A Pop and A Fizz: MPG Turns 1

Mango Power Girl turns one today with a pop and a fizz :) I have met some wonderful people thanks to MPG, and am really thankful for all of you. Your feedback has inspired me to get better and better, so please keep enjoying and thank you! It has been a great first year and I look forward to even better ahead.

It is hot in Seattle, just perfect for another ice pop. Yes, it finally feels like August! This time my ice pops are made of nice, ripe mango, strawberries, and mint julep from our edible garden! When you take a bite out of these ice pops, that wonderful tingly mint cools you off even more.

I had some liquid for the pops left over, so while they were freezing I added alcohol and seltzer for a delicious fizzy drink!

I used:
a sweet, ripe mango
a handful of fresh strawberries
a few mint julep leaves
a squeeze of lime
some simple syrup, a scoop of sorbet, or a spoon of sugar -- whatever you have handy to sweeten

My method:
1. Add the ingredients above in a blender, purée, taste, pour into molds. Freeze for a few hours and enjoy.
2. Pour any remaining mixture in your favorite glass, add some alcohol, seltzer, and cheers!

Basil Berry Ice Pops

The best blackberries and blueberries of the summer were part of my market-fresh loot from last weekend. Our favorite berry farm, Sidhu Farms, had flat after flat of unbelievable berries, each like the sweetest nectar! We bought way more than we could eat fresh, to freeze some for winter and to experiment with, too. I even walked home with a blue tongue, eating a whole pint along the way. I felt like a kid and meanwhile, every little kid who saw me eating blueberries from a big box, gave me a big smile :)


I was reminded of a little girl we saw once at the Ithaca Farmers' Market, I called her the Blueberry Girl. She was a beautiful little girl with the biggest blue eyes. Her parents brought her to the market every weekend, and this time of year, all you would see her eat was blueberries. It was a delight to watch this kid carry a big bag of blueberries and eat them one berry at a time :)


Seattle's Ballard Sunday Farmers' Market and the Ithaca Farmers' Market are both full of wonderful farmers, wonderful foods, and beautiful children. With a bunch of happy people around you, how can it not make you happy :) A community market is the best definition of Sunday to me!

To bring three great summer flavors together, I made my Basil Berry Ice Pops using my Simple Basil Syrup. I used both blueberries and blackberries, and both were at their best. The combination of sweet and tart was just right with Simple Basil Syrup.

You can vary the measurements according to your tastes or the size of your molds. If you don't have molds, you can use small cups with sticks in them, or just stick toothpicks in an ice cube tray full of the mixture. Basil Berry Ice Cubes would be beautiful in a drink!


I also happened to enjoy and photograph these ice pops in the last two days, which were two of the few (yes, I mean very few!) hottest days in Seattle this year. I am learning a lot about food photography, which has become a passion of mine. I had to eat them on a hot day, but especially then, this is one food to shoot and eat quickly. These were a fun and challenging subject to shoot as they melted more with each shot. Unfortunately, I was forced to eat 4 of these delicious pops in order to get a good shot ;)


I used (for an 8 pop mold):
1/2 pint of blueberries
1/4 pint of blackberries
2 tablespoons of Simple Basil Syrup
a pinch of salt

My Method:
1. Add all the ingredients to your blender. Purée till totally smooth and only small specks of berry skin are seen.
2. Have a taste! Adjust the quantity of the syrup according to what you like and the tartness of the berries. Mine were super sweet, so I did not need any more syrup.
3. Pour the mixture into your ice pop molds. Let them freeze overnight for best results.

To remove the ice pops, place a mold in room temperature water and it will gradually release the ice pop, without melting it too much.

Simple Basil Syrup

During last year's summer basil season, I made and froze a ton of my Basil Pesto. We love having pesto in the middle of the winter! This summer we've already eaten a lot of basil, and I have made more pesto for the winter, but I also decided to do something new with my market fresh basil.

I made a simple basil syrup. Its spicy sweetness is perfect in summery mixed drinks, fruit salads, or drizzled onto any fruit you please. Already I have enjoyed it in drinks, over a bowl of berries, on watermelon, and I've even used it to make ice pops -- more on that in a future post :)

You can make similar syrups with orange, lemon, or lime rinds or use other herbs of your choice. If you have a ton of purple basil, try it and you will get a beautiful magenta color! Sadly, my home-grown purple basil has officially died thanks to neighborhood squirrels. I used my trusted farmers' market organic Italian basil, just $2 per good sized bunch from Billy's Gardens -- who were featured in the film "Good Food"!


