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Monday, 29 August 2016

Eggless Lemon Drizzle Mini Loaf Cakes



Last week was the start of the Great British Bake off Series 7. I am a huge fan of this awesome show and really enjoy watching all the challenges and creations that the participants partake. I love the docile Mary Berry and the candid Paul Hollywood with his piercing blue eyes that are enough to give you the shakes!!! I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to make some bread with Paul at a recent bloggers event.You can read all about it here .

On last weeks GBBO episode we saw bakers bake a Drizzle cake, make Jaffa cakes and create a show stopper of a Genoise cake with a mirror glaze. I was totally inspired by the drizzle cakes and so here I am sharing my bake: Eggless Lemon Drizzle mini loaf cakes.

Citrus flavours really pair well with lots of fruits and one combination I really like is lemon with berries.The blueberries in this Lemon Poke Cake give it a lovely flavour and makes the cake look so pretty when cut.



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Eggless Lemon drizzle Mini Loaf Cakes
Decadent and moist eggless cakes with pungent citrus flavours.
Ingredients:
  • 270g Plain Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
  • 250g Sugar
  • 75ml Sunflower Oil
  • 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
  • 220ml Water
  • 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
  • For Drizzle Syrup











  • 30g Sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
  • 2 tablespoons Water
  • 1/2 tablespoon Icing Sugar for dusting
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease the inside of 8 mini loaf tins.Place the loaf tins on a baking tray.2.Sift together the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and the flour. Place in the bowl of the Nutri Ninja3. In a jug add the oil, water, lemon juice, lemon zest and apple cider vinegar and mix together.4.Add the wet ingredients to the flour in the Nutri Ninja bowl and whisk the ingredients until it forms a batter. Do not over mix.



5. Divide the batter into the eight loaf tins and place the tins into the middle shelf of the oven to bake for 40-45 minutes util cakes are golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.6. Remove cakes from the oven and leave aside to cool.7. To make the drizzle warm the lemon juice, water and add the sugar, wait for it to dissolve and then remove from the heat.8. Using a skewer poke hole in the top of the cakes and spoon the warm syrup into the cakes.Leave the cakes aside for syrup to soak in9. Demold the cakes and sprinkle with a flurry of icing sugar before serving.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 mini loaves





I used the Ninja Kitchen System with Nutri Ninja to whisk up my cake mix. The Ninja®Complete Kitchen System with Nutri Ninja® is a power machine that incorporates three appliances, a food processor, high speed blender and a nutrient extractor. Its 1,500 watt of power  is perfect for all kitchen tasks such as mixing, blending, kneading,chopping and whipping.

I am delighted to have this addition to my kitchen as its going to be very handy whilst I create some exciting challenges inspired by the GBBO.


I am also excited to feature the Paul Hollywood bakeware by Kitchen Craft during my GBBO posts. The bakeware is made from extra thick carbon steel which won't warp during baking and will give all your cakes an even bake.The bakeware is dishwasher,fridge and freezer safe. Its100% PFOA, PTFE and BPA-free and comes with  a 20 year guarantee (5 year non stick guarantee). The range is available in most cookware shops.


I was sent the The Ninja®Complete Kitchen System with Nutri Ninja® and the Paul Hollywood bakeware to review in the simplyfood kitchens.

I love the classic lemon drizzle cake, you can also check out some other drizzle cakes below:
Blueberry Loaf Cake with Lime Drizzle by Jac from Tinned Tomatoes
Lime, Coconut and Cardamom Loaf Cake by Choclette from Tin and Thyme
Blackberry cake with Orange drizzle by Jac from Tinned Tomatoes
Apple and Rum drizzled cake by Tracy from its not easy being greedy
Lemon rose and gin drizzle cake by Kevin from The crafty Larder
Submitting this to :
Great Bloggers Bake Off with Jenny from Mummy Mishaps.




Saturday, 27 August 2016

Chilli Garlic Mogo (Cassava)


Mogo or more commonly known as Cassava or Yuca is nutty flavoured starch Tubor. Cassava or yucca is a very common vegetable eaten in South America, India and also African countries. In East Africa cassava is a staple just like potatoes are in the west.


Cassava root is long and tapered, the vegetable has a thick outer brown skin and a white flesh. The tough outer skin/ rind  has to be peeled before cooking. It can be eaten boiled, fried, mashed or dried made into flour too. It is also known as Tapioca. Cassava roots are high in starch and contain lots of calcium. It is high in vitamin C, folic acid and potassium.



We love Cassava and I cook with it on a regular basis. On this blog you will find my Chilli Mogo (Cassava ) recipe and also Mogo (Cassava) Bhel .One particular recipe we love is Chilli Garlic Mogo. The recipe is simple but the main process is to marinate the cassava prior to cooking. I have found a fool proof way to marinate  using my Instant marinater made by Tomorrows Kitchen. The Instant marinater is a container with a vacuum storage . It extracts the air out of the container enabling the marinade to seep into the pores of the food giving the food more flavour. Marinating the cassava in this way added real flavour to the cassava and made the recipe extra tasty.








































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Chilli Garlic Mogo (cassava)
Mogo baked in garlic infused flavours with  aromatic spices .

