Sugar et al, Author at Sugar et al

Cardamom Chicken Skewers with Pumpkin Salsa

10|09|2014

Little pods of cardamom are powerhouses of flavour and aroma. Bruise a couple of them and add to milk and you will know what I am talking about. They are like vanilla essence or pods in baked goods for me…they make everything better. Sweet or savory, the warm earthy tones can complement both flavour profiles. As a little girl, I enjoyed the addition of cardamom in almost all Indian dishes but I also vividly remember how I much disliked if I happened to bite into one. It tasted strong…too strong for my liking and would always make me wonder why it could not be removed once it’s role in the dish was over. Then I discovered ground cardamom. I found it more convenient and the flavour more intense to work with. Simply by cracking the pods open and passing the seeds through a food processor, you have a magical ingredient to liven up your food.

The flavours in these chicken skewers are subtle. They are meant to be like that. But the chicken is soft to the point of falling off the skewers. The marination tenderises the meat while leaving behind soft notes of cardamom and a creamy base to flavour it.

The salsa is great accompaniment to the chicken with relatively bold flavours. This reminds me of a pumpkin-potato stir fry my mother makes with mustard seeds. Mustard seeds have a lovely nutty taste. You could substitute with cumin seeds if not available at hand.
Ground cardamom is mostly available in India supermarkets. Making it at home is easy as well by crushing the seeds in a food processor. Use the skins to flavour tea.

Cardamom Chicken Skewers with Pumpkin Salsa
Serves 4

Chicken thigh fillets 500 g, chopped into cubes
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely grated
1 tbsp. green cardamom powder
2 tbsp. sour cream
2 tbsp. tasty cheese/mozzarella, grated
1 tbsp. corn starch
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/2 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
Salt for seasoning

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Add the garlic, ginger and cardamom powder and mix together with the chicken so it is evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and add in the sour cream, cheese, corn starch, chillies, coriander and salt. Mix gently until the chicken is evenly marinated. Refrigerate for an hour for the flavours to develop.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil. Thread chicken onto skewers.(If using bamboo skewers, soak skewers in cold water for 30 minutes). Bake for 25 minutes, turning the skewers once in between.

Pumpkin Salsa (adapted with variation from Taste.com)

500g butternut pumpkin, chopped into small cubes
Olive oil cooking spray
2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
coriander leaves, to serve

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Arrange pumpkin, in a single layer, on prepared tray. Spray with oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is tender
Meanwhile, place mustard seeds in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 2 minutes or until seeds begin to pop. Combine seeds, onion, vinegar and oil in a bowl. Stand for 20 minutes to let flavours develop. Place pumpkin in a bowl. Add the mustard and onion mixture. Stir to combine.

Asian Kale Coconut Soup

6|09|2014

If I had pick and choose one thing that I enjoy doing the most on the blog, it has to be, pairing flavours. Combining the best of different culinary worlds. I like to call it ‘intuitive cooking’. The best thing about food is that there are no hard and fast rules. When your taste buds are exposed to a multitude of cuisines and flavours from years of cooking or eating, they become like feelers. That respond instinctively to taste, smell and textures. The food blogging community are an amazing lot who do this on a frequent basis. A creative network that take a fresh and fun approach to all things food. Who make dinners exciting and cooking inspiring. Who supply Google and other search engines with the most amazing database of recipes every day. A community that I am proud to be a part of.

Apparently the cold weather has decided not to leave us. Nor the rain or the strong winds. Together, they are a bad combination. It is Spring with little or no Spring-like changes yet. So soups are still part of our menu and my creative ventures. Actually, I don’t mind that. I could eat soup even on a hot, sunny day. Especially if it has a touch of Asian . Infusions that form the base for sweet, spicy, tangy flavours that are unique to Thai cuisine. I chose Kale because it is healthy and takes on flavours well.

The soup is mildly spicy, slightly sweet with a curry like kick from the green curry paste. Coconut milk gives it body and a creamy texture. I love kale chips and they hardly require any effort so I served it with kale chips and lightly sautéed mushrooms.

Asian Kale Coconut Soup
Serves 4

1 bunch curly kale, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Thai Green curry paste
1/2 cup vegetable stock/chicken stock
1 can coconut milk (400 ml)
salt, to season
1 tbsp grated palm sugar/ brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup button mushrooms, roughly chopped and lightly sautéed and seasoned, to serve

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.

In a bowl, toss half of the kale with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil and season with salt. Place on a baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and roast, stirring once halfway through, until the kale is crispy, 26 to 28 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and onions and fry for a minute over medium heat. Add the green curry paste and fry till aromatic (about 1 minute). Stir in the remaining kale and sauté for a minute. Add the vegetable stock and coconut milk. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the leaves soften. Remove from heat.
Working in batches, puree the soup in a processor until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan and add salt, palm sugar/brown sugar and lemon juice and reheat over low heat. Ladle the warm soup into individual bowls. Top with crispy kale chips and sautéed mushrooms.