I like to keep a simple syrup simple, so later I can twist its flavors around for any use. I made this simple recipe into its own post because of popular demand :)

I used:
1/2 bunch of basil leaves, washed & plucked (about a cup)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

My Method:
1. Add all the ingredients to a small sauce pan and let them simmer till the sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickens to a syrupy consistency. It should take about 5 minutes.
2. Strain into a jar of your choice and let it cool to room temperature, with the lid open.
3. Once the syrup has cooled off, store it in the fridge.

Strawberries on Biscuits

A simple dessert for your family can still be beautiful. Strawberries on Biscuits are a pretty way to serve up more fresh, healthy berries in the summertime. Having a few different textures keeps the dessert interesting!

Read more in my post Strawberries on Biscuits at Naturopath.ca.

Wholesome Berry Crisp

Oh, I eat a lot of oats! because they are so good for you, but also because they smell and taste delicious when baked into a fruit crisp. I really enjoy making different crisps every so often with fresh, seasonal fruit. They are light and easy to make, and they also keep in your fridge for some time -- if you can stop from eating them!

Here with its recipe is a Wholesome Berry Crisp I made for Naturopath.ca.

Hazelnut Chocolate Loaf

I am tired, frustrated, and really did not feel like finishing another, more beautiful post that I had started tonight. It is just cold and crappy in Seattle lately, and everything is annoying the hell out of me. Then there are people you have to deal with who make it worse all day long.

Ever felt like that?! Well, this post is for all the brickheads I am tired of dealing with, though of course I won't name names. Sometimes life is one hurdle after another, and you try to remember to jump and smile over each hurdle, even though you just don't want to! Thankfully, pushing through a tough time can have its rewards, even when they're accidental.

This Hazelnut Chocolate Loaf is one of my creations that I did take good photos of, and it tasted great, but I just didn't write down the recipe. Now *I* feel like a brickhead!

This loaf also felt like it weighed a ton of bricks. When I cut and photographed it, even its texture reminded me of bricks. It actually was an attempt at brownies that I had screwed around with so much that it turned into this dense Hazelnut Chocolate Loaf.

I don't typically care for brownies much, because they too often feel like an undercooked slab of dough that I can't finish chewing! My American husband loves them though, and I guess I don't blame him, because gooey brownies are so common in this country and they are easy as hell to make. Maybe because my dislike for a gooey brownie is so strong, I don't seem to have the skill for making them gooey from scratch. Sorry B, let's just stick to an organic boxed mix -- Dr. Oetker wasn't bad, right?! ;)

This Hazelnut Chocolate Loaf was also crunchy and had a bite to it. I cut it into small slices to control the portions of this indulgence, but then a friend from work and I ate most if it ourselves :-P

For now, I will keep jumping the hurdles and maybe I'll see a ray of sunshine soon!

Rhubarb Risotto

Rice puddings are familiar, warm, and comforting, just like moms :) Throw in some rhubarb, strawberry, and ruby red port, and you'll get a kick in the butt like you occasionally might if you misbehaved ;) Arborio Rice also adds a bite instead of a typical Eastern rice, which would only dissolve like it does in kheer.

I totally went out on a limb with this dish. It is imaginable someone else has tried it, strawberry - rhubarb is a popular combination, but I haven't seen it in a rice pudding. I'm glad I gave it a go, they really perked up my risotto!

I did learn from one mistake while making this :-P I needed more milk than I expected, but even while a bit thick at first, it surely tasted good. You can vary the recipe by making it with water instead of milk, or by adding whatever you feel bold enough to risk :) I don't advocate waste, but calculated risks are worth taking to discover something unique! I used strawberries thinking it needed them, but next time I would use only rhubarb, saving strawberries for a garnish.

I dedicate my sweet, fruity Rhubarb Risotto to my mom, for teaching me to be nice while at the same time being strong and independent! Mom, thank you for standing by me in the toughest times, and for pushing me to overcome the highest hurdles.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms ... you do the best and the hardest job in the world!

I used:
2 tbspn unsalted butter
1/2 cup Arborio rice
3 cups milk
1/4 tspn Saigon cinnamon
4-5 sliced strawberries
2-3 sticks sliced rhubarb
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
couple of splashes of ruby porto -- I used Warre's 1995 LBV, shown above
squeeze of fresh lime, or lemon, orange, any fresh citrus

My method:
1. In a small sauce pan on medium heat, add the rhubarb, sugar, and lime juice. Let them heat to a simmer.
2. Add the strawberries and a splash of port, and simmer for few more minutes until the port reduces, and the mixture thickens. Taste and add more sugar if needed at this point. Take it off the heat and set it aside to cool. At this point you could call it a compote, and use it as such :)
5. Melt the butter in a larger pot on medium heat. Stir in the dry rice, turn up the heat, and let it cook for a couple minutes as the pan heats up.
6. Add about half a cup of milk at a time, while stirring to make sure all the milk is absorbed before you add the next half cup.
7. As you add the milk, you are also stirring to make sure a cream film does not form. As the rice cooks it will double in volume. Once you add the last half cup of milk, and while you are still stirring, add the cinnamon, stirring it in, too.
8. Stop and taste to make sure the risotto is cooked. If not, then cover it and cook on low heat with some more milk. The cooking time and amount of liquid needed may vary based on the Arborio you use.
9. Once the risotto is cooked, take it off the heat and mix in the cooled rhubarb compote.

