Spaghetti with Honey Balsamic Tomatoes and Mozzarella

I have always admitted my love for Italian food. And I will always. My love for pastas is profound. We make our way out to binge over them at least once a week. And that needs no excuse. And with my little one adding to that bandwagon of cheese and pasta lovers, I deliberate we are growing big as a group.

My little toddler exhibits her fondness for cheese and tang flavors and relishes them exceptionally well. Over the past few weeks, I have sworn by the arrabiata sauce recipe for most of my pastas so much that I safely hang on to it. We kind of ran over boredom with this however. I mean how much of same stuff can you eat over and over again? In a bid to experiment a little more than the usual, I played around with totally different flavors this time.

BTW, I got a pretty bottle of Balsamic Vinegar that looks nothing less than wine and tastes closely similar too. Sort of like vinegar in wine, I guess it’s that. Aged grapes were meant to be wines, weren’t they?

How much I love these BBC GoodFood magazines that I am a regular subscriber of them. As the month end draws closer, I eagerly wait for their monthly edition, couriered and hand delivered, saving me from the menacing task of hunting them down in supermarkets. The magazine is par excellence, with good write-ups, strikingly drool-worthy photographs and wide variety of tried and tested recipes to try out, I am totally convinced it will be my best bed side reading for several nights to come. For 75 odd tried and tested recipes in one book for 100 bucks a magazine, isn’t that cheap? Now that’s what I call a clean deal! All these years I was hooked to their website, now I am glad they are finally in India, I have them my hands on!

I worked with Balsamic flavors in savory for the first time, wondering really how much of body it would render to the vinaigrette, considering pasta itself is bland and void of any flavor. While I am quite confident with a tomato sauce or white sauce that’s thick enough to hold the pasta, I speculated if the pasta would go loose in this recipe. Boy! I was wrong. I’ve known what magic Balsamic does when roasted with strawberries, but to contemplate in dressings, they just make the dish exotic and top notch.

I toyed around the recipe for Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Mozzarella Sauce from the Pasta edition (March month) of the GoodFood magazine (I love owning my copy), making a few subtle changes to the original recipe. Instead of cherry tomatoes I chopped 1 plump tomato, used Balsamic instead of rice vinegar, jalapenos instead of capers, which I did not have at hand and worked with basil instead of mint it called for. Also added olives for more flavor. The outcome was fabulous with burst of fresh tongue tickling flavors from Balsamic, olives, tomatoes and herbs. The Vinaigrette itself was appetizing and delicious. Do anticipate them to be commendable in salads too.

Spaghetti with Honey Balsamic Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Inspired by BBC GoodFood Magazine

INGREDIENTS

A fist full of Spaghettis
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (I used Colevita extra virgin olive oil)
1 Red onion, finely chopped
4-5 cherry tomatoes, chopped to two (I used 1 plump tomato chopped instead)
4-5 pitted black olives, halved
1 jalapenos, chopped
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar (I used Colevita)
1 tsp. Honey / Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp. Fresh/Dried Basil leaves
Generous sprinkle of mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large vessel of water to rolling boil along with a teaspoon of salt added. Add the pasta, taking care to handle them gently to avoid any breakage. Spaghettis have lovely noodle lengths and look pretty when swirled around and served. Boil the pasta till al dante. Drain the water completely, drizzle some olive oil over the pasta and toss gently. Set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, soak the chopped red onions in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and honey. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Allow the onions to soak and soften for at least 5 minutes. Then add in the olives, jalapenos and chopped tomatoes. Season liberally with fresh/dried herbs (basil or mint) to taste.

Toss this vinaigrette to the cooked pasta. Throw in some mozzarella and toss well gently. To serve, swirl the pasta around the fork and using a second fork transfer it to the serving plate gently so that it holds up nicely. Scatter over the veggies and dressing and serve with fresh gratings of mozzarella cheese.

