Summer Archives - Page 7 of 13

Category: Summer

10
Sep
2013

Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake

categories: Cheesecakes, Fall, Ice-creams, Summer

You know how much I love cheesecake… It is my go-to comfort food more often than I would like to admit. Happy days and stressed days equally call out for cheesecake around here! I’m very finicky about my cheesecakes. Till now my most favorite has been a blueberry cheesecake from a particular cafe. It is heavenly and just how I like my cheesecake to be. And I would never dare to make one in my house as long as that cafe exists!

After trying and making so many different varieties of cheesecakes, I decided to whip up this no-bake, gelatin-free, creamy, cheesy, frozen dessert. Let me simplify this for you. This dessert is nothing but a cheesecake ice-cream which is layered over a salty, buttery, chocolaty crust.

My refrigerator was bursting with sweet and juicy pomegranates. It was a flavor I had never tried before in a cheesecake. I thought it would make a delicate and lovely pairing with cream cheese. To make things tangy, I used up zest and juice from a sweet lime. The result was such a gorgeous baby pink color cheesecake! I just fell in love with it 🙂

Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake3

I went sweet and salty route this time. The crust for this cheesecake is made with chocolate Oreos, butter and just a pinch of salt. This salty kick enhances the cheesecake flavor to another level. If you’re not a fan of sweet-n-salt, feel free to skip the salt as it will still taste divine! But I highly recommend salt as it is not too over-powering. So promise me you’ll add it to know what I’m REALLY talking about… You’ll thank me! 😉

Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake2

Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake4

I made a big batch as I was having company but you can easily halve the recipe and make it in 4-inch spring-form pan. The frozen cheesecake tastes best when eaten within 12-15 hours of being made. It becomes harder and icier the more it stays in the freezer. In case of leftovers, let it thaw for 15 minutes before serving.

Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake with Salted Oreo Crust

Makes: 10-12 slices | Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 0 minute | Chilling time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

Crust:

15 chocolate Oreos or any chocolate sandwiched biscuits
3 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake Filling:

3 pomegranates
Zest and juice from 1 sweet lime
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp icing sugar
2 8 oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups medium-fat fresh cream (40% fat), chilled

Direction:

Line 9-inch round spring-form pan with parchment paper. Grind Oreos in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. Add melted butter and salt. Spoon the crust and press down firmly over the base using flat base of a glass. Chill in refrigerator while you make the filling.
Remove morsels from pomegranates, save morsels from half pomegranate and juice rest of the morsels with lime juice. Strain the juice into a bowl, add icing sugar and whisk to dissolve.
In a large bowl, take cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Use electric hand mixer/stand mixer for this. Add juice and sweet lime zest to cream cheese and whip till combined.
In a separate bowl, whip the fresh cream till soft peaks form. Gently fold it with cream cheese mixture to achieve a lump-free consistency.
Remove spring-form pan from the refrigerator and spoon the cheesecake filling over the crust. Let it chill in freezer covered in cling film. After 1 hour, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and return to chill in freezer for another 3-4 hours. Once set, release from spring-form pan, slice and serve. Run the knife under hot water before slicing.

Note: Can be consumed as a sweet lime~pomegranate cheesecake ice-cream if frozen without the Oreo crust.

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24
Aug
2013

Caprese Pasta Salad

categories: Dinner, Lunch, Quick Fix, Salads, Sides, Summer

It’s my Mother’s Birthday today! She is the most special woman in my life. She is my first best friend and I have had heaps of special moments with her. She handed down so many traits of hers to me… We both love bags, shoes, clothes and FOOD! She is such an awesome cook!

As already confessed in my intro page, I never learnt to cook before I got married and being such a great cook that she is, my mom was quite concerned about that part. She sincerely wrote down all her recipes in a diary for my convenience and gifted it to me on my D-day. That is my most prized possession and a lovely gesture on my mom’s part! I should soon get down to posting few of her special recipes!

Among many things my mother and I share, we both LOVE pasta! So aptly, I am posting a very simple pasta salad which is very refreshing and flavorful. I’m sure my mom would have enjoyed this thoroughly if I could make this for her at home for tonight’s celebration. But we are distanced by miles hence a virtual birthday dish will have to suffice! 🙁

I love Caprese in any and every form!

You must remember I once created this unusual ice-cream with it and these skewers served with pesto!