Serve the dish right away, while still warm, for the best flavor. I added a fresh sprig of mint :)

One other note -- try the compote separately alongside a sip (or two) of porto, and you'll be amazed how they sparkle!

Mango Shrikhand

May is my month! I was born in May not too many years ago, and where I was born in India, this is a hot, Summer month. There, May is also the month of mangoes. If I was in India now, I would be eating a mango with every meal and some in between. I am making May the month of mangoes, with many if not all of my posts dedicated to the "King of Fruits." This was also the first batch of the mango season which I found ripe and sweet enough in Seattle, so the first dish I made was Mango Shrikhand.

Shrikhand ("shree-khund") is yogurt drained of all its liquid, then sweetened and spiced with any flavors you like. It is not so much an Indian dessert as it is regional, and very popular in my home state of Gujarat. Yogurt itself is widely eaten all over India, especially in Summer because of its cooling properties.

I loved shrikhand so much as a kid that I would eat it plain, even with no fruit, just cardamom. My school was right next door to a big creamery -- the largest producer of packaged shrikhand in India (it was like going to school next to Breyers). Once each year the school took us on a field trip, a tour of the shrikhand manufacturing and packaging plant; boy! how I waited for that trip!

Usually the shrikhand we ate at home was not packaged, we made it ourselves as we also made our own yogurt. Here in Seattle though, it is harder to get the milk to curdle with our relatively cool, damp climate. We still make yogurt at home, but often turn to the best we can find locally. In Seattle we are fortunate to have many alternatives!

Greek Gods is one locally manufactured yogurt that has been perfect for shrikhand. They are available all over the U.S. -- try their Store Locator. Greek Gods yogurt is a strained yogurt, so it cuts my shrikhand-making work in half. It is so fresh and high quality that it is the closest thing to the home-made shrikhand I grew up eating!

If you can't find Greek Gods, for one alternative you can use regular yogurt, with a little more work. You will need to tie it up and hang it in a cheese cloth overnight, to drain the water. Kefir cheese and any other plain, Mediterranean style, strained yogurt will work the best and you may be able to avoid the draining step. Strained yogurts are also manufactured with a higher pectin content, so they will require less sugar than a regular yogurt you strain at home.

Depending on how fresh the yogurt is and other factors, its tartness will vary. Sugar levels vary widely, and this is one reason it is hard to give precise measurements in recipes for traditional foods. You have to trust your tongue, taste as you go, and learn by doing.

Shrikhand is traditionally eaten with poori or roti, but once you taste it, you'll eat it all by itself! Below is my recipe for Mango Shrikhand ...

I used:
2 cups Greek Gods plain yogurt
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tspn ground cardamom (I've seen people over-do this lately and it kills me! Don't use too much cardamom.)
2-3 tbspn crushed nuts
1 ripe and diced Ataulfo mango (Mango tip for Seattleites: Ballard Town & Country has had a few amazing batches, but you've got to pick them properly! Ataulfo are currently in season and widely available ... please leave some for me ;)

My method:
1. Take the yogurt in a medium bowl and hand-beat with a whisk, till it is nice and smooth. It takes about 3 minutes.
2. Mix in the sugar next. Taste it! If it tastes acidic or "too yogurty," you need more sugar! 1/2 cup is what I needed to turn this yogurt into Shrikhand, you might need more or less.
3. Add the cardamom and mix.
4. Cover and refrigerate. It will solidify slightly, too.
5. Right before serving, top with nuts and mangoes.

Spring Saffron Shortbread

This cookie is my way to welcome Spring and the big Lama to Seattle.

Although the temps are slightly chilly in Seattle, we are fortunate enough to have everything blooming -- from the famous UW cherry blossoms to daffodils and tulips. The seeds of compassion are blooming in Seattle, too, as the Dalai Lama has arrived for a five-day visit; more on that below :)

I've been dying to make cookies using this tulip-shaped cutter we've had in our supplies for a while now. As soon as I saw the first tulip in my yard, I finally did it. Shortbread is one of those cookies that I love to eat, but never thought of baking. Recently I was going through a cookbook I received for my birthday last year and discovered a simple shortbread recipe. These cookies are my adaptation of a recipe from Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery.

