Soulful Creations

I love to read books and I love to cook- so "Cook the Books" event called out to me, what more can I say? When I didn't want to just sit around and catch up Breaking Bad episodes leading up to the finale yesterday, I threw these buns and some great vegan-gluten free strawberry cupcakes in the mix.  The book chosen for the bi-monthly event Cook the Books is Sarah McCoy's "The Baker's Daughter "- a story about that intertwines food, history and a great narrative (toggles between WWII times in Germany and the present). I am just about a third done and so far like what I have read. I will post the review once I am done reading but in the meantime I leave you with these gorgeous buns that are traditionally made on St. Thomas Day that falls on Dec 21st (which also happens to be the shortest day).   Thomasplitzchen Buns 1 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup raw sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup almond milk Filli

 This labor day weekend, wise guy and I set off to Padre Island, a 3 hour drive that turned out to be more like 5. The drive was not so great with me pouting ( to indicate my petulant annoyance!) all the way and the wise guy deciding to stop at a random Mexican joint in Refugio for dinner (it seemed like a popular spot except our innumerable ways of saying no carnitas seemed quite ineffective!). Anyway once I set foot on the beach all was forgotten. Funny how the ocean has that effect on people. And we found a great place to eat- JBs German Bakery where the smell of freshly baked bread and the sights of pristine German engineering kept us going back for more. This picture of a gorgeous grilled chesse sandwich was taken in color and then converted to black and white.  Submitting this to Black and White Wednesday started by Susan, now taken on by CindyStar . This week the event is hosted at Cook almost Anything .

Grab hold of 'em awesome peaches that are in season right now! Once you have eaten them in all forms and shapes, try this refreshingly simple recipe You will need, 2 peaches, diced into smallish pieces For the dressing 2 inch piece ginger, grated finely 1 tbsp honey juice from half a lemon garden fresh mint, if you have on hand In a bowl mix the dressing first and then add the peaches. That is it, really! Chill the salad before serving. Trust me on a hot Houston afternoon, you would want something cool.

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen was our August 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to make some amazing regional Indian desserts. The Mawa Cake, the Bolinhas de Coco cookies and the Masala cookies – beautifully spiced and delicious! Ingredients For the Mawa: 1 litre (4 cups) full fat milk For the cake: 1/2 cup (1 stick) (120 ml) (4 oz) (115 gm) unsalted Butter (soft at room temperature) 3/4 cup (180 ml) packed crumb 1-1/4 cups (300 ml) (10 oz) (280 gm) castor sugar 3 large eggs 5 to 6 cardamom pods, powdered, (about 1-1/2 tsp powdered cardamom) 2 cups (500ml) (9 oz) (260 gm) cake flour 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract (optional) Cashewnuts (or blanched almonds) to decorate (about 18 to 20) Directions: 1. First make the “Mawa”. Pour the milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan, preferably a non-stick one. Bring the milk to a boil, stirring it on and off, making sure it d

...you just have to given in and make it yourself rightaway. A few days ago I was craving Nam Nam noodle's seven spice tofu rice platter and I realized that I find myself wanting to eat this fairly often- so decided to take charge and create my own version of this really flavorful dish. For the tofu Remove the tofu from the packaging. Place the tofu in some paper towels and keep heavy weight on the tofu in order to drain all the liquid , about an hour(keep removing excess liquid every 20 - 30 minutes or so) Cut the tofu into slabs and marinate with the concoction below (WARNING: the marinade is spicy) ~ 2-3 tbsp tamari ~ 2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce ~ 1 tbsp minced ginger ~ 1 tbsp sesame oil Rub the marinade on both sides of the tofu slabs and refrigerate for at least an hour (can do overnight too) Bake the tofu in an oven preheated to 350 F for an hour turning every 20 minutes or so While the tofu is baking, cook jasmine rice as per packaging instructions

If interested in any of these- drop a comment.

This was love at first sight- the moment I laid eyes on this recipe I knew I had to make it. I said to myself " oh you big white cauliflower in the fridge- here I come". 2 small pizzas Cauliflower crust (originally from detoxinista ) 1 medium sized cauliflower (approximately 4 cups grated) 1 egg 3,5 oz soft cream goats cheese (100 g) (I used goat cheese- probably different from goat cream cheese) Salt & pepper Directions: 1. Grate the cauliflower in a food processor. 2. Microwave it will a bit of water for about 5minutes (it cgot cooked 3. Drain the cauliflower by wrapping it up in a dishtowel and squeezing all the water out. In a bowl mix cauliflower rice with cream cheese, egg and salt and pepper. 4. Heat oven to 400 °F/200 °C. Line a baking sheet and place 4 portions of cauliflower mix. Use your hands to form the crusts on the sheet, they should be about 1-1,5 cm (1/3 – 1/2 inch) thick. Bake the crusts for approximately 30-35 min, or until firm

