Recipes Cooking

The two week holidays are back and its that time of the year when I struggle to find ways to interest my pre-schooler boy outside of the iPad or DVDs. Last afternoon, it was baking time. I pulled out the Muffins Bible from the bookshelf, read out the recipe for Blueberry muffins to the son, made him wear his spiderman apron, spread newspapers on the kitchen table and we were all set to bake together. He promptly recruited my househelp as the sous chefs sous chef, i mean, his sous chef. We measured out the dry ingredients, and the boy threatened to stir it with so much enthusiasm that I thought there would be more flour outside the bowl than inside it. When it was time to crack the eggs, he wanted to do it all by himself, breaking each of them like coconuts on the tines of the fork. My househelps heart was in her mouth, in the fear that how much clean up wed have to do if he broke the eggs on the floor. Thankfully, it wasnt that much of a disaster. We managed to fill up the muffin cups and when I turned around to put it in the preheated oven, guess what I see? When my attention had turned elsewhere for a nanosecond, he had cranked up oven temperature to 250C, changed the oven setting to grill - one crazy sous chef indeed. After some rectifications, the muffin tin finally went inside and then he sat almost burning his nose by touching it to the oven glass, to wait for them to be ready.



Finally when it was out, he didnt mind his tongue getting burnt but he had to taste them immediately. This morning, I asked him if he could recall how we made the muffins, this is what he drew. This made me a happy mom :)




Lemon & Blueberry Muffins
Makes 15 medium sized muffins






Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil or 1/2 cup oil + 1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup milk (at room temperature)
Zest of two lemons
Juice of 2 lemons
1 cup blueberries* (frozen or fresh)

Directions
Preheat the oven at 190°C.
In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and mix well with a fork or a whisk.
Whisk the oil / butter, vanilla extract, eggs and milk in another bowl. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice, give it a quick whisk and add this to the big bowl of dry ingredients.
Gently fold in the blueberries.
Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper liners or grease them well with butter.
Divide the batter between the 12 muffin holes. If theres any extra, make in the next batch, or bake a baby cake with left over batter.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Shopping Guide
I used frozen blueberries that goes by the brand Delishh, found in the freezer section of Auchan Supermarket (Gopalan Mall), KR Puram. Rs.215 for 200 grams, they were of reasonably good size and freshness. This freeezer section also stocked frozen raspberries and blackberries. 


My Doodle recipe is a part of Easy Doodle Recipe contest at BlogAdda.com in association with TastyKhana.com

If that title doesnt grab you right there, I dont know what will!  Ive been making salmon cakes about once a month for the last 6 months or so and I usually just do my own thing and make some kind of tartar sauce to go along with them.  Theyre always tasty and we always enjoy them, but of course I found a recipe in my new book that just takes them to the next level!  The panko bread crumbs make them light and crisp on the outside and the flavors are amazing on the inside.  The dipping sauce is superb and we found ourselves dipping our oven fries into it as well.  These are a winner!  I hope you enjoy them.


Note: Almost every time Ive made salmon cakes, Ive used canned salmon because lets face, my husband is in grad school and we are on a low budget.  The original recipe calls for a 1 1/4 lb. skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch pieces.  Since Ive never made it that way, I put canned salmon in the recipe, but Im confident these would taste far superior following the recipe and using fresh.  So do what you want!  If you too are low on funds, use canned and I promise they are still totally delicious!  Also, if using the canned salmon, add 1 egg to help them stay together.  They still taste great without it, but youll have a lot more trouble keeping them together.

Also remember to whip up your sauce before you start your salmon cakes since it needs to chill for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Crispy Salmon Cakes
Serves 4 (makes 8 cakes)

3 T. plus 3/4 c. panko bread crumbs
1 scallion, sliced thin
1 shallot, minced
2 T. minced fresh parsley
2 T. mayonnaise
4 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
20 oz. canned salmon (or fresh - see note)
1 egg (optional, only if using canned salmon instead of fresh)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 recipe Creamy Lemon-Herb Dipping sauce (recipe below)

Line plate with paper towels and set aside.  Combine 3 T. panko, scallion, shallot parsley, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, egg (if using), salt, pepper, and cayenne in bowl.  (If using fresh salmon - pulse in food processor in 3 batches until coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch pieces).  Add salmon to bowl with panko mixture.  Gently mix until uniformly combined.

Place remaining 3/4 cup panko in shallow baking dish or pie plate.  Using 1/3-cup measure, scoop level amount of salmon mixture and transfer to baking sheet; repeat to make 8 cakes.  Carefully coat each cake in bread crumbs, gently patting cake into disk measuring 2 3/4 inches in diameter and 1 inch high.  Return coated cakes to baking sheet.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Place cakes in skillet and cook, without moving, until golden brown, about 2 minutes.  Carefully flip cakes and cook until second side is golden brown, 2-3 minutes.  Transfer cakes to prepared plate to drain for 1 minute.  Serve with lemon wedges or sauce.

Creamy Lemon-Herb Dipping Sauce
Makes about 1/2 cup

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 T. plus 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 T. minced fresh parsley (or 1/2 T. dried)
1 T. minced fresh thyme (or 1/2 T. dried)
1 scallion, minces
1/2 tsp. salt
Pepper

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and season with pepper to taste.  Cover and chill until flavors blend, at least 30 minutes.

Source: Cooks Illustrated Cookbook

My rhubarb has gotten quite tough, thanks to the very high temperatures and lack of rain we have already had this spring. However, it is still suitable for this use.

Lemon balm is another plant left in the garden by the previous owners of our house. Its a mint relative, and as such is very easy to grow. On the other hand you rarely find it for sale, so if you cant find it replace it with a couple of herbal lemon teabags.

I used 1/4 cup of honey and thought it was sufficient, but it basically balanced out the sour rhubarb and did not make the punch noticeably sweet - you may wish to use a bit more.

Makes 2 litres (quarts)
6 to 24 hours and - 10 minutes prep time


500 grams (1 pound) rhubarb stalks
4 cups water
2 cups loosely packed lemon balm
4 cups boiling water
1/4 to 1/2 cup honey

Wash and trim the rhubarb, and cut it into chunks. Put it in a large pot with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until very soft. Let cool.

Meanwhile, bring the remaining 4 cups of water to a boil. Pour it over the lemon balm and cover. Let steep until cool. Remove and discard the lemon balm.

Strain the rhubarb very thoroughly, keeping the liquid and discarding the solids. Add the rhubarb extract to the lemon balm tea. Remove one cup of the punch, and mix it with the honey. Heat until the honey is dissolved, then stir it back into the punch. Chill until it is time to serve it.




Last year at this time I made Asparagus & Feta Tart. 

First new recipe from Pittsburgh! If you didnt know, we moved across the country a few weeks ago, and are finally settled and really loving it here. I made these delicious lemon bars the other night when we went over to someones house for dinner. They were a hit! I had a recipe that I altered quite a bit, and Im glad I did. They turned out really tasty. The crust was crisp and the filling was soft, tart, and sweet - but not too sweet. Enjoy!