“Even when the microwave oven is working correctly, the microwave levels within the kitchen are likely to be significantly higher than those from any nearby cellular phone base-stations. Remember also that microwaves will travel through walls if the microwave oven is against an inside wall.”

The handful of studies that have been done generally agree, for the most part, that microwaving food damages its nutritional value. Your microwave turns your beautiful, organic veggies, for which you’ve paid such a premium in money or labor, into “dead” food that can cause disease

 
(My input: Dead food means your body cells are being fed with them and you are getting NO nutritive substance it’s only like eating an empty husk! )

                                                "Microwave Sickness"

When your tissues are directly exposed to microwaves, the same violent deformations occur and can cause “microwave sickness.”

People who have been exposed to high levels of microwave radiation experience a variety of symptoms, including:

 Insomnia, night sweats, and various sleep disturbances

Cancer in mostly women such as:
Bowel cancer!
Headaches and dizziness
Swollen lymph nodes and a weakened immune system
Impaired cognition
Depression and irritability
Nausea and appetite loss
Vision and eye problems
Frequent urination and extreme thirst

There is a good amount of data emerging that people are suffering, to various degrees, these kinds of symptoms from living next to cell phone towers and other high-frequency radiation emitting antennas, which emit microwaves around the clock.

You really CAN survive without microwave—people are living quite happily without one, believe it or not. You just have to make a few small lifestyle adjustments, such as:

 Plan ahead. Take your dinner out of the freezer that morning or the night before so you don’t end up having to scramble to defrost a 5-pound chunk of beef two hours before dinner time.

 
Make soups and stews in bulk, and then freeze them in gallon-sized freezer bags or other containers. An hour before meal time, just take one out and defrost it in a sink of water until it’s thawed enough to slip into a pot, then reheat it on the stove.

A toaster oven makes a GREAT faux-microwave for heating up leftovers! Keep it at a low temperature — like 200-250 degrees C — and gently warm a plate of food over the course of 20-30 minutes (Preheating time included). Another great alternative is a convection oven. They can be built in or purchased as a relatively inexpensive and quick safe way to heat foods

 
Prepare your meals in advance so that you always have a good meal available on those days when you’re too busy or too tired to cook.

Try eating more organic raw foods. This is the best way and improves your health over the long run.

 I hope I could give you at least “1 minute “to think about this….

Remember we owe this to our families and our innocent children to provide them with healthy food!!
 
I can recommend you all some books, buy if you can and read them!
I can only give you all food for thought, rest depends how one has to get the knowledge himself as this is what i did, am doing and will do Insha’Allah :)

"A Handy Way to Cook Your Brain.What's the Damage From Philip Day
   (every one SHOULD read this book)

More of Philip day's notable books;

"Health Wars"
"Cancer"
"Why we are still dying to know the truth"
"Food for Thought" 'Fabulous Food That Won't Kill You'

Stir Fried Summer Salad

I love making this salad quite often, it’s so different and nearly a good portion of a healthy meal : )

The ingredients added are not new but the method is different, and I add no salad dressing to it, actually I never use these readymade dressings since long , all what I sprinkle on my salads is lemon juice, a pinch of salt n pepper from mill, my home dried crushed peppermint leaves, and lastly some fine mustard oil to bring out the vitamins in it : )

For this salad its different, I fried all one by one so no need of any extra oil or seasoning afterwards.. What you need for this is as follows:

4 medium small potatoes
(Cut in even rounds)
4-5 red small radish
(cut in rounds)
2 pointed paprika
(cut in rounds )
5-6 pieces of any Salami of your choice or taste
¼ cup oil for frying

2 carrots (in thin fine stripes)
5-6 leaves of iceberg salad /finely chopped)
3-4 leaves of violet cabbage (fine sliced)
3-4 leaves of white cabbage (fine sliced)
*Prepare a bowl of all these together

-Heat the oil in a non stick broad frying pan
-Place all potato slices in it on a low flame
-The Potato slices have to cook slowly so that they don’t stay raw
-As they are done from one side turn over to the second
-Take out in a bowl as they are ready
-Now fry the red radish the same way but on a higher flame as they get cooked very soon.
-Now fry the paprika, just till they are a bit crunchy, don’t cook more they will lose the lovely red color (check my pic)
-In the end drain out all the oil and now fry the salami without any oil till both sides are good golden.You will get such a heavenly aroma while frying them ummmmmm : )
-Now cut the fried salami in stripes

*lastly assemble all with the prepared iceberg/cabbage/carrots in the bowl
*season with some dry herbs, I used dry olives and chives

Violaaaaa the yummiest salad is ready in no time : )
Serve it with Brown bread/baguettes/or as I said dish to any main rice dish… I served it with my Pointed stuffed paprika/Rice : )

Mom's Tips were the best......Part 3

How come Mom’s tips always worked, because they trusted the natural and simple ways to overcome any problem : )

Did you know how we can solve simple household mishaps very easily……….

-Stainless steel pot looks awful after constant use.... Well If you boil spinach in the this pot it gives it a sparkling look… coz spinach contains Oxalic acid which gives it the bright look..

Enamel pots are far more healthier to use, but they get stains very soon so to clean them just rub them carefully with salt all around using a soft cloth and wash out with normal soap, gives them a clean touch

It is so necessary to keep washing out water kettles and water cookers daily, as no one notices the amount of lime scale we intake thru them..Instead of using chemical powders to wash them, the simplest tip which I do every second day, pour a scoop of house hold vinegar, fill with water, let it boil twice and then wash out. Your kettle's look is sparkling clean and you will save your tummy with that extra chalk..

The drain pipe is driving you crazy… no problem: have a rest of cola at home, just drizzle all in the drainage and in no time you have a good flow…

A very handy tip is to pour the water of the boiled potatoes in the drainage, the potato starch helps keeping the pipes clean.

We all know how annoying it can be if are in a “chewing-gum trap” if on any shirt, just stuff it in the freezer, it will get hard and leave automatically

if on the carpet, cover it with some ice cubes, it will leave the fibers after becoming stiff, if in the hair, massage them with a good face cream, let work for a while and then carefully rub the hair with a dry towel in a combing manner..Never use a comb as that will break and damage the hair..

To be continued…………..