I don’t actually arm myself in measuring out and following a recipe to the tee where no baking is involved. It doesn’t matter much when you vary ingredients and mess around here and there, it actually brings out your signature taste. Unlike while baking desserts, for savory and spiced dishes I think it’s best to believe in your intuition rather than exactness of the recipe. If you still think exact measurements matter, you can find the recipe here. To make a vegan dish, substitute honey with sugar and skip mozzarella all together.

If sun shines high and you’re looking for a light summer dish that screams for some flavoursome summer time meal, you have to try this. Call it a salad, a main course or just a one pot dish, it’s fresh, light and refreshing with a summery feel.

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Aam Murabba / Indian Mango Jam

We are getting past the summers, which simply to me signifies the end of mango season. The rains will kick in hopefully, which officially is June, yet we’ve not had the first showers, blame the climatic changes, cite environment reasons or simply the delay. Even as I look forward to the much indispensable rains, I am mourning at the end of summers. I have a heart ache as I frantically look around for the disappearing Alphonsos, only to find they are almost end of season. Our splurge in mangoes will soon come to a dead end. Sigh!

This season we raced on mangoes boisterously. We’ve had a good dose, real good if I can say so, still I can’t seem to get enough of it. In all honesty they were never used in any desserts, never adulterated, only stripped and eaten pure. So this space was left void of any mango desserts as you can see. While I’ll be welcoming jackfruits, jamoons, watermelons, guavas and papayas warmly this monsoon, a part of me does not want to bequeath this vibrant summer fruit. These sweet, succulent, juicy, sun kissed ocher-shaded luscious fruits that made our faithful summer indulgences will be missed till next summer.

While these seasonal beauties are fading away from the market, I found my answer in the Aam Murabba, a preserve made from raw mangoes that can stay well for a long time. I found solace that I could still relish some real mangoes in form of preserves long after mangoes have washed-out from the season. Unlike the ones where that are artificially flavored with synthetics, are tooth-achingly sweet with deep ambers from synthetic coloring and taste very little close to the real mangoes, these are mild, tart and deliciously fragrant.

A murabba is an Indian jam, grated tart mangoes in a sweet suspension of sugar syrup, often warmly spiced and flavored with cardamom and/or spices.

Aam Murabba / Mango Jam

INGREDIENTS

2 cups raw mangoes, grated (Totapuri mangoes used here)
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
1 tsp. freshly ground cardamom powder
A few saffron strands, optional

DIRECTIONS

Wash and grate the raw mangoes. You may peel or leave the green skin on for a coarser jam. Heat a cup of water in a pan, add the grated mangoes and cook uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes stirring constantly. The mango pieces will turn softer.

Once the mangoes are soft and cooked, add in the sugar and stir well to cook further. Dissolve saffron in some of this sugar syrup and add to this. Allow the murabba to cook in sugar syrup and reduce to a double string consistency.

Remove from the fire, add the ground cardamom seeds and mix well.

All it cool down completely. Bottle in a sterilized glass jar and store refrigerated for up to 6 months.

This Aam murabba or mango jam is a good way to preserve raw mangoes in a thick cardamom flavored sugar syrup. They stay long, at least for a few months refrigerated, though I doubt it would even last that long considering how lip-smacking it is! You can enjoy this jam/murabba spread on bread, toast, rotis and puris.

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Stracciatella Ice cream

Aah! Finally the weekend is here and it feels so so good, that I can't possibly express the immense joy I get on the dawn of Fridays. It's the day of the week I look forward to the most; it gives me joy, hope, lightens my heart and heightens my spirits. And even as the day comes to an end on a Thursday, I can feel the excitement and dip in pressure with the weekend drawing closer. The worst of work load on a Friday doesn't stir me, fortified with an ability to deliver my best, probably the positivity and the hope that Saturdays and Sundays will give that well deserved respite and the time I deserve for my family. Wish God blessed us with few more Fridays a week. Life would have gotten only better!

Undoubtedly, my job is an integral part of my life and I love it every bit. I've never been a person who could stay home, probably the feeling of being insecure to be cut off from the happenings in the world outside would haunt me severely. Being confined to the four walls is not just me. My job helps me pursue my professional aspirations and improve business acumen, just as I had dreamt of where and what I should be while in my college.

