Christmas sweet platter in minutes

What do you do when the husband mumble about wanting to take a plate to his office morning tea at 9 p.m in the night?

 My first reaction was to clobber him on the head with a blunt weapon. However, you dont do that to the man who you are married to for 34 years so I grit my teeth and head for the pantry

I had to come up with something and I had to take a dish to a Christmas party I was attending the next day. Taking a platter of strawberries with a store bought chocolate dip was not going to happen as shops were closed at the time.

I rummaged in the pantry and found a can of crushed pineapple and I remembered a dish I had first made using the recipe on the back of a Dole's crushed pineapple. Bingo!

This is possibly the easiest, prettiest and a popular sweet I have made by tarting up the original recipe from the back of the can. I've made the basic version, a gluten free version, a dairy free version and a paleo version which is popular with the figure/diet/wellness concious lot that I associate with.

Unfortunately there is NO sugarfree version. After all it is a Christmas platter


Tropical Coconut truffles - Basic version:

Ingredients:

1 can crushed pineapple

1 packet of Arnott's Marie Biscuits

1 can condensed milk

1.5 cups dessicated coconut (not too fine) - half cup for rolling and 1 cup for the mixture

half a tsp of cinnamon powder

Crush the biscuits in a food processor. Mix everything together in a large bowl. Make into balls and roll in coconut. Place in small foil cups

Tropical Coconut truffles - The Gluten free paleo version:

Substitute the Marie biscuits with 1 cup of LSA and 1 cup Almond meal

Tropical Coconut truffles - Dairy free Gluten free version:

Substitute the biscuits with 1 cup LSA and 1 cup almond meal and the condensed milk with condensed coconut milk

To further tart of the platter, I add stuffed dates (stuffed with a whole almond covered in store bought Marzipan and a punnet of strawberries with the store bought dip and Voila! you have a dessert platter to die for.

Didnt take photos so will add next time I make them. Sorry

Fancy pants Home Made Muesli

I went out for a breakfast meeting which served some simple but elegant food. The menu had some finger sandwiches, gluten-free bacon, spinach and egg crustless pies baked in muffin pans and a delicious crunchy muesli, served with fresh fruit, greek yogurt and a berry coulis served in small transparent containers.

I loved that muesli and reached out for a packet of toasted muesli in the supermarket which had a price tag of $20+ for a less than 500 g pack of tropical handmade muesli.

I thought it was highway robbery so decided to make my own.

That evening, I checked my recipe note book, a well thumbed, falling apart, book of yellowing hand written notes and found a recipe I had jotted down many years ago. The source is unknown but it looked pretty nice so I made a batch which we had for breakfast the next day.

Here is the recipe:

400 g wholegrain oats
about 100 g nuts (a  mix of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts - whatever that you have)
100 gms of dried fruit (I used apricot, dates, papaya and pineapple)
100 gms mixed seeds (mix of sunflower, pepitas (pumpkin), sesame and chia)
100 ml water
100 ml of coconut or flax seed oil
half a teaspoon of vanilla


Heat the oven to 180 centigrade. Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper.

Mix the dry ingredients except the fruit  in a large bowl and the oil, water and vanilla in a jug.

Combine the wet and dry ingredient and mix well.  Spread on the lined baking tray and back for 10 mts. Mix every 5 mts and bake for another 15 -20 mts until crisp and slightly golden. Mix in the dried fruit and bake for a little bit more. Cool and store in an airtight container

Serve 40-50 g with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a drizzling of berry compote/coulis or fresh berries and with some fresh or canned fruit for breakfast

Revival - long time no posts

I have neglected this blog for over an year.

I have no excuses for it other than not having a good headspace for it.

I met an old acqaintance the other day who told me of her daughter who lives a few continents away who checks my blog when she wants to cook Sri Lankan. I also met another young person who asked me if I had given up the blog.

So here I am and I will endeavour to revive and resurrect my blog.

That is a promise.

Strawberry fluff - Ammi's version of an old favourite (Pineapple Fluff)

Pineapple fluff is a dessert many of us grew up with in Sri Lanka in the sixties and seventies.

Until I travelled overseas I thought of it as a quintessentially Sri Lankan dessert. It was a surprise to discover that the English made it and I realised much later in life that it must be another of those colonial inheritances to Ceylon.

My mother whose repertoire of desserts was rather limited to bread and butter pudding dotted with sultanas, a caramel pudding (the Lankan version of a crème caramel) and Watalappan (a delicious baked or steamed custard made out of coconut milk, eggs and palm sugar flavoured with nutmeg). However, once in a way, she referred to cook books and tried out other desserts and Pineapple fluff was one of those.