Almond Milk and Lemon Curd Pancakes

4|09|2014

In my new kitchen, I have a large window. Since my house is at an elevation, the view outside is breathtakingly beautiful. Miles and miles of unobstructed scenery and the sky like a painted false ceiling. It appears so near that it gives you the illusion that you could touch it if you reached out. The calm and quiet is broken into occasionally by a passing aircraft that immediately draws the attention of my soon-to-be 5 year olds. The number of birds around this area is also something I have never experienced before. Excited parrots nesting in the snug hollows of the trees below, lure me into waking up from my precious slumber every morning. And I live in the middle of a bustling city. Lately, I find myself day dreaming by the window. Quite often. So much so that I burnt a few of these pancakes.

My obsession with almond milk continues to grow. It is one of those things that I want to add to recipes simple and complex. It has not failed me till now. Even in baked goodies. I have started making my own and as an convenient excuse to finish it, I dream up more recipes. These are basic pancakes where milk is substituted with almond milk and some ground almonds mixed in the batter to add a tiny bit of crunch. Lemon curd is my favourite thing to spread on pancakes. Beside that, I have served it with passion fruit puree, berries and finely chopped pistachios.

Almond milk has many health benefits besides being low calorie. But that is not the reason why I use it so often. I can have it for taste alone. For the love of almonds, that are an integral part of my textured recipes. The recipe below is for the huge stack of pancakes you see in the pictures. Feel free to halve the recipe as per your requirement.

Do you like almond milk? Have you tried cooking or baking with it?

Almond Milk and Lemon Curd Pancakes
Serves 5-6

1 and 3/4 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup ground almonds (almond meal)
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 and 1/2 cups almond milk
2 eggs
olive oil for cooking
1/2 cup lemon curd (recipe here) to serve
Fruits and berries to serve

Combine flour, ground almonds, sugar and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. In a jug. whisk the almond milk and egg together.. Stir into flour mixture.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Spray with oil. Pour 2 tbsp of batter into pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until bubbles form on surface. Turn. Cook a further 1 to 2 minutes or until cooked through. Repeat with remaining mixture. Serve with lemon curd and berries

Caramelised Onion and Feta Bread and Butter Pudding

31|08|2014

At this time, I am surrounded by cartons, boxes, suitcases, bubble wrap, tapes, dismantled furniture, two sleeping children, two walls, a French window, and a glorious sunset. I moved houses yesterday. For the past two weeks I have been wrapping, labelling and boxing items like a pro. The kind of calm and organised behaviour that comes from experience only. This was the second time I moved houses in a year. Over the last couple of years I have lived in 5 different houses, cooked in 5 different kitchen and blogged from 4 of them. We did not plan it like that. Not with two young children. But it happened for a different reason each time. There are some good things that come with change though, more so at a spiritual level. You learn to give up and give away. You learn to adapt and detach and find beauty in the simplest of things.

Amongst the first few things I noticed in my new neighbourhood were the cherry blossom trees. Pretty pink cherry blossom flowers in bloom. Spring is round the corner. Gosh! Officially just a day away..my favourite time of the year. It is the time for fresh starts…positive changes..renewed hope, energy and revitalisation. I have a new markets to explore, a new oven to figure…fresh angles to work with my camera. Renewed inspiration. Speaking of inspiration, Donna Hay is a constant source. I can’t ever think of a time when I look at her food photos and don’t feel inspired. This unique tasting bread and butter pudding is simple to put together but the flavours are gorgeous. Sweet caramelised onions, salty feta, earthy rosemary and the gooey warmth of bread pudding on a cold day. The original recipe uses goat’s cheese and is slightly different. I changed it to suit my taste buds and convenience.

I used store bought caramelised onion relish. So then it is a matter of just layering, pouring, baking and finally digging in with a large spoon into the very core of deliciousness. To get a nicely browned crust I kept the pudding under the broiler of my oven for a few minutes.

Caramelised Onion and Feta Bread and Butter Pudding
Serves 4

I loaf sourdough (approx. 600 g) , sliced
1 jar caramelised onion relish
150 g firm feta cheese, crumbled
a few rosemary leaves
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups single/pouring cream
salt and cracked pepper for seasoning
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Arrange the bread slices horizontally in a loaf fan or baking dish. Spoon the caramelised onion relish, crumbled feta and some of the rosemary leaves in between the bread slices.
Whisk to together the eggs, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper and slowly pour over the bread. Let stand for 15 minutes for the bread to soak up the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until set with a golden brown crust. Broil for two minutes for an extra brown crust. Garnish with remaining rosemary leaves.