Yet on the flip side, I compromise high on my family time. That realization hit hard only after my baby was born. Till then, job and career meant beyond all. And like every mother it would be a treat to watch my little baby grow every minute, evolve to the persona she will embellish into, I find solace in the fact that I have my mom by my side, donning my shoes, playing my role in my absence, ensuring my little one is not deprived of any need or personal care.

And that speaks why I look forward to the weekends, only to be with my family and do everything for them that I don't can't do over the week.

If Eva Toneva's simple eggless vanilla ice cream with 2 ingredients couldn't help me resist my temptations to make some at home, David Lebovitz's recipe for Stracciatella ice cream sold me completely to it. Having made the classic version couple of times I wanted to be a little experimental with this. And so gladly I admit I did, you can't just help yourself stay away from spoonfuls of this simple vanilla decadence with Italian-style chocolate chips even as it sits freezing. A litre of ice cream was easily half the volume by the time it was done.

Stracciatella Ice cream

INGREDIENTS

400 ml of sweetened condensed milk
500 ml cream (25% fat Amul cream used)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
60 gm. dark chocolate

DIRECTIONS

Pour the cream into a bowl. Whip it to soft peaks. Add in the condensed milk along with vanilla extract. Beat mixture using a hand mixer. Pour into a freezer proof container. Cover with plastic film and freeze in freezer.

Transfer it from the freezer to fridge at least 20 minutes before serving. This basic vanilla ice cram can be served as it or with toppings if desired.

For Stracciatella:

The vanilla ice cream can be enjoyed as is, however to make it decadent and exotic go ahead to make Stracciatella. Melt the dark chocolate in microwave on high for a minute. Alternatively, use a double boiler technique to melt the chocolate. Transfer the melted chocolate to a paper piping bag. Snip off the tip for the chocolate to flow. Drizzle the chocolate randomly over the almost-frozen mixture, then stir, breaking up the ribbons of chocolate as they freeze, to create little ‘chips’. Scoop out and serve!

PS: The original recipe calls for equal quantities of cream and condensed milk. I have made this ice cream couple of times, however I like to add in 50-100 ml. of extra cream as I found it too sweet for our tastes. I suggest you taste and adjust sweetness accordingly.

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Eggless Banana Walnut Chocolate Muffins

So my frivolous love for bananas continues with this post….

Hope you don’t bog me down for this one. It’s not that I am head over heels for bananas in desserts, but the bananas and chocolates go together so well, the twosome combination is a pair made in heaven. That probably is my opinion alone. In fact my husband thinks its otherwise. He abhors bananas in desserts, to his taste it ruins the dessert entirely.

We were out at Swenson’s on a recent weekend to enjoy some goblets of ice cream. Their colossal menu in lanky brochures are sure to instigate sundae cravings in anyone. Earlier the week, my husband picked up a Times daily deal that randomly caught his interest while flipping through a newspaper ad.

The deal didn’t go down well with us, given the fact we were offered limited choice to pick from. It wasn’t just worth the penny saved on discount. Every option we were allowed to choose from had bananas in it, not certainly my husband’s choice. With puckered brow and frown on his face, he beheld a manifestation which Swenson’s wouldn’t like to envisage, I am sure.

While I made my choice for a Fruit n’ Nut Sundae, given his weakness for chocolates, he finally ended up indulging in a Chocolate Sundae, with loads of chocolate ice cream, gooey chocolate sauce, cream, nuts, and of course banana chunks (that according to him would have been decadent minus the bananas).

Bananas apart ;), that made up for a nice romantic evening we spent together. Of course with a baby around, you can never make it romantic, can you? May be the song Paani da rang vekh le currently playing on my iPod would have conjured up for that romance. :) I am so much in love with this number from Vicky Donor (wish I got to see the movie too…) that I have it playing in loops! Good job Aayushman, love your voice.

