Caramel Wings: March 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

Boozy Brownie Sticky Toffee Trifle! (If I were you, I would have had me at Boozy.)

I love Happy Accidents.

This dish is the best happy accident.

So I was baking these Brownie Cupcakes the other night, and thought of also making a huge brownie so I could carry it for some friends the following day. But I ended up having a lot of distractions in that baking time and the brownie ended up baking for almost 50 minutes instead of the regular 20-30 minutes. Had my brother not intimidated me at the right time, I would have managed to get it properly burnt. But when I checked on it, the brownie was not burnt at all, just absolutely dry and hard. Disappointed, I threw the ends away (biggest mistake). I kept those reserved pieces overnight and was convincing myself about them and did not end up getting a sound sleep either. The next morning I thought of making a Brownie Shake. And then the brain started working. I could not be mean enough to have a Brownie Shake loaded with all that goodness all alone. Shared food is the best food. And so, this dish was born.

Boozy Brownie Sticky Toffee Trifle!
Serves 6, or 2. or even 1 if you really like desserts.
Recipe : Self. and a little inspiration here and there.

Ingredients:
2 cups (8 slices) of Brownie, cut up into small cubes. Here is the recipe for my Brownie1/2 cup Strong Black Coffee with 1 tsp Sugar, Brewed and cooled to room temperature
90 ml Whiskey
4 tbsp Custard Powder
500 ml Milk
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Coffee Powder
1 cup Caramel Sauce (This is Optional but I recommend it. Mine was a little on the Sticky Toffee side as I overcooked it a bit)
1 cup Whipped Cream
Assorted Nuts
Snicker/Mars/5 star Bar for garnish.

Method:

Add the Custard Powder and Sugar to the Milk and bring to the boil while constantly stirring. Mix in the Coffee Powder. Let this mixture cool down and keep it covered. The Coffee Custard is now ready.

Arrange the cubed Brownie pieces at the base of a deep dish or a Trifle dish. Mix the Whiskey and the cooled coffee mixture and spoon it over the pieces, let it soak for 10 minutes. Now spoon over the Coffee Custard.

Cover this and keep it in the refrigerator till you work on the Caramel Sauce. Once that is ready, Spoon it over the custard. What happened with me is as soon as I poured the warm Caramel over the cool Custard, it solidified and transformed into a beautiful praline. I had no time to smooth it over to a beautiful smooth layer but I actually liked how it turned out to be better. Like a Praline net!

Finally top it over with Whipped Cream! I used the Brownie crumbs for decoration too. Top with assorted nuts. I used Cashews and Walnuts. And then refrigerate it for at least 4 hours! Topped it up with some chopped candy bars just before serving!

Just as you dig your spoon into it, the spoon glides through the smoothness of the cream and hits a surprise praline wall, which cracks at the slightest pressure and then you dive into the lusciousness of the custard followed by the gooeyness of the brownie pieces. This is how heaven must taste like.

I cannot believe I almost threw that brownie away.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Spinachy Chickeny Awesomeness.

Whoever said that the healthier you eat, the yuckier it tastes was wrong. This Palak Chicken would definitely change your notion too. It gives a tough fight to the most popular recipe of my blog, The Will-You-Marry-Me? Butter Chicken.

Spinach Chicken/Palak Chicken
Serves 4
Recipe: Self
Time : an hour.

Ingredients:

1 bunch (4 cups with stalks) of Spinach leaves,
1 large Onion, chopped.
2 medium Tomatoes, diced.
10 cloves of Garlic.
An inch of Ginger, peeled.
2 Green Chilies.
500 gms Chicken (I used 500gm coz I wanted a lot of gravy, but feel free to use 1kg safely for the recipe).
1 tbsp Cumin Powder.
3 tbsp Coriander Powder.
1 tbsp Garam Masala Powder.
1 tbsp Pepper Powder/Freshly ground Pepper.
1 tbsp Turmeric Powder.
1 tbsp Butter (Optional)
5 tbsp Oil
Salt, to taste.
Ginger-Garlic paste for marinating the chicken (Optional).

Method:

Marinate the Chicken with some Ginger Garlic paste and some Salt. Set aside.

Wash the Spinach Leaves thoroughly.

Blanch these babies in gently boiling salted water for 3 minutes.

Drain them (save some water from blanching) and run under cold water. Alternatively you can soak them into iced water too.

Grind these into a fine paste, use the residual blanching water as required. Set aside.

Now, get the Onion ready.

And the Tomatoes+Green Chilies+ Ginger+Garlic. Grind these into a fine paste in your grinder. Not the Onion.

Heat up the Oil in a deep pan and fry the Onions.

Let them turn a hint of brown and then add the Tomato+Garlic+Ginger+Chili paste.

Fry this really well till you see some oil being let out from the mixture. Time to add the Masalas.

Mix them really well, do not be afraid to use some water if the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan. Let all the aromas fill your kitchen :)

Cook for 5 minutes.

Now add in the Spinach Purée. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

And a knob of butter if you like! I used homemade butter. Unsalted.

Add Salt to taste, followed by the Chicken. You must remember that Chicken will release it's water while cooking, so don't add any water to adjust the consistency. You can add it if needed once the Chicken is cooked.