Banofee pie in a glass for Sweet Punch January 2012

To start this new year with a Sweet Punch, our team has selected Banofee Pie from Swapna's Cuisine. Banofee Pie is a traditional English dessert, made with pastry or crumbled biscuit base, topped with toffee, bananas and cream, layers and  layers of yumminess.  The layer which I loved the most in this dessert is toffee or  dulce de leche, I would even love to dulce de leche just as a dessert on it's own, straight from the can, well who  wouldn't  ; )

Peas and Mint Soup

The climate is getting a bit better here, sunny but still slightly cold.  I'm sure that everyone would love to have a warm bowl of soup on a cold evening.  Well actually this one we had for our lunch.  Very rarely we take soup and bread for lunch in home, being born and brought up in South India, I always love to have rice and spicy curry for lunch.  Yes atleast one meal of my day has to be rice, otherwise my engine doesn't run.
    This is a type of soup which I like to have any time of the day, even for breakfast.  The method of preparation for this soup is general English style soup but quite thinner than the normal English style soup.  According to my understanding English style of soup are made with vegetables, potato, stock and cream, which is then pureed in a blender.  The body of the soup is generally a thick consistency, which is perfect with a crusty bread rolls.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
Green peas ( frozen thawed)- 450 g
Potato- 2 medium sized finely chopped
Onion- 1 medium sized  finely chopped
Garlic- 3 pods finely chopped
Vegetable stock- 500 ml
Fresh mint leaves- 2 stalk finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper- 1 tsp
Milk- 3 tbsp
Olive oil- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan, add chopped garlic, onion and potato sauté for 2 minutes .  Then add the chopped mint and saute for 1 minute.  Add the peas and stock.  Cover the pan and let it simmer for 5 minutes.  Add milk, salt and pepper.  Take it off from heat.  Let it cool down for 5 to 10 minutes, then puree it in a liquidizer.
  Return the mixture to the pan again and let it simmer for 5 minutes.  Take it off from heat, serve warm with crusty bread rolls.

This recipe goes to Souper Sundays and AWED-British hosted by Kaarasaram which was originally started by DK of Chef in You.

Masala Vegetable Pie

I always used to prepare these warm pies very buttery and with meat. Nowadays I try to cut down butter even in baking. So I made these warm pie with the goodness of  olive oil and  with a fresh selection of veggies. Whatever shape you make these pie, have it while they are still warm, since warm food taste good and makes you feel good.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Makes 6 mini pies

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
Wholewheat flour-200 g
Olive oil- 50 ml
Egg yolk- 1
Baking Powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Ice cold water- 3 to 4 tbsp

For the filling:
Sweet potatoes- 2 medium sized cooked and mashed
Broccoli- 1/2 of 1 whole broccoli( Steamed for 5 minutes)
Carrot- 1 medium sized( Shredded)
Spring onion- 1 chopped
Garlic- 3 cloves ( Grated)
Onion- 1 medium sized chopped finely
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Egg- 1 beaten lightly
Cheddar cheese- 3 slices
Parmigiano Reggino cheese- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
For the pastry:
Sift the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the oil and mix it well till it looks like bread crumbs.
Add the egg yolk, and some cold water to bring the dough together. The pastry doesn't require too much kneading like bread. Wrap  the dough and set aside. Please don't keep the pastry refrigerator, you can leave it outside and use within 1 hour.
For the filling:
Heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and garlic. Then add the finely chopped onions and fry well till the it looks transparent in colour. Then add the carrot and saute for 2 minutes. Add all the spice powders and mix well. Finally add the broccoli and mashed potatoes and mix well to coat the spices. Add salt to taste.
  Now add 1/2 cup of milk to make the mixture wet. Take it off from heat add the cheese and mix well. Let it cool down for a while then add the egg and mix well.
Make the pie:
Preheat the oven to 190 degree Celsius. Roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper or cling film. Cut out circles of 10 cm diameter, depending upon the size of the dish you use.

Grease a muffin tray, place the circle of pastry inside the muffin tray, press it down the edges. Fill with filling and bring the edges together.
Bake it in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve warm with salad and ketchup.

This recipe goes to Champa's Bake Off and Suma's Baking event which comes along with a exciting giveaway.

Orange and Almond Sponge With Butterscotch sauce and Pistachio Praline

As I always say warm desserts are comforting for all weather, that too in this climate, when the temperature drops less than -10 degrees, you really look for something hot sizzling and spicy and after that a warm dessert may be. This is a kind of dessert which you can whip up in minutes, then sit back and relax with your family. Try using your creativity to vary this dessert with some fresh fruits or different. Whatever flavour or fruit you use, a steamed sponge is something always special.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 to 25 minutes
Makes 4

Ingredients:
For the sponge:
Plain flour- 60 g / 2 oz
Butter- 50 g / 2 oz
Brown Sugar- 60 g/ 2 oz
Baking Powder- 1/2 tsp
Ground Almonds( without skin)- 40 g/ just less than 2 oz
Grated zest of orange- 1 tsp
Eggs- 2
Freshly squeezed orange juice- 3 tbsp

Butterscotch sauce:
Butter- 1/2 tbsp
Brown sugar- 2 tbsp
Cream- 75 ml
Honey- 1 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Pistachio Praline:
Pistachio without shell- 1 tbsp
Brown sugar- 2 tbsp
Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Method:
For the Sponge:
Melt the butter and keep it separately. Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until it looks fluffy. Add the orange juice and zest, mix well. Sift the flour, baking powder and almonds into the egg mixture. Fold gently without any lumps. Finally fold the butter into the mixture.
  Grease 4 ramekins with butter and dust it with flour. Pour the mixture equally into the ramekins. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Take a large tray, fill with boiling water and then place the ramekins inside that. Bake it in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Note:
The cooking time might vary according to the size of the dish you are using.

For Butterscotch sauce:
Heat together butter, sugar and honey in a heavy based pan in medium to low heat. Once everything is melted completely, heat it for 2 to 3 minutes stirring continuously. Take it off from heat, add the extract and cream little by little, stirring continuously.

For Pistachio Praline:
Heat the pistachio, sugar and lemon juice in a pan, stirring continuously. When it reaches a consistency of 1 string consistency, take it off from heat and pour it in a baking parchment paper. After it hardens, bash it with a rolling pin to crumble into pieces.
Note:
To check the one string consistency, wet your hands with cold water. Take a small amount of syrup between your two fingers, when you press and release, you should see a small thread between your two fingers.

To Serve:
Place the sponge in individual serving plates, pour the warm sauce on top. Finally top it up with pistachio praline.
To enjoy the real taste of this dessert, serve while they are still warm

Note:
 You can replace brown sugar with caster sugar for sponge.
For the butterscotch sauce, you can use caster sugar and brown sugar mixed.
For the praline also you can replace with caster sugar.

This recipe goes to Champa's Bake off and Suma's event which comes along with lovely giveaway.