Since we had no electric beater in the house, a hand egg beater or a well-worn fork was used to whisk the chilled evaporated milk for the "fluff". As canned pineapple was not common in a land that grew the most luscious of fresh pineapples, fresh pineapple cubes were stewed gently in a sugar syrup spiced with a cinnamon stick for the fluff. The resulting dessert was airy and light, foamy and of a delicate creamy colour and had the tiny bits of pineapple floating in it and the top of the pudding was sprinkled with more tiny pineapple cubes.

I had forgotten about this old fashioned dessert until a few years ago, when I started making it for my aunt to take to the temple for her monthly retreats where the devotees took a dish for a shared  vegetarian lunch. My aunt kept on praising my dessert as it was a hit with all the other aunties as it didn't have eggs in it. I didn't point out to her that it contained gelatine which was non vegetarian but the aunties in their bliss of ignorance enjoyed it.

After my aunt passed away, I don't think I've ever made Pineapple Fluff but last night I came across a can of evaporated milk in my pantry when I was looking for ideas to create a dessert to take for a dinner tonight. Since I didn't have any pineapple cubes on hand, I decided to use some strawberries instead along with a handful of ginger preserve.

The resulting Strawberry Fluff not only looked fine but also tasted pretty good. In fact, it tasted way better than my usual Pineapple Fluff.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 can chilled Nestle Evaporated milk (chilled for at least a day)
4 tsps. of gelatine
1/4 cup milk or water
3 tbsps. castor sugar
a small punnet of strawberries
pink food colouring
juice of a medium lemon
about 50 g crystallized ginger, chopped very finely

Method:

Sprinkle the gelatine on the milk. Leave aside to swell for a few minutes. Microwave for 3 bouts of 10 seconds or dissolve over a pan of boiling water. Leave aside.

Meanwhile, leave 3-4 strawberries aside and chop the rest finely.

Place the evaporated milk in a large mixing bowl and whisk until very light and frothy. The trail of the beater starts showing when it is done.

Whisk in the sugar and lemon juice and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the dissolved gelatine, spoon by spoon and continue to whisk. Add a few drops of food colouring to tint the foamy milk a light pink. Stir the strawberries and chopped ginger.
Pour into a pretty glass dish and decorate the top with a few sliced strawberries.

Chill for at least 6 hours until set.

 

Spinach and two cheese tart with homemade tomato soup

What do you do when you have a lot of spinach from your garden?

I usually make feta and spinach pastries which are a kind of a middle eastern snack flavoured with a touch of nutmeg.

Today I went into the garden to pick some herbs but found that my New Zealand spinach has become a small jungle so I had to pick about three large handfuls of it.

I found an unopened packet of Feta cheese in the fridge but I was too lazy to make a batch of pastries and I needed to make a quick dinner dish.

Using the idea of using Feta and spinach, I created this quick fix tart which took me less than 45 mts to make along with a tomato, garlic and basil soup and voila! dinner was done.

Spinach and two cheese tart

2 sheets of short crust or flaky pastry (I used Edmond's ready roll pastry)
2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach (I am sure you can use frozen if you don't have fresh)
half a block of Feta cheese crumbled
2 tbsps. grated cheese ( I used Edem)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup cream or milk or almond milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil

Method:

Boil a kettle of water. Pour water over the picked and cleaned spinach placed in a large bowl. Leave for 5 mts, .Drain and leave to cool. Squeeze out water and chop coarsely. Leave aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan.  Saute onions till transparent,. Add the spinach and cook for a minute. Leave to cool.

Line the tart tin with pastry. Prick with a fork.

Whisk the egg and add the milk. Mix in with the spinach, feta and the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. If the feta is salty, there is no need to add salt.

Spoon the filling on to the pastry base. Level top and sprinkle some extra cheese on top.

Before baking
 

Bake in a preheated 350 F/180 C oven for about 25-30 mts.

Serves 2-3 as a light meal.

Ready for serving with tomato soup

Home made Cream of Tomato Soup

 

Ingredients:

 

3 large tomatoes

1 1/2 cups stock ( home made or using stock powder/cube)

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup cream, milk or almond milk

1 tbsp. olive oil

fresh basil leaves to serve

 

Method:

 

Boil some water and cover the whole tomatoes in boiling water. Leave for 5 mts. Then immerse tomatoes in cold water. Drain and peel tomatoes. Chop roughly.

 

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Saute the onion and garlic till transparent.

 

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 5-7 mts until the tomatoes are cooked. Add the stock and cook for another 5 mts or so. Leave to cool for about 10n mts.

 

Blend the tomatoes using a stick mixer/blender or food processor.

