Salmon Sushi

Ingredients:

Sushi Rice - 1 cup

Nori or Seaweed - 5 sheets

Salmon in brine - 1 can 

Mayonnaise - 2 tablespoons

Soya sauce - 2 tablespoons 

Rice wine - 1 tablespoon

Sugar - 1 tablespoon

Method:

Drain the brine from the Salmon. Mix the mayonnaise with the salmon in a bowl. 

Wash the sushi rice thoroughly with water. Add two cups water and cook the rice in a rice cooker. 

In a pan, add the rice wine, sugar and soya sauce, mix well and heat until it comes to a gentle boil. remove from heat and cool.

Once the rice is cooked, remove the lid. Add the rice wine mixture, incorporating it well into the rice. let the rice cool a bit before you start rolling out the sushi.

To roll the sushi, take a sushi mat on the counter, put one sheet of seaweed - shiny side up. Layer it thinly with the rice. 

Take a tablespoon of the salmon and mayo mixture and spread it on the end closer to you as this will make the rolling part easy.

Now gently lift the end of the mat rolling the sushi roll away from you thus:

Ensure you roll it tightly

cover the roll completely with the mat

rolled out sushi roll

Use a sharp wet knife to cut even round sushi pieces. Serve with Sushi soya and wasabi.

New York baked Cheesecake

I have tried and tested many recipes for baked cheesecake and this is one of the best so far. This is a recipe from the BBC website and the result was an awesomely delicious baked cheesecake! I tweaked it a bit and here's my take on the recipe. The original recipe required 3 packs of cream cheese to fill a 25 cm cake tin. I used 1 packet of cream cheese to fill an 8 inch springform cake tin. Also I reduced the amount of eggs and sugar.

Here's how I made it:

Biscuit base:

15 digestive biscuits
3 tablespoons melted butter

I blitzed the digestive biscuits and the melted butter in a food processor until the mixture resembled sand. Then I pressed this biscuit mix evenly onto an 8 inch spring
form cake tin, taking the mixture to coat the edges of the pan as well.

I baked the base at 180 degrees Celsius for ten minutes in a pre-heated oven.

The filling:

1 pack Philadelphia cream cheese (250 gms)
1 cup Sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 whole eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice

I blitzed all the above ingredients for the filling together in a food processor until smooth, taking care not to over blitz the mix. I poured the mix onto the biscuit base and baked this in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes until the sides were cooked and the cake wobbled a bit in the middle upon shaking the tin.

Topping:

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract well and pour over the baked cake. I chilled the cake overnight to allow the cheesecake to set well and the ingredients and flavors to meld together. I was not disappointed at all with the end result. As far as I'm concerned, this recipe is a keeper :)

Masala Fish

The magic ingredient in this recipe is the Shan chapali kebab masala, easily available in most Indian grocery stores.

INGREDIENTS:

Fish Mackeral- 4 pieces
Shan Chapali kebab masala - 2 tablespoons
Ginger and Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
Oil - 4 tablespoons
Lemon slice for garnish

METHOD:

In a small bowl mix the Chapali kebab masala, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. Rub this mix onto the fish evenly. Marinate the fish for about 30 minutes.

Heat a non stick pan and add one tablespoon oil. Pan fry the fish until golden brown on both sides. Serve with slices of lemon.

Easy Oatmeal Cookies

This is a tried and tested recipe that never fails to rise upto the occasion. Great to pack in lunch boxes and a quick fix for when you have the munchies!

INGREDIENTS:
11/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
2 tablespoons dessicated coconut
2 tablespoons almonds, chopped


METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius in a fan forced oven.
In a large bowl mix melted butter, sugar and egg until smooth. Add all the dry ingredients and combine to form a crumbly dough. 

Drop spoonful of the cookie dough onto a prepared cookie tray. Press down with a fork on each of the dough balls to flatten the cookies.  

Bake for 8-10 minutes or when cookies are slightly brown. They are very soft to touch at this stage so any attempts to take them off the tray will result in crumbled cookies. Allow them to cool completely and then use a flat spatula to ease them off the tray. Store in an airtight jar.

Lemon Pickle

Ingredients:

Lemons - 4
Salt       - 4 tbsp
Sugar   - 4 tbsp
Chili powder - 2 tsp

Method:
Dice the lemons. Put them in a air tight sterilized jar. Add the salt, sugar and chili powder. Mix well to marry all ingredients well.
 

Close the jar and keep it in a sunny spot for a couple of days. Remember to bring the jar indoors in the evening.

This pickle is best served at room temperature. Great accompaniment to any Indian meal, also try it with couscous and Moroccan lamb stew (Will be sharing it on the blog soon).

Storing Tips: Keeps well in the fridge for a couple of months and best consumed within a month if kept at room temperature. The taste intensifies with time.

Chocolate Bombs

This was a joint venture with my eight year old daughter. There were two caramel cupcakes, some crushed biscuits which no one wanted to reach out for. Following the adage "waste not, want not" I crushed the cupcakes and the biscuits in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of cream and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder.  rolled with dessicated coconut and viola! a yummy dessert was ready in a jiffy.

Before:

During: This is what the biscuits and cupcakes looked like after a blitz in the food processor, with cream and cocoa powder.

My little daughter helped me roll the chocolate bombs, made my day when she said "mum, I enjoy cooking with you" :-))

Perfect little Choc Bombs........

Fruits of labor..............

We discovered that the chocolate bombs tasted better after keeping them in the fridge for a couple of hours.

These were simply divine, shared some with a friend, devoured a few after dinner and saved two for my little helper's lunch box to take to school tomorrow :-))

Oven Roasted Veggies

I love these oven roasted veggies, so easy to make and delicious with a meal or on their own.  I have indulged in a bowl full of these roasted treats topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt, taking comfort food to a whole new different level...yummm.......!

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 4 big
Sweet potato - 2
Olive oil - 2tbsp
Garlic- 1tsp chopped finely
Salt to taste
Chopped fresh dill leaves to garnish

Method:
Peel and cube the potato and sweet potatoes. Take an oven proof dish large enough to spread the potatoes evenly. In a large mixing bowl, add the potatoes, sweet potatoes, oil, salt and chopped garlic. Mix well to spread the oil and salt evenly on the veggies. Spread the veggies out onto the oven proof dish. I cooked them uncovered in a preheated oven for about 50 minutes in a fan forced oven at 160 degrees Celcius. The cooking time will vary I suppose according to your oven type.

Garnish the veggies with chopped dill leaves and serve hot.