Easy peasy caramel custard/flan

I was bored, like how most of my culinary adventures begin. Yes, I really was bored. Taking Friday evenings off from work sound very good in theory, but then, when boredom sets in, what does one do? Cook, or bake, or experiment in the kitchen - what fun!

Anyway, here's a slightly modified Betty Crocker recipe because I didn't care to make 6oz cups for 6 people - and I don't own a 6oz cup anyway?

What you'll need:

1. 4 1 cup sized bowls (I have these tiny pyrex bowls that are 1 cup sized, so I used two of them and one 2 cup sized bowl) - You'll need one giant bowl in which you can place these little cups and surround them by water.

1/3 cup sugar (i only had raw turbinado, so I went with the flow)

2 eggs - beaten

1 tsp vanilla

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup sugar (this goes into the flan itself)

1 2/3 cup of whole milk (or 2% if you're feeling adventurous i suppose)

Here's what you need to do:

0. Preheat the oven to 350F.

1. Melt the 1/3 cup sugar on a low flame pan, till it becomes liquid and brown - with the turbinado, it takes a while to get there and you can help it along with a little water. When it's done - divide equally amongst the four cups, and let sit for 10 minutes till it hardens and cools.

2. Set a pot of water to boil, when it boils turn it off and set it aside.

3. Microwave the milk for 4 minutes - till it is very warm, and set aside. 

4. Beat eggs, vanilla essence, 1/4 cup sugar. 

5. Add the milk very very slowly and mix.

6. Divide equally amongst the four cups and place it in the bigger bowl. Surround it with the hot water till the water level is up to about an inch from the top of the cup. 

7. Place in the oven for ~30 minutes, till you insert a knife or something sharp and it comes out clean.

8. Remove, and let cool and invert onto a bowl after it's cooled for like 30-40 minutes. 

Romaine Apple Walnut Salad

This is my absolute favorite fall salad - on evenings when I'd much rather watch football than cook. And in apple season! The first time I had this was in California, ironically not in Fall - but in February visiting the husband in San Francisco (but then again, winter in california is really fall for michiganders, yes?). I'll list my version of the salad, with notes on the original salad I ate.

What you'll need for the salad:
1. Romaine hearts (chopped to 1" wide pieces approximately)
2. 1 Apple (crisp - like Braeburn, Pink Lady or Gala or Granny Smith) - cut into very very thin slices.
3. Walnuts
4. White cheddar (either crumbled or grated - Busch's or Whole Foods will have a really nice white cheddar block around Fall that is very very affordable!)
5. Dried cranberries (optional)


For the dressing:
1 tsp of olive oil
1 tsp of sherry vinegar/apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar (the original recipe used sherry vinegar, but it's too sweet for me, so I use red wine, and if I feel particularly apple-y, apple cider vinegar)
Brown sugar

1. Toast the walnuts and coat them with brown sugar (this takes about five minutes to do on the pan - be careful not to burn the sugar, I usually lose patience and turn away to find my sugar burnt).
2. Toss the romaine, apples and walnuts in dressing!

The original recipe had white cheddar (which adds the fun mild salt component) , red-wine poached apples and romaine - I tried the poached version once (and decided never to do that again).

Recipes for the epidermis

I am a big fan of sugar scrubs. My favorites so far are Sandalwood Rose and Green Tea. Here are their recipes and what they were inspired by. Best thing about sugar scrubs I think is how they can be modified based on what one has on hand.

Sandalwood Rose

3 years ago, Bath & Body Works stopped carrying one of my favorite products ever- their sandalwood & rose scrub. I was NOT gonna pay $65 for it on ebay so I just made it on my own. I find sandalwood oil to be too heavy for the face so I use this as a body scrub. Once a week or two weeks and your skin will thank you. Especially in winters.

Ingredients:

Brown Sugar- 1/2 cup

Sandalwood Oil- 2-3 Tablespoons (enough to give the scrub a pasty feel)

Rose water- 2 Tablespoon

Method: 

Mix the sugar, oil and rosewater and store in an airtight container.

You can replace the sandalwood oil and rose with anything else that appeals to you more. Lavender oil and lemon zest, Coconut oil and orange zest, whatever combination works for you.

Natural Home Facial

This is a great routine, especially for winter. I got spoiled during my time in India when I would go to the spa and get a cleansing or facial every month. I don't have the luxury to afford that here in the US. This home facial makes me feel a little less guilty about not taking enough care of my skin. The "method" of the facial is the usual steps- cleansing, scrubbing, toning and moisturizing. I don't steam my face after cleansing cos that doesn't work for my skin and causes breakouts.

Ingredients:

Cleansing- 

Any gentle face cleaner of your choice

Toner-

2 teaspoons cold rose water

Moisturizer-

2-3 drops almond oil

Green Tea Scrub- I saw this post, modified it and made a scrub that has replaced my favorite store bought face scrub (Lush's Herbalism).

1 sachet green tea with lemon

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons of white cane sugar

2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar ( I mixed white and brown sugar because I think the mix of the finer white sugar and the coarser brown sugar adds to the effectiveness of the scrub)

4 tablespoons of glycerin (I used glycerin instead of the honey because it is way more effective in my experience in rejuvenating skin, especially in winter)

Method to make the scrub:

1. Warm water in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. The water should be warm enough to steep the green tea.

2. Open the sachet of green tea and pour the leaves into the water and let it steep for 4-5 minutes.

3. Add the sugars and glycerin and mix everything together. The scrub is ready to use. Mix well each time before using as the sugar tends to settle down.

4. The roughness of sugar can damage your facial skin if rubbed too hard. Using the pinky finger to massage the face works really well to avoid this.

