June 21, 2011

Corn, Capsicum and Olive Pizza with Creamy Mint Coleslaw


Before she came into our life, our weekends would tend to be laid back and relaxed. Unlike other days, waking up late on Sundays, to enjoy a cup of tea and biscuits is followed by warming up for the lovely day ahead. While he holds my attention to the bits of snippets read from the newspaper I get busy preparing the breakfast. Later a walk down to the nearby supermarket is the most looked forward to as I enthusiastically load my baskets with items and groceries required for the week ahead.

An odd vegetable rarely seen peeks through the regular stack of veggies, seasonal fruits catch a paramount attention and new food products on stands excite me to the pinnacle. Sometimes just a handful of items may suffice our needs, but I always end up going over board shopping in a supermarket, especially on a weekend when time is at our luxurious disposal. The stroll over the counter rarely ends in window shopping. Yeah, this often happens :) Temptation over powers and rules over resistance. I stack my crates and load them with stuffs that tempt me, mostly fresh items that were not seen on my previous visit, picked right off the rack. The battling eyelids of my husband showing reluctance are often ignored. Back home, I am a content woman. :D


Since a couple of months I have been missing food events and blogger's meets. I pinch myself to say a no. But at this stage my baby needs me the most and hence missing these events is inevitable. I love meeting bloggers personally in these meets. Apart from just good food, there's lots more to it... loads of talks, sharing thoughts and new acquaintances, all revolving around one common passion, that's called FOOD!

When I happened to miss one such event, I had to make something different from usual to compensate the miss :) Pastas and pizzas happen to be our all time favorites. Fruits and vegetable are bought fresh on a day to day basis. I love using an array of vegetables that bring out varied colors and contrast on plate. The scarlet reds from plum ripe tomatoes, bright yellow shades of gold from the corn, dotted with somber shades of capsicum and olives are a color treat to my eye. This pizza puts together a great color wheel!


Corn, Capsicum and Olive Pizza

INGREDIENTS

2 medium sized Pizza base (Refer to this recipe for a Homemade Pizza dough. A store bought pizza base will also do.)
1 cup Pizza sauce, recipe for Homemade Pizza sauce

1/2 cup onions
1/2 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup green capsicum
1/2 cup black olives

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 250 deg C.

Chop the vegetables as per your choice. I cut onions and tomatoes into rings, hand picked corn kernels from fresh corn while the capsicum was chopped to bite sized strips. The black olives I used were readily cut rings. Spread the pizza sauce on the pizza base. Top them with onion rings, followed by capsicum, corn kernels and black olives. Top this with shredded mozzarella cheese. A heavy topping of shredded quality mozzarella cheese will make this pizza delectably rich.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes. If using a store bought pizza base, please reduce the baking time, generally 15-20 mins should suffice. Bake till the cheese becomes golden brown in color. Slice and serve hot.


Creamy Mint Coleslaw

INGREDIENTS

2 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used eggless mayo)
1 cup thick yogurt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix mayonnaise, yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl. Blend well. Add in the vegetables and freshly torn mint leaves. Toss well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Keep in refrigerator until ready to eat.


Pairing with this veggie loaded pizza, I made this comforting creamy coleslaw. It's light, yet creamy and saucy. I kept it low on mayo and heavy on thick yogurt, loving the tang it rendered. If your yogurt is sour, skip the lemon juice.

I love making pizza base and pasta sauce at home. May be a little extra effort, but the result is worth it. My pizzas are generally laden with vegetables and go easier on cheese. I love to keep my pizzas heavy on vegetables and lighter on cheese. This was a perfect compensation for a Sunday lazily spent and the event missed.

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June 1, 2011

Apple Cinnamon Pudding


Just a couple of weeks ago I had mentioned about the SCS group dispatching a pack of Apple goodies. They contacted me later again with an invite for a live cooking demonstration of Washington Apples by Chef Vicky Ratnani. Had it not been for my daughter who was then less than a month old, I would have made every effort to be a part of that demo. Nevertheless, I am hopeful I will get more opportunities in future to attend similar blogger and press meets and not miss any :).

Almost during the same time when I posted this Apple Chutney made from the apples I received from SCS, I also made this dessert. I am not a fan of cinnamon in my desserts. I owe it to our Indian cooking traditions where cinnamon is extensively used as a spice in cooking various savory meals, but never in desserts. Using cinnamon extensively in desserts is more a Western concept similar to what cardamom is to us. Unfortunately, my attempts at liking cinnamon rolls have been disastrous too :( I have to admit I still love cardamom over cinnamon in my desserts.

Somehow apple desserts have always been paired with cinnamon flavors. Though personally it's not my favorite, my mom persuaded me to try cinnamon flavor in this pudding since apples made it's base. I was at my mom's place due for delivery and this dessert was served to my family for our lunch. The dessert being eggless was most relished by dad. Unaware that this was a Apple Cinnamon Pudding, he found it interestingly different from our traditional Indian desserts :) Glad he loved it.


Apple Cinnamon Pudding

INGREDIENTS

2-3 tbsp. corn flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tart apples
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Toasted flaked almonds and raisins to garnish


DIRECTIONS

Wash the apples thoroughly. Par, core and grate them. Heat a tablespoon of butter and add the grated apples. Cook them on low flame till they have softened well and most of the water content from the apples has evaporated. Turn off the flame and add in cinnamon powder. Set aside to cool.

Dissolve corn flour in 1/4th cup of milk and set aside. Boil the rest of the milk along with brown sugar. Reduce the flame and slowly add in the corn flour milk mixture in a thin stream stirring the milk continuously. Simmer and cook till the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Allow to cool. Finally add in the above cooked apples to the prepared pudding and mix everything well. Transfer to a pudding dish and refrigerate for 2-3 hours and serve cold. Garnish well with toasted flaked almonds and raisins.


The pudding overall was great and my family loved it. The toasted flaked almonds and raisins added crunch and nuttiness to the dish which I enjoyed the most. Not the best pudding to my tastes since I still can't seem to love cinnamon in my desserts. I may need more time on that. However, this doesn't mean you will not like it. You probably will if you love apple cinnamon combo.

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