 

Place the soup back in the pan and add the cream or milk.

 

Stir and bring to the boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

Ladle into bowls.

Chop the basil leaves finely and sprinkle on the soup before serving.

 

(serves 3)

 

 

 

 

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Ammi's quest for healthier eating - summer smoothies for weight loss

Summer is arriving in New Zealand where I live.

Over the last winter, I have gained more than a couple of kilos. This doesn't mean that I only have a couple of kilos to lose as I have many more kilos that were accumulated over the last few Christmas dinners and since my two kids. Offspring points out that I have had thirty years to lose those excess kilos. She doesn't just talk. She's lost her baby kilos within a few months. She  eats healthy but so do I, well most of the time when I don't get cravings. She hates sweets and she can eat anything and not put on weight while I love Hershey's peanut butter cups which tend to sit on my hips for decades. She also runs marathons. Half marathons to be exact and I have not done that even in my prime which is my biggest argument when I try to shut her up.

However, shutting up Offspring is not easy as she can bring up many an argument to rest her case. And, she is a legal eagle. I rest my case

I need to lose weight, not just to shut Offspring up and also to stop my dear GP from frowning or prescribing more pills but also for my own reasons the most important being it is way more cheaper to lose weight than to buy a whole new wardrobe.

I have been on many diets for the last 30 years.

It started with Sheri Louise back in Sri Lanka and I lost 10 Kg and I paid a hefty fortune in Rupees those days to lose it. It was a thousand Rs per kilo to lose weight those days I think and they had some lovely food to eat which I picked up from their offices in Colombo 3. I did lose weight but then I went and had another baby and put it all on. I didn't have the energy to go back to Sheri as I had two littlies under 2, was studying for a PhD and working full time.

In Canada where I lived for a while, I attended Weight Watchers meetings to lose weight. It worked but only until I was on the programme.

Once I moved to New Zealand, I've tried many diets. The cabbage soup diet lasted a whole four days and stopped when my diet partner Lynnie threatened to empty the rest of the said soup on my head so we flushed it down the sink and pressed the insinkerator button in glee.

The Food Doctor Diet was great. I followed it for a few weeks and got results and ate my way through it for three whole months shedding 7 kg before I had some surgery. It was probably the best and sensible diet I ever was on. I love their recipes and still cook them.
 
I've tried the Liver Cleansing Diet, The Rainbow Diet, The Aitkins Diet, The Juice Diet and every other blessed diet that was ever invented. I did lose a couple of kilos with everyone but I put them all back with interest.

Then I came across Rapid. I joined it and purchased all of its programmes Kick Start, Reset and Living Well. On Kick Start I lost 3.5 kg and was on Reset for a few months shedding a little weight but the fasting nearly killed me in the short run and high volumes of bacon and fat would have killed me by clogging my arteries and raising cholesterol in the long run. My doctor put a stop to that one and I didn't even touch the Living Well. However, I met some lovely people on their online forum and was amazed at the results of some people who lost as much as 40-50 kg on the programme. That is 90% of my bodyweight and I take my hat off to them but it was not for me.

In total desperation, I even tried the Gliricidia Cambodia pills. The only thing it reduced was my dwindling bank balance. Despite rave reviews from the likes of Dr Phil, it was a total disaster and I don't even know what I swallowed for those $$$s.

A few weeks ago, I decided that I will stop following any diet but will eat healthy and exercise. So I am totally cutting down on sugar and bread and reducing my rice and potato intake. I have started walking whenever I can and attend a Zumba class once a week and do Zumba using DVDs a few times a week by myself. I stopped weighing myself every day and in a few weeks found that I have actually lost 2.5 kgs.  I was surprised but continued to eat healthy and now I am losing weight slowly but steadily. I do have a treat occasionally and eat normally when I go out on the weekends. I am still experimenting but I am confident that I am on the right track finally.

So I will share my healthier recipes for anyone who is interested on this blog and for my own reference.

I've fallen in love with smoothies for brunch or breakfast. They fill me up and they are yummy.  I've tried out a few playing with different variations. Since I don't like the taste of whey protein, I've omitted it but I try to add some good fats into them to increase fat loss. I try to have them at least 3-4 times a week and have an egg with an oat cracker or am omelette or frittata with vegetables on the other two days of the week. On weekends, I eat what the family eat but in smaller potions.

My smoothie maker comes in handy to create them. I bought it practically new on Trademe (our equivalent of e-bay)  for $15 and it is so very good but you can use a food processor or blender or even a stick mixer thing.

 

Now for the recipes:
 Please note that there are no exact recipes for these. Try different combinations and find what you like best. I don't use milk as I hate milk but I use yogurt sometimes.