This time I brought together 2 of my favorites and created this dee-lish caprese pasta salad. Of course with a twist… I added capers for a little tang! And it really did wonders. This salad is so beautiful, adorned with pear tomatoes and bursting with basil! Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Happiest of Birthday Mother! Cheers!!!

Caprese Pasta Salad

Servings: 4-5 as a side and 2-3 as a light lunch/dinner

Ingredients:

For salad:

2 heaping cups bow-tie pasta
Around 20-25 pear tomatoes, sliced
25-30 small cubes of Mozzarella
2 Tbsp capers, drained & washed
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves

For dressing:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
A pinch of red chili flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta in generously salted boiling water according to package directions till al-dante. Drain and rinse with cold water.
In a large bowl, add pasta, sliced tomatoes, Mozzarella cheese cubes, capers and toss.
In a small bowl, take all the ingredients mentioned under dressing and whisk.
Add the dressing to the large bowl of salad ingredients and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Let it chill in refrigerator for half an hour. Top with sliced basil leaves just before serving.

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23
Aug
2013

Skinny Banana Zucchini Chocolate-Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

categories: Breakfast, Pancakes, Quick Fix, Summer

Such a long title… huh?!

Don’t get scared!

Today’s recipe is just filled with way too many nice things! 🙂

I love my breakfast so much! That is the best meal of the day for me.. I love it so much that we usually end up having breakfast-for-dinner more often than I would like to admit… not that I’m complaining! I had made these pancakes on one of such nights. They were so so so good!

These healthy yet delectable pancakes are laden with chocolate-chips. Mashed banana and shredded zucchini are folded into the batter for a nutritious breakfast treat. These taste best served the traditional way with butter and maple syrup. If you’re even more calorie-conscious then use the light butter or skip it completely but maple syrup is a must. Because there is hardly any sugar added in the batter itself.

These pancakes have no eggs or butter in them.

Yup… Zero. Zip. Zilch. 😉

They are still quite fluffy, soft and aerated because of these ingredients ~ banana and buttermilk-baking soda. They create magic and make these pancakes possible without addition of butter or eggs.

Not a zucchini fan? Worry not… Banana successfully masks the tasteless zucchini for you! Trust me… these pancakes will rock your world!

They are so easy to whip up and hardly requires any prep time. The recipe makes enough for a small family and if you’ve any spares than freeze them for quick grab-n-go breakfast! I’m a zucchini fanatic so I love to have them about any time of the day! 😉

So go grab some zucchinis before they disappear!

Banana Zucchini Chocolate-Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

Yields: around 15 pancakes (4-inch size) | Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 + 1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1 + 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 very ripe bananas, mashed with fork
3 Tbsp brown sugar (dark/light)
1 + 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
butter, for greasing the skillet

Directions:

Put shredded zucchini in a cheese cloth or muslin cloth and give it a good squeeze to remove extra liquid.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla together.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir to combine and then fold in zucchini.
Heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-low heat and grease with butter. Work in batches. pour scant 1/3 cup batter for each pancake into the skillet and sprinkle the uncooked top all over with chocolate-chips. When the edges begin to look dry and cooked and bubbles dot the top, flip and cook until golden on the other side.
Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.

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15
Aug
2013

Independence Day Special ~ Saffron Pistachio Kulfi

categories: Desserts, Ice-creams, Indian Recipes, Summer

I seem to have desserts ready for almost all the occasions.. I love love love sugary sweets! When the cravings hit me, it is impossible to shut my brain and there is no turning back till those cravings are satisfied. You must think I’m talking like a crazy or an addict! You’re thinking ~~right~~! Not that I need a therapy or something… Just saying! It’s 1 a.m. here as I type this post, got a coffee craving which I tried to control and instead ended up snacking on a coffee-almond ice-cream! I know… weak! 🙁 But don’t judge! In my defense, this is the only sweet stuff I have had in a whole day!

You all know I have a sweet corner for ice-creams. So much that not so long ago I even had an ice-cream week on the blog! Check this out! Crazy right?! So it would be impossible that I would let the Independence day be gone without posting a total Desi ice-cream dessert in the honor of the occasion.

