Cranberry Orange Relish

For Taste & Create V, I have been paired with Jill of Hey, That Tastes Good! Eagerly, I browsed through Jill's site for a recipe to create. Jill's site was an education for me - it was my first encounter with a blogger who blogs gluten free. Hmmmm, I thought, here's a challenge for me!! After reviewing several recipes that appeared delicious, I settled on the Cranberry-Orange Relish, for several reasons! Firstly, I love cranberries. Secondly, I adore oranges. Thirdly, I am fanatical about relishes. And last but not the least, I had never tried making anything with cranberries thus far.

Jill's original recipe can be found at: Cranberry Orange Relish. It calls for the pulp and zest of 1 orange, 3 cups cranberries, and 11/2 cups sugar to be whisked together in the food processor, refrigerated to blend well, and then enjoyed.


Much as I liked this recipe, I found that I could not follow it exactly. Firstly, my food processor had just given way. And secondly, an uncooked relish would not do too well in my home! I had tried a chutney with pineapples recently, and learnt a lot from the experience. Besides, the moment I saw Jill's recipe, my creative cap came on and I could not resist the cook's licence to create. Here's my version of this wonderful relish.

Ingredients:
11/2 cups cranberries
2 oranges
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1" stick cinnamon
1/2 star anise
2tbsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Peel the oranges, remove any seeds, and chop roughly.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the cranberries, chopped oranges, water, and sugar. Cook until the sugar melts and the fruit is soft.
3. Add the star anise and the cinnamon stick, and cool the relish until it reduces in half. Now add the lemon juice. Stir well, and cook till all the liquid is gone and the relish acquires a jelly like mass.
4. Turn off the heat. Allow the relish to cool, bottle, and refrigerate. Leave for a few days before use.

Enjoy this relish with biscuits, cheese, and cold meats or on a sandwich! Thanks to Jill for an inspiring recipe.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Rasedaar Aloo-Gobhi (Fragrant Potato-Cauliflower Curry)

Aloo-Gobhi sabzi (Potato-Cauliflower Vegetable) happens to be one of my favourite vegetable combinations. There are so very many ways in which this vegetable combination is cooked and dished out. Yet it is only in winter that one gets the opportunity of enjoying it in this fragrant curry form. Primarily because this recipe uses loads of Dalchini or Cinnamon. Cinnamon which is an essential spice in Indian cooking, is regarded by Ayurveda as a warming spice. It is, in general, used in combination with other spices that complement its flavour and often in its bark form. Also it is used to flavour savoury vegetables and meats from the main course rather than sweets and desserts! Cauliflower curry with cinnamon is a perfect example of this. I find it to be a comfort food - tasty, warming, and utterly delicious once served on a bed of Basmati rice.

Ingredients:
1 medium-size cauliflower
4 small red potatoes
2 medium onions
1 tin tomato puree
1 tsp tamarind extract
8 Curry leaves
4 tbsp dried unsweetened coconut
1" cinnamon stick
4 black peppercorns
2-4 dried red chillies
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp ghee
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash, clean, and divide the cauliflower into florets. Quarter the potatoes, and slice the onions.
2. In a saucepan, roast the cinnamon, peppercorns, red chillies, and cumin. Set aside to cool.
3. Pour the oil in the pan, heat, then add the onions and dried coconut and fry till brownish in colour.
4. Meanwhile, dry grind the cooled spices to a powder. To this powder, add the fried onions and coconut. Grind further till well blended.
5. Heat the ghee in the saucepan. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
6. Once the mustard seeds begin to pop add the freshly prepared spice paste and fry till the ghee begins to separate.
7. Now add the potatoes, cauliflower florets, salt, and just enough water to make up a curry. Cook till the vegetable is tender. Add the tomato puree and tamarind extract and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Serve hot with Basmati rice.

I am sending this Winter Warmer in to Sunita's Think Spice.... think Cinnamon .

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Christmas Cookies: Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirls

Now home-baked cookies and I have a history of sorts. I developed an avid interest in baked goodies early on, and as time went by it turned into a passion of sorts. Yes, there's always a time for a story and this is one for Christmas cookies. As I stumbled across Susan's Christmas Cookies from Around the World 2007, I was inspired to dig out my old faithful - a treasured recipe book which holds a collection of my very favourite tried and trusted cookie recipes. Just a turn of the page and memories of baking batches of cookies for school events, for family, friends all came flooding back. Just as much as I loved the aroma of my Mum's kitchen every time I loaded in a fresh batch to bake, the fact remains that I really have not had the time or the opportunity to indulge in this joy for several years. Now thanks to Susan I have come back to delight in baking cookies. Of course half the joy of baking cookies at home (read from scratch) lies in the sharing. With every fresh batch I have been counting off friends and family to whom I am shipping off these delectable delights. May be that is the true spirit of a Christmas cookie - its sharing!! I have picked my favourite cookies - Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirls to share with everyone at Eat Christmas Cookies!

Two of my favourite flavours spliced together to create an aromatic and tasteful cookie. I used cocoa powder for the chocolate part of the dough. If you prefer a sweeter taste in chocolate you can substitute the cocoa powder for semi-sweet chocolate or sweet milk chocolate.


Ingredients:
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
Pinch of Salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3 oz demerara sugar
1 large egg
1tsp vanilla extract

For the Cinnamon Dough:
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 level tsp cinnamon powder

For the Chocolate Dough:
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar


Method:
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and soda.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Next add the egg and the vanilla extract. Beat until well mixed.
3. Gradually add the flour, blend well into a pliable dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal halves.
4. Stir the flour and cinnamon into one half, and the cocoa powder and sugar into the other.
5. On a sheet of wax paper, roll out the chocolate dough into a rectangle just around 1/8" thick. On a separate sheet of waxed paper do the same for the cinnamon dough.
6. Now, pick up the cinnamon dough using the waxed paper beneath it and place it on the chocolate dough, dough side down. Take care to align the sides correctly. Remove the top sheet of wax paper.
7. Starting with the length of the rectangle, roll the dough to form a log.
8. Cut log crosswise in half. With a sharp knife cut the log into 1/6 inch slices. Place them 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 350F for around 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer onto wire racks to cool. Repeat with the remaining logs.
10. Store in air-tight jar and enjoy for up to a week.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.