Ingredients:
  • 480g Frozen Cassava Chips
  • 10 Garlic cloves
  • 2 Red chillies
  • 4 stalks Fresh Coriander
  • 1 Lemon
  • 3 teaspoons Salt
  • 2 tablespoons Olive oil

Method:
1.In a large pan add the cassava and 2 teaspoons of salt. Add 2 litres of water and boil the cassava until its fully cooked but not mushy.2. Drain the boiled cassava and cut it into 2 inch long pieces. Discard any tubors 3. Peel the garlic and chop it coarsely.4. Slice the chillies into round thin slices.5. Extract the juice from the lemon and keep it aside.6. Finely chop the coriander.7. In a jar add the garlic, chillies, coriander. lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and the olive oil and stir together.8. Add the boiled cassava in to the marinater and pour over the marinade and mix it into the cassava. Vacuum seal the container and leave the cassava to marinade for 30 mins.9. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.10. After 30 minutes, release the vacuum and transfer the marinated cassava to an oiled baking dish.11.Bake the chilli garlic cassava in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until it turns crispy and starts to brown slightly. Half way through cooking time, give the cassava a turn to ensure even cooking.12. Remove the chilli garlic mogo from the oven and transfer to a serving dish. Serve with mint chutney and tamarind chutney and lemon wedges.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: Serves 4

I was sent the Instant Marinater to review by tomorrows Kitchen. The Chilli Garlic Mogo is served in the beautiful copperwareplate and spoons  by Sass and Belle and Kitchen Craft

Thursday, 18 August 2016

Peach Milkshake


I love peaches and since they are available in abundance at the moment I am making the most of them. I particularly love the white flesh peaches, they seem to have a sweeter taste and are great in recipes too. For this recipe you do need the ripe ones however for salads the slightly semi ripe peaches work better.

I made this simple tasty Peach milkshake in a jiffy and it tastes absolutely delicious. It also looked gorgeous served in the tropical summer glass tumblers from Sass and Belle. The tumblers come in four different designs and are really pretty.




























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Peach Milkshake
Refreshing and delicious peach milkshake.
Ingredients:
  • 2 Peaches (white flesh peaches)
  • 2 scoops Vanilla ice cream
  • 100 ml Skimmed Milk
  • 1 cup Ice cubes
  • 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla essence
  • slices for garnish Peach
Method:

1. Destone the peaches and cut them into chunks.2. Add the peaches, milk, vanilla essence, ice cream and ice to a blender jug and blend until smooth. I used Optimum 9400 blender which is super powerful and crushes ice in a jiffy.
3. Pour the milkshake into pretty glasses and garnish with peach slices and serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: none Total time: Yield: 2 glasses

NB- You can use any type of peaches although I used the white flesh ones in my recipe. If you are using another blender, make sure that it is capable of crushing ice like my Optimum 9400.




You can read about this awesome blender here. If you like the sound of it and want to purchase it you can quote "Brand Ambassador offer" to get extra two year warranty. It is currently on offer for £329. instead of £399 a saving of £70




Friday, 12 August 2016

Master class with Antonio Carluccio and Celebrating 160 years of Cirio


One of my favorite cuisines is Italian food. I love pasta and pizza and I absolutely adore tomato based sauces with oregano, garlic and herbs such as basil. This sort of food is my firm favorite. I also use lots of tomatoes in all my Indian cooking, one particular brand I adore is Cirio. I buy it in bulk from the cash and carry. There is a whole range of tomatoes available in the Cirio brand, passata, plum tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, Pomodorini cherry baby tomatoes, pizza sauce and Filetti tomatoes too.


Tuesday, 9 August 2016

Dinner at The Gate Restaurant London Islington


The city of London is a haven for dining out, you will find all the cuisines of the world in every nook and cranny. I do enjoy eating out but I am fairly choosy with where I eat as being a vegetarian it's sometimes difficult to get a large choice of dishes on the menu, usually you are limited to  3-4 dishes where my carnivore friends have the whole menu to choose from.

On my recent visit to London with a food blogger friend Heidi from Heidi Roberts Kitchen Talk, we visited The Gate Restaurant, a vegetarian restaurant near Angel station. I had heard a lot about the The Gate Restaurant so I was very excited to actually get the opportunity to visit. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and has a nice lively ambiance. It was pretty busy even though it was a Tuesday night, there was a steady stream of diners which is always a good indication for a restaurant.


Tuesday, 2 August 2016

India Travels


Last year we were attending a family friend's wedding in Delhi. The wedding functions were spread over 3 weeks so for convenience we rented an apartment in Delhi.  It was going to be our base so that we were not moving our luggage around and were free to explore the wonderful country between all the wedding functions. 

Delhi is the capital city of India, it’s the hub of India, a large cosmopolitan city with lots of malls, fine dining and beautiful sights. On the other hand we loved the local places like Chand ni Chouk , the local eateries and the street vendors.