White Chocolate Hazelnut Rafaello Balls ~ June 18th Secret Recipe Club

This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select  a recipe and try  it and blog about it.
My assigned blog was Lick the Spoon by Louise. This blog was amazing and I have book marked several recipes. I found that the blog has many many lovely delicious and mouthwatering sweet recipes. All the posts were so inviting I had a dilemma as to what to choose to cook.Finally I settled for the White Chocolate Hazelnut Rafaello Balls. I followed the recipe exact and they turned out perfect and simply divine.

Creamy nutty centre with a crisp wafer crunch, coated in smooth white chocolate and dipped in  tropical coconut.-Simply paradise on earth.

Ingredients:

200ml condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3-4 tbsp. full cream milk powder
50g butter, room temperature
100g coconut flakes
50g vanilla wafer biscuits,
24 toasted hazelnut,
150g white chocolate, melted
150g coconut extra

Method:

1.Mix butter with condensed milk, add vanilla,  milk powder, coconut flakes, and crushed vanilla wafers.
2.Mix until well combined. Roll into walnut sized balls; flatten in the palm on your hand and press a hazelnut into the centre.
3.Re-roll so that the hazelnut is well covered and positioned in the middle of the ball. Repeat until all mixture is used. Makes approx 24 balls
4.Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
5.Put the extra coconut in a small bowl.
6.Using a fork, dip each ball into the white chocolate and coat. Let the excess chocolate drain from the all before rolling it through the coconut, then place them in petit cake liners.
7.Repeat until all the balls are coated and refrigerate until ready to serve.

You may like:
Chocolate Balls

Medhu Vada (Lentil Fritters)~ Blog Hop Challenge Wed 13th June

This is my entry for Blog Hop Wednesday started by Radhika of Tickling Palates. Its a beautiful concept where not only do you get to make new  blogger friends, cook from their blogs but in return they visit your blog and try out your recipes too.
If you are interested in  joining Blog Hop Wednesday here is how it works:
The plot behind this attempt is to form 2 groups and make pairs with a blogger who will be your partner for that particular month. This happens every 2nd wednesday of the month. You will then go through your partner’s blog, select, choose, cook, click and post the recipe in your blog on Wednesday and vice versa. The following month you will have a new partner. This way not only you tend to your blog at intervals but also learn some new recipes along the way and get to know a lot of bloggers and make friends."

My Blog partner this month was Farah from mycookbook. The blog, I am sure has many wonderful recipes, but as it had no index there was no way to see the listing. However doing a random search, I landed on this Medhu Vada recipe , which immediately took my fancy , it was easy to make and tasted delicious. Changes I made were that I omitted the onions and added a pinch of bicarbonate to the batter as I prefer  my vadas to have a soft spring texture.

Crispy and crunchy Vada that make a perfect tea time treat.

Ingredients:

240g / 8 oz  cup urad dhal
60 g/ 2oz basmati rice
2 sticks curry leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger paste
3-4 green chilli,  finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
1.5 teaspoons salt
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Sunflower oil, for frying

Method:

1. Wash and soak the dhal and rice for 3 hours or more
2. Drain well and add the rice and dhal to a blender and grind to a smooth consistency. Mixture should be stiff so do not add extra water.
3. Transfer the ground mixture to a large bowl and add the salt, green chillies, ginger ,curry leaves, and coriander leaves  and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well.
4. Heat oil in a deep vessel, when it is hot pinch small walnut size balls from the mixture and form patties. make a hole in the centre of each pattie and drop gentle into the hot oil.
5. Fry on medium heat until golden brown.
Drain on kitchen paper and repeat for remaining batter.
Serve hot with chutney or dip of your choice.

You may like:
Spinach Dhokla

Strawberry Ice cream

Strawberry Ice cream- A taste of summer sunshine, scrumptious and luscious strawberries folded into  creamy condensed milk and cream. With bite size pieces of fresh strawberries in every mouthful, this home made strawberry ice cream is classy and will leave you wanting more and more.

Ingredients:

400 grams  fresh strawberries (for purée)
400 grams for folding into ice cream and  garnish
397 grams condensed milk ( 1 full can)
100 grams fresh  double cream
1 tablespoon sugar (optional if strawberries are little sharp)

Method:

1. Wash the 400 grams of strawberries and chop up into bite sized pieces.
2. In a blender jug add the chopped strawberries and add sugar. Blend to a fine puree.
3. In a bowl add the condensed milk and the cream and whip till light and fluffy.
4. Fold in the strawberry puree.
5. Pour the mixture into a tupperware container and place in freezer.
6. After 3 hours take the ice cream out of the freezer and stir with a fork to break any ice crystals.
7. At 3 hours intervals repeat this process twice more (In total 3 times)
8. After the third time take the ice cream out of the freezer and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.
9. In mean time reserving 8 strawberries for garnish, chop the remainder into bite size pieces.
10. Fold  the strawberry pieces into the ice cream.
11. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop ice cream into serving bowl , garnish with the reserved strawberries.
Serve immediately.

NB- Alternatively you can skip stages 5,6 and 7 if you have an ice cream maker.