Berry Smoothie

a handful of frozen or fresh berries (raspberry, blueberry, strawberry or a mix of all)
3 tsps. of LSA or crushed lin seeds
half a cup coconut water/ almond milk/almond coconut milk/ oat milk or milk if you can handle it
1 tbsp. coconut cream (optional) or you can add yogurt
half a banana, sliced
A couple of ice cubes if you are not using frozen berries
You can add a serving of whey protein if you like


Place everything in the smoothie maker or blender and whizz together for a couple of minutes. Serve in a tall glass.

Mango smoothie

Flesh of half a large or 1 small mango cut into cubes
a few icecubes
half a banana
3 tsps. of LSA
half a cup milk of your choice
2 tbsps. coconut cream or plain or mango yougurt
a serving of whey protein (opt)

Whiz all ingredients together in a blender/Smoothie maker. Serves 1

Pineapple smoothie

half cup cubed fresh (preferably) or canned pineapple (canned in water not syrup)
half a banana
3 ice cubes
3 tbsps. yogurt
half a cup milk of your choice
3 tsps. LSA
a serving of whey protein (opt)

Whiz all ingredients together in a blender/Smoothie maker. Serves 1


Watermelon smoothie

1 cup cubed watermelon, seeds removed
half a banana
a small piece of ginger grated
2 tsps. LSA or ground lin seed
3 tsps. yogurt or coconut cream
a few ice cubes
a serving of whey protein (opt)

Whiz all ingredients together in a blender/Smoothie maker. Serves 1


Well, that's it for now and enjoy your smoothies. Let me know your thoughts.
 

Stuffed Cuttlefish/ calamari curry - Dello purawala

I remember eating a stuffed calamari curry as a child. My aunt used to stuff the calamari with cooked mung bean, cover the calamari with its own head and secure with a small piece of coconut ekel and simmer the calamari in a thick coconut curry sauce.

When I spoke about this curry many years later when my aunt was living with us in New Zealand, she made the curry once more. That was the last time I had it as my aunt passed away a few months later.

Recently I found some small calamari with heads on at the Sea Mart fish market and I remembered that cherished dish but I had no idea how it was made. I only remembered that my aunt used roasted mung dhall to stuff the calamari.

So I experimented and made a decent curry. Here is the recipe.

 Unfortunately, I don't have photos. Although I photographed the dish in a hurry, I didn't have a memory card in the camera so there are no photos.

Ingredients.

500 gms small or medium cuttle fish, cleaned with heads intact

stuffing:
200 gms roasted mung beans, either halved or crushed roughly (I purchased cleaned and roasted beans which is available in Asian shops)
1 onion, chopped
3 sliced green chillies
a handful of curry leaves
a piece of pandan leaf (rampe)
1 tsp unroasted Sri Lankan curry powder
half a tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
half a cup thick coconut milk
half a cup thin coconut milk
salt to taste (about half a tsp)
2 tbsps. oil

Curry:
1 onion chopped
3 green chillies chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp unroasted SL curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder
 a piece of rampe (Pandan leaf) 4 cms long
a piece of cinnamon 4 cms long
half a cup thin coconut milk
half a cup thick coconut milk
1 tomato, peeled and chopped
salt to taste
curry leaves
2 tbsps. oil

Wash and drain the mung beans. Heat the oil in a small pan and when hot fry the curry leaves. Add the onion and green chillie and saute until soft but not browned. Add the turmeric, pandan leaf, curry powder and chilli powder and fry for a minute or so. Add the drained mung and stir well for another couple of minutes. Add thin coconut milk and cook covered until the milk is absorbed. Then add the salt and thick coconut milk and cook till dry. It should not be overcooked. Cool for 10 mts.

Use this mixture to stuff the cuttle fish. Use the heads as a topper to cover and secure with a toothpick or two so that the mixture doesn't seep out. Keep aside.

Meanwhile make a curry but sautéing the onions, curry leaves, rampe and green chilli in oil. Add the ginger garlic paste and stir. Add the cinnamon, curry powder, turmeric, chilli powder. Then add the thin coconut milk and the tomato and cook until done. Add the thick coconut milk and salt. When simmering and thick, carefully place the stuffed cuttlefish in the curry and cook on a medium heat for about 10  mts. Don't overcook as cuttlefish will be rubbery if overcooked.

I found that the cuttlefish generated quite a bit of liquid but I didn't want to overcook them. So I removed the stuffed cuttlefish into a serving dish and boiled down the curry until it was quite thick and then spooned it over the curry.

Serve with rice and a few other curries. I served it with a green mallun, pol sambal and devilled potato with rice.