A wonderfully refreshing, perfect-for-summer Polynesian drink- of course with a bit of my own experimentation. You can read about this drink which is now considered to be mostly of Tongan origin here at wiki. Ingredients 2-3 cups of watermelon 3/4 can of coconut milk 1 tbsp grated ginger few sprigs mint (fresh from the garden) 1/2 cup coconut sugar Method In a food processor, blend the coconut milk, sugar, ginger and mint. Then add the chopped watermelon and pulse it a few times (ideally it is grated with a fork but come on....a lazy me...nah ah..) Enjoy it cold! A vegan mango milkshake with almond milk and scented geranium leaves  Stay Cool mes amis!

in BITS, Pilani. I make this quite often-and have impressed the wise-guy enough that now he makes it more than I do. Its funny how as you get older (Read wiser) you realize some things are just not worth giving up. As a young undergrad cramming for exams, I used to go to the night canteen in our hostel (Meera Bhavanukku oru O Podu!)- get a bucket load of hot tea and this awesome paneer maggi, go to my room with high hopes of studying hard through the night. Alas, that never, let me stress that, NEVER happened. I have no idea how I came this far..:)

   The tomatoes begin their journey as this beautiful flower- from my tiny balcony garden which just keeps on giving. Submitting this to  the weekly event started by Susan (The well seasoned cook) and now taken over by Cinzia of Cindy Star Blog .  This week it is being hosted by Susan.

It has been hot hot hot here... To minimize cooking times I prefer simple recipes with minimal amount of standing in front of the stove and these electric stoves can simply spew a lot of heat. So yesterday's dinner consisted of (mind you we have not been cooking often enough) Peerkangai Thogayal/ Chutney I am embarassed to admit this but I had no idea that luffa comes from a plant and before it becomes the luffa that we like to use to on our skin, it is completely edible! Peerkangai or ridged gourd is one such luffa variety.You can eat luffa when they are young and tender. As you let them mature there texture becomes spongy and coarse making it inedible...but great for your skin. Image source Ingredients 1 Peerkangai, skin and all- chopped coarsely ~ 2 tsp each of mustard seeds, urad dal and coriander seeds a pinch hing 1-2 dried red chilli pepper 1 tbsp tamarind paste 3 tbsp frozen grated coconut Few tsp oil Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and

Have 20 minutes to spare- make bread pakodas! Now don't you go off on me now- it is fried and I love it. Bread pakoda is something that I crave often and I realized it happens when I am reminiscing about my undergrad days at Meera Bhavan in BITS, Pilani. Bread pakodas were served for breakfast once every week (you honestly cannot expect me to remember which day of the week) and yours truly loved it so much that she would go the mess at 6:30 AM sharp!So when I think about those amazing 5 years I need to have my bread pakoda. It was a ride indeed, a ride that I shared with wonderful people. After the accident I do not have very many memories from my younger years. The bits that I recollect and try to piece together are usually food related (funny, eh?) and I hold on to them dearly. So here is  a tribute to those 5 years- Bread Pakoda Ingredients 2 slices bread, crust removed and sliced diagonally 1/2 cup chickpea flour (Besan) 1 tbsp brown rice flour 1 tsp omam

The wise guy came home to this- how lucky eh!! Although I get treated to Madras Pavillion food when I return from travel (enh....who is paying attention I say!) This month we were tasked with Dapka Kadhis for the May I ndian Cooking Ch allenge and here it goes- a fairly straightforward recipe. Ingredients Dapka Recipe from Tarla Dalal 1 cup yellow moong dal (split yellow gram) 1 tbsp oil   1 tsp ginger-green chilli paste 1/2 tsp sugar a pinch of soda bi carb (I did not add this, may be that is why mine turned out denser) salt to taste This was also home to mashed roasted eggplant (tiny home grown) and a roasted tomato (again tiny homegrown)   Ingredients Kadhi from Tarla Dala 2 cups yogurt 5 tbsp besan (Chick Pea flour) 1 tsp ginger-green chilli paste 5 curry leaves (kadi patta) 3 tbsp sugar salt to taste 2 tsp ghee 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (j

For dinner tonight, Puli Aval (Tamarind based flattened rice) Spicy Cauliflower Sabji Yogurt Pannacotta with Blueberries and honey Recipe inspiration my favorite blog Smitten Kitchen ; except I used equal amount of agar instead of gelatin A truly quick and healthy dessert recipe In my defense I did not make this today- this was made on Saturday for guests. Not sure if they enjoyed it, but they are friends so who else was I going to experiment on...)

  Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious  cakes!    Savarin Servings: 8/10 Ingredients 2½ cups (600 ml) (12-1/3 oz) (350 gm) bread flour 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water, lukewarm 6 (320 gm) large eggs at room temperature, separated ½ satchel (1½ teaspoons) (4 gm) instant yeast or 15 gm (½ oz) fresh yeast 4 teaspoons (20 ml) (20 gm) sugar 2/3 stick (1/3 cup) (80 ml) (75 gm) butter at room temperature 1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) orange and lemon zest (optional) 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt ¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (55 gm) butter for greasing the work surface, hands, dough scraper & baking pan  Directions: Sponge In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lukewarm water, 3 tablespoons (1 oz) (25 gm) flour and yea