With this I want to prove you can have beautiful food colors from totally natural ingredients. I will publish more posts in the future with more colors and flavors. Spring Saffron Shortbread deserves its very own alongside the lovely tulips from our yard!

Saffron provides the beautiful yellowish-orange color and gives your food the most amazing aroma. This combination of flavors was very much inspired by the Indian sweets I grew up eating. I added a bit of powdered almonds and pistachios, and the flavor was out of this world. These are soft, buttery, aromatic cookies with a salty bite -- as a good shortbread should have. They are decorated with a saffron cardamom icing.

For the cookies, I used:
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1/4 tspn kosher salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, sifted
a pinch of saffron
a handful of finely ground pistachio and almonds
1 tbspn milk

For the icing, I used:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tbspn water (more or less based on the consistency you feel comfortable to drizzle with)
half a pinch of saffron
a pinch of ground cardamom
1 clean Ziploc® bag (a clear plastic, disposable bag, sandwich sized)



My method:
1. Cream the butter and salt for a couple minutes with a mixer.
2. Add the sugars and cream till the butter is soft and fluffy.
3. Add the sifted flour in a few different parts, mixing on low till all is combined.
4. Take a pinch of saffron in milk, and combine (mortar & pestle works the best here) till no strands are left; you'll have a nice orange liquid -- that is your natural food color! Add it to the cookie mix and mix till the color combines evenly.
5. Flatten the dough into a disc shape, wrap it air-tight in a plastic wrap, and chill for a couple hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) when ready.
7. Take the dough out 5 minutes before you want to roll it out.
8. Roll the dough out into a 1/2" thick sheet on a floured surface, and cut into it whatever shapes you like.
9. Place cut outs onto a baking sheet and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until you see their edges starting to brown.
10. These cookies stay pretty light in color, so once the edges are done, take them out and cool.
11. Make the icing while your cookies cool. Combine sugar, water, cardamom, and saffron in a bowl, or directly in the Ziploc® as you prefer. I crushed the saffron with my hand, but did not melt it this time so I would see little specks of saffron in the icing!
12. Cut a tiny hole at an angle on one of the tips of the icing bag, and make sure there is no air before you close the bag. Once the cookies cool, decorate away, and enjoy!


There is another reason I am featuring saffron. Saffron is the color worn by peaceful Tibetan monks. With the atrocities long going on and now flaring up in Tibet, with all the protests and now more violence, it is sad more is not being done internationally. The world needs to stand up! Even with the on-going turmoil, the Dalai Lama is here in Seattle for a five-day series of discussions, speeches, and more by the organization called Seeds of Compassion. The gathering will be webcasted in 24 different languages at their site, so if you will not be in Seattle for the next five days, be a part of it virtually. With thanks to my friends in the Tibetan community and at work, I will be able to attend parts of the gathering, and for the rest of it I, too will be logging in :)

Free Tibet & Peace to the Monks!

Truffles - Fair and Local!

I have tried numerous chocolate truffle recipes and methods and I keep coming back to the path taken by the master, Wolfgang Puck! I first saw him make them on Food Network a few years ago. Chef Puck stuffed his truffles with raspberries. Following his lead but doing my own thing as ever, I kept mine local and fair-trade, dark with 71% cocoa chocolate and local espresso against sweet, local hazelnuts.

My truffles feature "Organic Very Dark Chocolate" from America's oldest and largest fair-trade company, Equal Exchange. Their philosophy of economic fairness and environmental sustainability deserves more attention and importance in our world. The second office of this worker-owned co-operative is in nearby Hood River, Oregon. I often enjoy the Equal Exchange cafe in my neighborhood of Seattle :)

Equal Exchange extends sustainability from the environment to the economy without national prejudice, ensuring a fair deal for both its partner-farmers and for consumers of organic and high quality products. You will find their coffee, chocolate, and other fairly traded ingredients at your nearest co-op or socially conscious grocer.

I used hazelnuts from Holmquist Orchards, a small, family-run farm that believes in producing the best. When I spoke with one owner recently, I learned that Holmquist grows the Duchilly hazelnut, which is longer, sweeter, and thinner in skin than a regular hazelnut. A regular hazelnut rarely tastes good with it's skin on as the skin is so thick. Duchilly are not grown by most commercial producers because the hazelnut per tree ratio is much smaller than for regular hazelnuts, and of course most commercial producers' have their profits more in mind.

