Chocolate-Buttermilk Squares cake, 

with Muhalabiya Vanilla Ice Cream

The above is Chocolate-Buttermilk Squares cake, with Muhalabiya Vanilla Ice Cream sprinkled with cinnamon. The cake recipe is from Lauren Chattman's Mom's Big Book of Baking, while the muhalabiya is from Habeeb Salloum's Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa. After the cake cooled, I covered it and kept it in the fridge, where it lasted for a couple of weeks.

Although I often just try to make the muhalabiya thick, and then put it in the freezer when cool, this time, I put it in an ice-cream maker before the freezer. The cake recipe uses buttermilk and baking soda, rather than eggs; I used leftover whey (liquid) from making paneer, for the buttermilk. I also used oil, rather than butter, and regular unsweetened cocoa powder, rather than Dutch-process as in the recipe.

Peach Sorbet & Strawberry Sorbet

I made them separately, and then tried to combine them so that they "marbled." Made according to the sorbet method of Gemma Stafford's Bigger Bolder Baking = 3 cups of frozen fruit + 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk. As I'd just made a double batch of her homemade sweetened condensed milk, I was a bit generous, and added 3/4 to 1 cup total to the 3 cups total of fruit. It certainly kept the sorbet from over-freezing.  Yummy! 

Bigger Bolder Baking Website, Homemade Raspberry Sorbet

Chivda (Indian Snack Mix)

This is my version of chivda (Indian snack mix). I was inspired by Tickling Palates Instagram photo of last Oct. 25 and her recipe for Cornflakes Mixture/Corn Flakes Chivda, as well as by MadhurasRecipe Marathi on YouTube. I used an organic "frosted flakes cereal" that's a little sweet, but works well here, as well as kettle-cooked potato chips (40% less fat). First, I pan-roasted a cup of aval/poha (beaten flat rice) and some ground cashews in a little oil, with some turmeric, onion powder (as I didn't have hing/asafetida), salt, and sugar. Next, I mixed in the cereal, and then potato chips. It was delicious!  Salty and sweet, with a little something else, and also crunchy.

Tickling Palates Website, Cornflakes Mixture Recipe 

MadhurasRecipe Marathi YouTube, Patal Pohe Chivda 

MadhurasRecipe Marathi YouTube, Bhajake Pohe Chivda

Wild-Blueberry Yogurt Mini-Cake

This is based on the recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins in Lauren Chattman's Mom's Big Book of Baking. I used frozen wild blueberries, and yogurt thinned with water as an alternative for buttermilk, with a little cardamom added (not in the recipe, but I thought it would be nice with the blueberries). After filling up the muffin tin, there was enough batter left over to make this little cake. I like this recipe, as it's very generous with the amount of blueberries!

Almond Buttermilk Scones

#tbt : The recipe is from Biscuit Bliss by James Villas. The original recipe called for walnuts, which for some reason I don't like, so I substituted ground almonds. (For the buttermilk, I used a mixture of half-yogurt/half-water.) Delicious!

Pizza with Egg

I've seen at least two pizzas of this kind recently, on YouTube and Instagram, and it sounded intriguing. So yesterday, when I decided to make pizza for the first time in months, I decided to make one of the two, into an egg pizza. Notice the absence in the photo of the fourth piece of pizza - that's because I ate it before I could take a picture! Now that I've seen the recipe for Asparagus & Egg Pizza on the blog of the Last Cookie.ca, I've realized that next time, it might be helpful to bake the pizza a bit first, before adding the egg. No matter, it worked out fairly well this time, too!

The Last Cookie.ca Website, Asparagus & Egg Pizza

Spiced Lentil Patties 

These are based on a recipe from Supper with Michelle of last Oct. 16. The main difference was that I didn't use any egg, so this is vegan. She suggested freezing them uncooked, to help them later keep their shape, and also handling them as little as possible when cooking. It worked! Actually, I froze them for several weeks, rather than a few hours as in the recipe, before cooking, and that worked out well, too. Yummy! 

Supper with Michelle Website, Spiced Lentil Patties 

Supper with Michelle Facebook

Mango Sorbet

This was made in an ice-cream maker, but otherwise made according to the method of Gemma Stafford's Bigger Bolder Baking. I used 3 cups of mango juice/nectar and 1/4-1/2 cup of her homemade sweetened condensed milk, and just added both to the machine. It was very creamy, and it even reminded me of caramel. If you don't have a machine, I made it the first time by freezing the mango juice, and then adding it, with the condensed milk, to a food processor, as in the original recipe (which calls for actual frozen fruit). I have also made the basic original recipe several times with frozen fruit, but really wanted to try it with the mango juice. I wasn't disappointed! 

Gemma's Bigger Bolder Baking Website, Homemade Raspberry Sorbet

Gemma Stafford's Bigger Bolder Baking Facebook

Baked Masala Dal Vada

This is based on an idea from Archana's Kitchen, and using frozen leftover dal/legumes (see Dec 13 photo for details). After I thawed the dal in the fridge, I added some mashed potato (you can use the instant kind, if that's what you have) and rice flour, and put it back in the fridge for a bit. After I arranged the vadai on a baking sheet, I sprayed with baking spray, and baked at 375 F, for about 20 minutes per side. I was pleasantly surprised at how crispy they were! Perfect with ketchup or chutney. 

Archana's Kitchen Website, Baked Masala Dal Vada Recipe

Potato Soup with Poached Egg and Veggies

I must be feeling better!  I managed to make a potato soup with olive oil, dried Italian herbs and basil, salt, water, peas and carrots, and some potato flour. An egg poached in the soup added some protein and extra nutrients.

Breakfast to Treat a Cold 

(Tomato Rasam, Handvo, Mashed Potato, Lemon Juice)

Breakfast to Treat a Cold (L-R, counterclockwise): Tomato Rasam (South Indian soupy dish), Carrot Handvo Muffin (Gujarati Indian snack of fermented ground rice and legumes, with veggies, baked), plain mashed potato, and squirts of fresh lemon juice (for the rasam and handvo.) I sure hope this works! If not, it still tastes good and is healthy.

I had some leftover rasam (see photo from Dec 21), and handvo (see photo from Dec. 8), in the freezer; some lemons in the fridge that need to be used; and a package of Bob's Red Mill potato flakes (no artificial ingredients or preservatives) in the cupboard. The potato flakes are easy to make into instant mashed potatoes, with boiling water from the kettle, and are good for a snack or side dish when I'm not feeling well (or when I don't have energy to make something else).

Sweet & Sour Soup

This is my version of a Sweet & Sour Soup. With noodles. And tofu. I was feeling a little under the weather today, so I decided soup was in order. With soup, as with nothing else, I tend to go without a recipe, and to experiment. 

This soup was made of water, salt, a little corn oil, onion powder, ground ginger, dried basil, ground cashews, brown sugar, low-sodium soy sauce, frozen peas-&-carrots, five-spice powder, and leftover oven-fried tofu. Lastly, the noodles: chuka soba noodles, which are basically unflavored ramen-like noodles that cook quickly. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the soup turned out!

Buttermilk Biscuits (with Honey)

This recipe is from Lauren Chattman's Mom's Big Book of Baking. The "buttermilk" is the liquid (whey) left over from making paneer (Indian cheese) out of milk I wanted to use up. I'd read that this liquid could be used instead of buttermilk (which I never seem to have around), so I thought I'd try it.