I love  this recipe because strawberries reminds me of lazy hazy summerdays, wimbledon, school holidays , sunkissed days on the beach , the laughter of squealing kids and above all refreshing melting ice cream that is free from colour, preservatives and totally guilt free.

You may like:

Saffron ~ Cardamom  ice cream

Thai Raw Papaya Salad- Som Tam

Thai Green papaya salad, a delicious and crunchy salad with a lovely tangy sweet and sour flavour.This salad is very popular in thailand , you can find the original recipe here. I have adapted the recipe to make it vegetarian by omitting the fish sauce and shrimp paste.

Ingredients:

1 medium raw papaya
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts coarsely chopped
12 Cherry tomatoes cut in halves
1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
1 long red sweet pepper cut into thin  juliennes
1 green chilli finely chopped
10 basil leaves roughly torn

Dressing:
1 clove garlic finely minced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon soya sauce(replacing fish sauce)
1 tablespoon sweet and sour chilli sauce(replacing shrimp paste)
1 green chilli finely chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Peel the papaya and cut in half.
2. Discard the seeds and grate or cut the papaya into very thin long juliennes.
3. Add the papaya to a large bowl, add the red pepper, chilli, coriander and half the peanuts and half the coriander.Toss together.
4. In a screw top jar add all the ingredients listed under dressing and mix well.
5. Pour the dressing over the papaya mixture and toss well.
6. Transfer the salad to a serving dish and sprinkle with remaining peanuts and coriander.

Submitting this to:
Flavours of Thailand ,event by simply.food guest Hosted by Reva

Round up ~ Lets bake Cupcakes and muffins

Thankyou to everyone who baked for this event.
 Here is the round up of all the delctable entries:

Yasmin G who is a non blogger shared this lovely recipe as her entry to this event , you can find her on Facebook.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients:

11/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon red food coloring

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together. Set aside.

In a bowl combine the buttermilk, eggs, canola oil, vanilla, vinegar, and red food coloring.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degreesF.

Let the cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes and remove the cupcakes from the pan. Once completely cooled, frost the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Introducing "Flavours of" Series 3 ~ Africa

"Flavours of " series 1 was born in August 2010 , our culinary journey took us travelling around India. We   sampled wonderful  Gujarati, Punjabi, Goan, Maharastrian ,Bengali , Rajasthani  and South Indian Dishes  . The flavoursome, array of dishes we have cooked  so far are simply delectable and brought us a delightful culinary experiece straight into the comfort of our homes.

With the success of "Flavours of " series one around India ,we continued or travels around Asia in  "Flavours of" series 2. We have visited, Indonesia, China ,Sri Lanka, Singapore,Nepal, Russia,Turkey,Thailand and Lebanon. Our Travels are yet to continue to Thailand  in June  and Malaysia  in July where our Asian journey will end in this second Series.Series two has been very exciting, as we were all taken out of our comfort zones as we all tried to create and sample cuisine unknown to us. At times it was challenging   but the dishes that were lovingly created by all the participants were mouthwatering and simply divine.Thank you to every one for your support and enthusiasm

Having now caught the travel bug it is time to plan the third lap of our travels ie  "Flavours of" Series 3, this series will take us on a culinary journey around Africa.This series will start from the month of August and will run monthly.

I am inviting all my blogger friends to accompany me on my travels to cook up a feast.You can do this by guest hosting one of the events on your blog or simply just participating in the event. Each event will run for one  month, same as previous series  and the guest host will need to host the event on their blog for one  months and post around up with in 7 days  after the event completes.

Our scheduled itinery is as follows:

1st August 2012- 31st August 2012
Flavours of Morrocco guest hosted By Mirelle

1st September2012 -30th September 2012 Available
Flavours of Kenya

1st October 2012 - 31st October 2012 Available
Flavours of Tunisia

1st November 2012- 30th November 2012 Available
Flavours of Mauritius

1st December 2012- 31st December 2012 Available
Flavours of South Africa

If you are interested in joining me on my travels and would like to guest host one of the above events please contact me asap  with the event you would like to host.
Please include in your request 1st and 2nd choice of the event you would like to host.
Looking forward to your participation .

Round Up ~Cook with love Dad

Thankyou to every one who linked up with this event
Here is the roundup.

Announcing Event ~ Lets cook for Barbecues and Picnics

Diamond Jubilee celebrations, school holidays and lazy hazy summer days are all upon us. Its time to top up the tan, dig out  the barbecue and brush the cob webs off the picnic hamper. We are all ready to enjoy the glorious sunshine and the festivities but no outing is complete with out lots of food and drink so for this event lets all prepare vegetarian food for the barbecue  and prepare lots of picnic foods that will travel well and will be delicious to eat.

To Participate:

1.Prepare any vegetarian dish that you can cook on a barbecue or take on a picnic (eggs allowed) please link your post using the linky below by entering your Post Name and Post URL
2. Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory.
3. Use of logo is not mandatory but usage is encouraged as it helps to spread the word visually if you can use it.
4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.
5. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com

Please use this format

Your Name:
Recipe Name
Recipe URL
Image no larger than 300 pixels.