I had already been buying Holmquist hazelnuts for a while because they are delicious, local, and fresh. After the owner explained more to me, I felt even better supporting Holmquist. They are producing the best product for their consumers and working hard around town to get the word out. You can find them at Pike Place Market on the first floor near the high stalls. Holmquist might also rotate through several Seattle neighborhood farmers' markets in Summer 2008.

What better to pair with a dark chocolate hazelnut espresso truffle than a great espresso? Why not a few great espressos! For those Seattleites and visitors who don't already know, you must try Seattle Coffee Works near Pike Place Market (on Pike Street between 1st and 2nd Ave). It is the only place in Seattle - our beloved coffee drinking mecca - where you can taste local, micro-roast espressos side by side by side. At Seattle Coffee Works, a serving of three espressos at one time is called "The Works," shown in the shot below.

Their cafe is a warm, friendly place where staff and the owner, Sebastian will keep you satisfied and informed till the last drop! They work a locally-made Synesso machine with all the skill, pride, and high standards you would expect from the wonkiest espresso cafe in Seattle. Know thy coffee! ;)

This is my latest truffles recipe, invented as a birthday gift for my father-in-law who is of course a huge dark chocolate and espresso lover :)

I used:
4 ounces Equal Exchange "Organic Very Dark Chocolate," 71% cocoa, chopped into small pieces
3 tbspns heavy cream
1 tbsn unsalted butter
2 tbspns strong and fresh espresso (you can add any other flavor you like)
a handful of toasted, unsalted Duchilly hazelnuts from Holmquist orchards, finely chopped

My Method:
1. Create a double boiler with a heatproof bowl on simmering water. Make sure the bowl is not touching the water.
2. Melt butter first, then quickly add chocolate.
3. As soon as the chocolate melts, add the cream.
4. Take it off the heat, and mix in the espresso.
5. Refrigerate until thick enough to spoon, and stir a few times along the way if you need to.
6. Use a melon-baller, dipped in warm water & wiped in between scoops, to scoop out the truffles and dump them in a tray full of hazelnuts. This way, you won't melt too much with your hands.
7. At this point, you have no choice but use your hands to roll the truffles around. Yay! Make sure they are thoroughly covered in nuts.
8. Place them in individual wrappers or on parchment, however you'd like to store and serve.
9. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and then they are ready to eat!
10. Serve them with a great espresso, port, or even a bold red wine.

Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

When I asked my husband what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he responded with a list of ingredients. It was funny at first, but I also loved the challenge of it. It felt like an Iron Chef episode! Chocolate and zucchini jumped out at me together, because I wanted to use his requested ingredients but still surprise him. Hence, this Chocolate and Zucchini Cake, with a chocolate ganache shell.

My recipe was inspired by "Flora's Famous Zucchini Cake" from Nigella's How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking. My buddy Applemint's Chocolate Frosting, which she has used on her amazing cakes, was the basis for my chocolate ganache shell.

Of course I had to change things around, as I always do. I did not want to use eggs, heavy cream cheese frosting, or the lime curd that "Flora's" cake called for. My recipe follows my food style of fresh, vegetarian, light, and healthy foods. Even a chocolate cake can be delicious with fresh vegetables :)

My food style is representative of the way many eat and live in Seattle -- in fact, Seattle was recently chosen as the number one U.S. city for healthy living by Cooking Light. As they put it, Seattle "best fit our philosophy to eat smart, be fit, and live well. An abundance of fresh local foods, walker-friendly streets, and inclusive attitudes helps make Seattle America's best city for healthy living." Our neighbors in Portland, Oregon ranked second, proving that our whole region enjoys unrivaled good-food-living. Cooking Light published their list to celebrate 20 years as the world's largest epicurean magazine. Pictured next to the cake are the early Spring Flora I see everyday while walking to & from work. Cheers to Seattle, Portland, and to Healthy Living!

I used:
1 big zucchini, finely shredded (next time I'll use 2, to make the cake even more moist)
2 eggs replaced with Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (Nigella suggests self-rising flour, which I'll try next time, too)
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn baking powder
2 tbsn dark, unsweetened cocoa

For the sauce:
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate chips of your choice
1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream (equal or more cream than melted chocolate makes the best ganache)
1 tbsn butter
1/4 cup toasted walnuts or any of your choice.