Ironically, despite the dislike of bananas in desserts, one of our all-time favorite still remains the Banana bread. For the chocolate lover boy I have at home, I made these Banana Chocolate Muffins with walnuts and it turned out that from the small batch of 6 large muffins that I got, I was left with none the moment they were out of the oven. I got to click these snaps in less than 5 minutes I was given for the countdown, so please bear with these photographs shot in the evening in low light conditions.

Eggless Banana Walnut Chocolate Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 1 large over ripe banana)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter (replace with vegetable oil for low fat)
1 tbsp. cocoa powder (add a tsp. more for a denser chocolate flavor)
1 scant cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Handful of chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Line the muffin tin with paper cases.

Mash bananas along with milk in a food processor. To this, add melted butter and whisk well. Set aside.

In a separate glass bowl, sift the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder and sugar along with baking soda.

Make a well in center of sifted flours. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Fold gently. Few lumps are perfectly fine, they give texture to the muffins. Finally fold in the walnuts. The batter should be thicker than the regular cake batter.

Scoop out spoonful of the muffin batter and dollop them into the lined muffin tins. Scatter a handful of walnuts and brown sugar for a good crusty, crisp topping. Very optional, but rest assured you will love biting into that crunchy topping, also rendering caramelized butterscotch flavor to the cake. Bake for 20 minutes at 180ºC or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from pan.

So what differentiates muffins from cupcakes? Traditionally is that muffins are meant to be denser with lower fats and sugars, usually left without frostings. They are supposed to have drier texture than cupcakes, however most bakeries replicate the recipe for cupcakes with high fat and sugar content in them, making them unhealthy and unfit for regular consumption. With this recipe I used butter, but for low fat version use vegetable oil instead of butter, also replace all-purpose flour to an equal mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour for a healthier option.

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Date & Nut Energy Bars

Some energy bars are here for you to please. These bars may look ugly, but they aren’t really. They can be your little dessert treats for your dinner time or make up a great snack for mid-afternoons too. If that’s a good enough reason then you should make them now.

If not, let me boast a little more to please you. These are not just delicious but quite healthy too. They are sugar free, so will do perfectly fine for your waist line. Furthermore, they are diabetic friendly, baby friendly, dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan too. Are you convinced???

My snack box is currently packed with these energy bars. They have been a hit at home and the fact that they are healthy (I really like this term :D) totally spoils us for more. I got about 12 bars and they got over too soon. So I went back making more of these and realized how easy they were to whip up and equally yum to snack on. No cooking, no baking, just a simple whiz of handful ingredients like dates, nuts and any fruit juice. Amazingly, it’s the dates that render a moist natural sweetness to this dish that you won’t realize there is no added sugar, yet being sweet, I like to think I am on diet, especially with these.

I have some wicked thoughts to adulterate these bars. How about adding in some cocoa powder to make sinful Date & Nut Bars? Or maybe, I should care for some Fig & Nut Energy Bars? Not a bad thought, yeah? I let you know, soon.

Date & Nut Energy Bars

Inspired by the recipe on Natural Delights

INGREDIENTS

2 cups pitted and chopped Dates
2 cups Raw Cashew Nuts
1/2 cup Raw Almond (I used mine with skin)
2 tbsps. orange juice

DIRECTIONS

Combine chopped dates, cashews & almonds in a food processor. Medjool dates can be best used here. If not, use any moist date you have at hand. I used Lion seedless dates, which were moist enough for this recipe. Dried ones will not help. Pulse and process all the ingredients together until the texture is coarse. Add little orange juice at a time until it reaches a dry but moist dough consistency. Scrape the bar mixture into a tin lined with aluminium foil. Press evenly with a rubber spatula. Chill for about an hour. Remove from refrigerator and cut into desired sizes.

I kept these bars thin, but you may double the recipe and get thicker bars if you like. The bars are quite rich due to a good amount of nuts in them. These tend to be sticky but as they sit in the refrigerator, they get better. I placed a foil between each date bar and stacked them. This recipe is surely a keeper.

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