Kulfi is so popular throughout the country. Love of it is unbiased. It is a perfect reflection of our country’s unity despite the cultural diversity! Oh well, I have a way of twisting everything as per my own convenience! I mean only I can talk about kulfi and country being mirror-image of each other or whatever! But I hope you all agree with me on this one.. What better way to celebrate 15th August, our 66th independence day than this ice-cream dessert! I bet it’s a family favorite in every household! 🙂

Kulfi is traditionally prepared by evaporating milk on a low heat with almost continuous stirring to keep milk from sticking to the bottom of the vessel, until its volume was reduced by half, thus thickening it. It is almost like eggless custard turned in to ice-cream. I’ve stuck to the traditional recipe and have refrained from using condensed milk as I somehow detest it! Okay, I sort of hate condensed milk! I guess it’s a night for confessions! Relieved! Humph..

Of course no cliched tricolor desserts people! Hence the recipe for kulfi is has been kept as close to natural as possible. No artificial flavorings or colors have been used. You get a subtle yellow from saffron, crunch from pistachio and aroma from cardamom. It is heavenly! Do try it now and thank me later! 😉

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

P.S. No saffron was harmed during the shoot of these photos. It was all returned back to the safety of its jar. So you all can relax now! 😀

Saffron Pistachio Kulfi

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cup full-fat milk
1/4 cup full-fat milk, extra
2 Tbsp cornflour
4 pods of cardamom
1/4 tsp strands of saffron
1/3 cup sugar (adjust as per preference)
1/4 cup finely chopped salted pistachios, plus extra for garnishing
1/2 cup fresh cream (40% fat)

Directions:

In a non-stick/ceramic heavy-bottomed saucepan, add 1 and 1/2 cup milk and bring it to boil on a high heat. Now reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the vessel.
Warm 1/4 cup of milk in microwave for 10-20 seconds. Add cornflour to it and mix till it dissolves completely. Add saffron strands to it. Separate the cardamom seeds from the pod and powder the seeds with mortar-pestle. Add the powder and pods to the milk. Let this mixture sit aside till the milk is getting reduced.
Once milk has evaporated and thickened till its volume has reduced to half (in about 10-15 minutes), add the flavored milk-cornflour mixture (remove the cardamom pods) slowly to the milk stirring continuously. Add sugar and pistachio and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar as per your preference.
Remove the mixture from heat and let it cool and come to room temperature. Whip the fresh cream till soft peaks are formed. Whisk in the whipped cream to the cooled milk mixture. Pour the mixture in the molds. Refrigerate in the freezer. After about 1 hour of freezing, insert kulfi stick in each mold and freeze for another 4-5 hours. De-mold and serve immediately topped with chopped pistachios (optional).

Notes:

*You can make these without adding cornflour too. It will still taste the same but may melt at a faster rate.

*I did not have kulfi molds hence I used paper cups covered with silver foil. To de-mold, simply cut the paper cup from one side and loosen the kulfi.
*In case you’re using plastic/metal kulfi molds, dip each mold in hot water for 2-3 seconds and then de-mold the kulfi easily.

*Kulfis are best consumed within 2 days of being made. They won’t get spoiled in freezer but will become icy and rock-like if kept for longer duration.

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13
Aug
2013

Caprese Skewers & Spinach Walnut Pesto

categories: Appetizers, Dinner, Dips & Sauces, Entrée, Lunch, Quick Fix, Salads, Sides, Summer

So I made some Caprese skewers.. They are so dang cute! Of course there is absolutely no need of a recipe to make them. It’s just cherry tomatoes, basil leaves and Mozzarella cheese on thrown together on a stick seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That simple! Making these is a child’s play and they’ll rock any party! It can be served as an appetizer or as a last course with favorite cocktail or wine! 😉

I served these skewers with spinach walnut pesto.. Hmm… seems interesting?! Require a recipe for another quick pesto? Then read on.. I have told time and again that pesto is my fave. It is so versatile. I made a big enough batch for only 2 of us in the house and served it with these skewers, made dinner with some spaghetti, threw some in my breakfast omelet and made some grilled cheese for lunch. Phew!

So let’s get down to the recipe business!

Caprese Skewers:

Ingredients:

cherry tomatoes, halved
fresh Mozzarella balls
basil leaves
extra-virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, as per taste

Directions:

Skewer the cherry tomatoes alternating with basil leaves and Mozzarella balls. Once they are all skewered, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and serve alongside spinach walnut pesto.

Spinach Walnut Pesto

Ingredients:

3 cups spinach leaves
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted or untoasted (I’m lazy & used untoasted)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cup olive oil to begin with, add more as and if required

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor till smooth puree is formed. Add more olive oil as and if required. Store in an air-tight container and refrigerate up to 4-5 days.

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