My method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C)
2. Mix oil, sugar, and egg replacer.
3. Sift in the dry ingredients, and mix until combined.
4. Pour into a greased, 8" cake pan.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes -- until the cake is firm and brown, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let it cool for some time in the pan and then slowly transfer it to a wire rack over a plate, to frost.
7. Over a double boiler, heat the butter on low heat.
8. Add chocolate and cream, and stir till it melts.
9. As soon as the ingredients melt & combine, take it off the heat.
10. Pour it over your cake, by starting in the middle and letting it spread out.
11. You can even-out the chocolate sauce with a spatula, or be creative as you like :)
12. Lastly, toss on walnuts or nuts of your choice before the chocolate starts to dry.
13. Let it cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Go Pollock on Eggless Scones!

When I had finished making my Eggless Scones, and my baking sheets were dripping with dark chocolate sauce made from Theo's Madagascar, I suddenly felt like I was channeling Jackson Pollock, one of my all-time favorite American painters. (Yes, I am hooked on Theo!) I enjoyed learning about Pollock in Fine Art classes, but I truly loved making my food action painting, which was also a great stress buster!

I was thrilled to find and began with an Eggless Scone recipe by Tyler Florence. It looked simple and simple to tweak, too, so I replaced the fruits and glaze, and a few other things :)

I had a customer with high expectations who had said they would not eat the scones if they were too dry. Under pressure and against the reputation of scones everywhere, these Eggless Scones were up to the challenge! The cream especially helped them stay moist throughout baking.

See Tyler’s recipe for details, but for my part I replaced the blueberries with dried strawberries, which I had found at Sosio's in Pike Place Market. I added sliced almonds, and I replaced the regular sugar with brown sugar.

While my scones cooled, I made a chocolate sauce with Madagascar from Theo and heavy cream. I thinned the tempered chocolate with cream (you can use half & half if you like) till I had a smooth and thin enough consistency to drizzle, or paint?! with. When the scones were cooled to almost room temperature, I went crazy with the chocolate! Then I let the scones sit till the chocolate firmed up, and stored the scones in an air tight container.

Bring out your own inner Pollock or release some stress with this cool Flash canvas online! If you make these Eggless Scones, go Pollock on them and have fun – remember you can always lick the chocolate off your canvas ;)

Chikki, no kites!

When I was growing up in India, January 14th would bring a sky full of sights to see, loud sounds to hear, and amazing smells of festive food! It is because on this day in Gujarat, India they celebrate Kite Flying Day or Uttarayan or Makkar Sankranti. It marks the end of winter and all around there is anticipation of clear, breezy spring days. In my home state it calls for a celebration and 2 days off of school or work -- just to fly kites!

The morning of, we would wake up as early as we could to win the best corners of our rooftop terraces, from where we and countless thousands of our compatriots would fill the skies with kites. We gathered piles of colorful, tissue-paper-like kites, and glass coated threads to fly them. The glass did cut your hands, but flying kites was serious competition and serious fun, as you would test your skill in cutting others' lines with your own. With our kites and threads, with our favorite Bollywood tunes, the loudest speakers we could find, and with chikki to snack on, we made our way up to the rooftop.

There is no feeling like it -- looking at a colored confetti filled sky, eating chikki, flying kites, all while you take two days off school or work! How better to speed winter away and welcome spring.

Now -- about the chikki! There are some childhood foods that stay with you forever, and this is one of them for me. My mom would make chikki a day or two before, and I was the happiest kid on the block when I smelt the melting sugar! Chikki is a brittle made of: pure Indian cane sugar called jaggery or gud, ghee which is clarified butter, and then there are three common types, with either peanuts, sesame seeds, or puffed rice.

I do miss Kite Flying Day so much, and I want my husband Brian to know the flavors I remember. We can't be in Gujarat today (someday, though!) but I decided to make all three types of chikki.

1. First is the mamra chikki, which is puffed rice brittle. Mamra chikki are rolled up into balls so you can hide a rupee coin inside, then give them out to the less privileged as a secret donation. Now no coins are going into my food! So in my recipe, I feature the healthy surprise of a toasted almond :) Mamra chikki are way better than any Rice Krispies® treat!

I used:
1 cup roughly chopped jaggery/gud. You can replace with regular white sugar.
2 cups puffed rice approximately. You want just enough for a thin coat of sugar.
1 tbspn butter
handful of toasted almonds

My method:
1. Bake the puffed rice on a baking sheet at 350 F (175 C) for 5 minutes or until it's slightly crispy.
2. On medium heat, in a non-stick pan, melt the butter.
3. Add the sugar or gud until it melts and bubbles. Stir to make sure there are no lumps!
4. Add the baked puffed rice gradually, and stir quickly to evenly incorporate the sugar into the rice. Take it off the heat, but don't let it harden!
5. Dip your hands in room temperature water, and shake off the excess. This prevents you from getting burns from hot sugar, a trick I learnt from my aunt!
6. Now take about a 1/3 cup of puffed rice and quickly roll into balls. You size them the way you like, as long you work quickly. You can hide an almond or treat inside as you form these balls.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 quickly if you want to roll them into balls. If you'd rather not handle hot sugar with bare hands, set your chikki in a greased baking tray and cut out squares right away. Work with your hands at your own risk, and don't suffer!

2. Next is the tul chikki or sesame seed brittle, my all time favorite! My mom made this sometimes out of the gud and sometimes out of regular, granulated white sugar. I used regular sugar and it turned out just fine. Here it is!

I used:
1 tbspn butter
1/2 cup regular white sugar
1 cup sesame seeds approximately. You want just enough for a thin coat of sugar.

My method:
1. Bake the sesame seeds on a baking sheet at 350 F (175 C) for 5 minutes or until slightly toasted.
2. On medium heat in a non-stick pan, melt the butter.
3. Add the sugar or gud until it melts and bubbles. Stir to make sure there are no lumps!
4. Add the sesame seeds gradually, and stir quickly to evenly incorporate the sugar into the seeds.
5. Quickly take the soft mixture off the heat, don't let it harden, and place it on a greased cutting board. For this, a plastic cutting board works better than wood.
6. Roll it out to about 1/3 inch -- or whatever thickness you like, but make sure it's even.
7. Take a knife and cut squares out of the rolled out brittle. Don't worry about cutting all the way through. As soon as it hardens, you'll be able to lift and break it at the point you made the knife marks.
8. In 10-15 minutes the sugar should be hard enough that you can break it into pieces. Use a spatula to lift it off the cutting board if necessary.
9. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container.

3. The third type is a classic and I know it exists in many cultures -- the singdana chikki or peanut brittle. For this, my mom also made it with whichever sugar was available to her. I used the gud again and it was great. You can use pretty much the same recipe as for the sesame seed brittle above.

These treats used to seem so difficult to make. I would watch my mom make them every year and wonder if I could ever work that fast. In the last few years, I tried to make them, but I blundered and thought I would never try again. Well this time there were no struggles, it all worked out fine. I guess the "watching the experts" and enough practice has paid off. I am hoping my mom will be proud to read this :)

A note I want to add is that from home to home, chikki ingredients were always the same but they tasted slightly different. That was the feeling I got today, too -- my chikki tasted like nobody else's I've tried before, yet still it was just how it was supposed to be. For the first time, I feel like I accomplished a traditional dish without having to get a second opinion whether it was good enough -- because it was!

As the people of Gujarat celebrate the end of winter under a colorful sky, and I anticipate the end of a gloomy, damp winter in Seattle, I am happy to have such fond memories of Kite Flying Day with my 3 kinds of chikki! We did not fly any kites today, but we ate plenty of chikki. Later my mom called from India to say she bought us kites from vendors in Gujarat, as much requested by my husband. We are looking forward to flying those this summer!

I leave you with these gorgeous shots of the festival from an Indian Flickr photographer. I found her through this Wikipedia entry which tells you more about the festival of kite flying in India. Below are more photos of my process and the chikki:

Printen Tiramisu

We have a German Santa on our tree, so why not a German Tiramisu in our bellies? I found German spiced cookies called Kräuter Printen in a Bavarian delicatessan at Pike Place Market, made by Lambertz -- who have been baking gingerbread for more than 300 years in Aachen, Deutschland! After I did some research and talked to a Bavarian co-worker -- who grew up eating these every Christmas season -- I found a good story.

Printen are traditional gingerbread cookies with a flavor similar to the more famous Lebkuchen, but they are firmer and molded into a ladyfinger-looking shape. Printen were originally sweetened with honey, but now they are made with brown sugar or sugar-beet syrup. Honey had first become unavailable when Napoleon banned all trade with the major honey manufacturer in those days -- the USA. Thus the tradition of sweetening with sugar-beets began, and it continues to this day.

These Printen have the common Christmas spices you find in German sweets, but I tasted especially strong anise. Printen in general have all or some of: cinnamon, aniseed, clove, cardamom, coriander, allspice, and of course ginger! The Printen I found have bits of brown sugar crystals in them & they taste wonderful. When you try to decipher the ingredient list on the package, to find what exact spices they contain -- you don't find any! It is common for Printen bakers to keep their spice mixtures a secret. This is the same story I've found in India -- otherwise, everyone's Garam Masala or Madras Curry would taste the same!

My co-worker added that they typically dunk Printen in coffee. They were usually found in Germany's small bakeries, every Christmas season. She also said they are available in different types -- some chocolate covered, with nuts, or with marzipan. If you leave Printen in open air, they turn into rocks hard enough to knock someone out!

My Kräuter Printen's ladyfinger-like shape reminded me that I hadn't made Tiramisu in a while. With all those Christmas flavors, too it was a perfect chance for Tiramisu with a German twist. I bought the last few remaining packages the lady at the Bavarian shop had, and I am glad I did as she might never have them again -- well, maybe next Christmas!


Now for the Tiramisu, which I always make eggless! as I get queasy about eating raw eggs and I also want the non-egg-eating members of my family to enjoy it. I added mint to mascarpone and topped it off with toasted, green aniseed and red and silver, sugar coated anise candy. My Bavarian-German-American in-laws loved this holiday dessert, so I cannot wait to re-create this as a new holiday tradition, next year. The only catch: I'll have to figure out where to find the Kräuter Printen!

Here is my approximation for this Tiramisu -- because I did not quite measure, I just eye-balled it.
I used:

• 1 cup mascarpone
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup cold, great quality, fresh espresso (Brian pulled the shots)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 drops pure peppermint extract
• 1 bag Kräuter Printen (ten long cookies)
• some good quality, unsweetened cocoa powder
• some toasted aniseed
• some anise candy

My method:

1. Make fresh espresso and let it cool completely.
2. Whip the heavy cream with sugar and mint extract till stiff.
3. Whip the mascarpone with a few spoons of espresso.
4. Slowly fold the cream into the mascarpone, a few spoons at a time. You don't want to kill the fluffiness!
5. Based on the serving dish you are using, either keep the cookies whole -- or for example, cut them into thirds like I did, to serve in narrow glasses.
6. Quickly dip each side of each cookie in espresso, and place them in your dish.
7. Pipe or spoon in the mascarpone mix, forming one of what will be several layers.
8. Dust cocoa over the top of the layer.
9. Repeat 6-8, forming layers till you reach the top of your dish.
10. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
11. Sprinkle with anise candy, toasted aniseed, or you may try crushed candy cane or any other festive topping before serving.

Enjoy and have a Very Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays, Frohe Weihnachten, Natal ni Shub Kaamnao, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, et Natale hilare et Annum Faustum - wherever you live!

Seattle Slug Butter Thumbprints

Thumbprint cookies have been a Christmas tradition in my husband's family for generations. We made walnut-covered, jam-filled thumbprints one recent night with Brian's brother, Tom. They were local jams and preserves, all naturally made and a good assortment of flavors. The week before, we had made two earlier batches with several tweaks: no eggs in the recipe, and some with different jams, with almonds, without any nuts, or filled with chocolate. This recipe is easy to tweak!

I started with a plain butter cookie recipe. It worked perfectly with Ener-G Egg Replacer, if you want them eggless! These are the jams in our most recent batches:

• Pear Brandy Northwest Slug Butter from Lopez Island Farm
  
• Peach Orange Northwest Slug Butter from Lopez Island Farm
• Apple Raisin Walnut Northwest Slug Butter from Lopez Island Farm
• Maury Island Farm Marionberry Jam
• Maury Island Farm Red Raspberry Jam
• "The Alps" Apple Butter (not pictured, a spiced apple butter from Leavenworth -- Washington's Bavarian village :)
• Woodring's Strawberry Fruit Spread (not pictured, but the most aromatic of them all and one which I eat on my toast every morning :)

Here is the recipe I used, from a basic butter cookie recipe I had seen on FoodTV:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar (I tried both and both worked well - I prefer the brown)
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
  
• 1 egg, or equivalent of 1 egg replaced with Ener-G Egg Replacer
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

You might need to use a finger or a small measuring spoon, if your thumbs are too big :D My husband at work:

My method:

1. Beat butter, vanilla, salt & sugar till fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg or Egg Replacer till it is all incorporated.
3. Slowly add some sifted flour to the wet ingredients until the dough forms.
4. Form a ball or log & wrap in plastic wrap. Make sure it's airtight, & refrigerate for about 3 hours, until nice & cold.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C)
6. Spoon the dough out into tablespoon-sized balls.
7. Roll dough balls in chopped walnuts. At this point, I like to take a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to make dents in the cookies -- this keeps them evenly sized. The boys like to use their fingers and thumbs. Whatever you like, make them deep enough for plenty of filling!
8. Bake them for about 12 minutes or till their dough is a pale golden brown.
9. Let them cool, then fill with your favorite jam or even chocolate chips (as you can see in this photo from the earlier batches) Alternatively, I also loved filling in the jam before baking, as the jam became nice and firm.
10. Store in an air-tight container in a cool place and enjoy many!

Here are more photos from both recent and earlier batches. Note that Northwest Slug Butter does not, in fact contain slugs -- LOL :)