Here are a few pictures of the finished product-

Citrus ginger pasta

Harvest Moon Restaurant in Charlotte was where we went for our anniversary this year - it was a farm to table restaurant, and the owner/chef had her own farm where she grew her vegetables and meat. Her version of this pasta had housemade pappardelle, which is just very broad fettucine. It absorbs a lot of sauce, so that's always a good thing! The pasta was topped with southern pickled helda beans and had no other vegetables in it. I tried to recreate a version that is way more suitable to my palate, with some heat and vegetables. Lots of vitamin D, and fiber for my rather gluten intolerant self!

What you'll need (for 1 serving):

1. Broccolini (1 bunch, substitute with broccoli florets if you can't find the tender variety)
2. Mushrooms (a few, four or five; I used baby bella today, the last time I used Inokis as an indulgence)
 3. Penne pasta or any ridged pasta of your choice (1/2 cup dry)
 4. Zest of 1 orange (~ 1.5 tsps)
5. Chilli flakes
 6. Grated ginger (~0.25 tsps)
 7. Lots of good quality olive oil (1.5 tbs)



 Here's what you need to do:

1. Boil the pasta in the salted water till it's soft (not al dente), and very well done - leave it in the pasta water till you finish everything else
2. Heat a pan, add olive oil till it's hot - add sliced mushrooms - add salt, pepper and some chilli flakes - cook the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes tossing it continuously so it's not browning, just so they're tender but keep their shape. Set aside.
3. Heat some more olive oil and add the broccolini (I always prefer butter to do this) - salt it lightly, and coat and toss for 2 minutes. You'll know your broccolini is done when it's brilliant green. Set aside with the cooked mushrooms.
4. Heat olive oil in the pan, add orange zest, grated ginger and chilli flakes - the pan will go crazy on you because of the water in the ginger and the zest, but you can turn the heat down as soon as you add them.
5. Drain and add the pasta and toss on medium heat, add the vegetables and toss till everything's coated well in the citrusy goodness. Salt.
6. I topped mine with feta this time, and it was awesome. Last time I used some dried thyme in the end, and didn't add a cheese.

Mushroom Bruschetta

For our anniversary this year, we went to Paesanos. After having wanted to go there for the last four years, we finally did - and boy was it good! We chanced upon mushroom bruschetta for our appetizer, and you know how I'm not fond of mushrooms, but after this - I've eaten SOOO much mushroom, it's not funny.
When done right, this is a healthy high protein finger-meal with such little effort.
(Pictures will come later, this is my version of the paesano's dish)

Ingredients:
- Crusty italian loaf or sourdough bread cut into slices (sometimes, I buy a half baguette and slice it up or if I'm near a Trader Joes, I buy their Sourdough presliced bread)
- Prepared Basil pesto sauce
- Mushrooms (do not use white button mushrooms - I used a mix of Portobella, Cremini, Inoki and Wild), sliced
- Garlic finely finely chopped (I used about 2 cups of slices mushrooms and about 4 cloves)
- Black pepper and salt
- Olive oil

1. Clean and wipe the mushrooms - slice them, and lay them out on a baking tray - drizzle with olive oil, salt and black pepper and chopped garlic. Use your hands to combine and mix this, so the mushrooms are evenly coated with all of the oil, garlic and salt/pepper.
2. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes - the mushrooms will bleed water and cook in their own steam, and then they'll start browning really well. Let them stay in the oven on the bottom rack.
3. Brush the sliced bread with olive oil, and throw them into the oven - broil for 11/2 minutes or till the bread is toasted and brown.
4. Remove the bread, move the mushrooms to the top rack and broil the mushrooms for about a minute or till they crisp up on the ends.
5. Spread pesto on the toasted bread, heap up the mushrooms and eat!

Penne Al Arabiatta

This is an absolutely wonderful recipe stolen and adapted from a 4$ book called  "Mmm...pasta"- and no, I didn't buy it, but my roommate did after spending a little too long in the TJ Maxx checkout line. It has a nice little section for vegetarian pastas, and I'm trying them one by one. This particular recipe is an adaptation of the original, retaining the flavour profile but changing up the quantities to suit a 2 person meal.
Arabiatta is literally an angry red sauce - I find marinara too sweet and most tomato-basil sauces too bland. This is also a great pasta to make when you don't want to pay attention to your pot, and you just want something to simmer and you can come back and stir it once or twice, but focus on something else.

Ingredients:

-1 can of San Marzano tomatoes/Italian Plum Tomatoes (Do not use the regular diced or crushed tomatoes, you lose half the flavour by skipping this)
- Three big cloves of garlic, slit into quarters and slightly crushed
- Three or four dried red chillies or crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp of black whole peppercorns
- 2/3 cup of dry white wine (most white table wines will do, but the driest possible - use either Pinot Grigios, Chardonnays or Sauvignon Blancs - do not use Rieslings or Moscatos or anything sweet)
- Olive oil for flavour and to cook
- Flat leaf or curly parsley (whichever you prefer) for flavour and garnish
- Parmesan cheese
- Rigatoni or ridged penne (so it will absorb the saucy goodness)

1. Add the olive oil into a saucepan and heat it till it's almost ready to smoke and then turn the heat down to medium-low
2. Add the garlic cloves in, and let them brown - crush them down into the oil so the garlicky goodness oozes out, and remove the garlic cloves and throw them out.
3. Add the can of San Marzano tomatoes and allow to cook for 15 minutes, till the tomatoes cook down and the oil begins to separate (you only need to watch this two or three times and give it a quick stir)
4. When the tomatoes have cooked down, add salt, chillies, black peppercorns and the white wine and allow to reduce (this takes about 5 minutes - turn the heat up to medium-high at this point)
5. Cook the penne pasta for about 10-11 minutes in salted boiling water and set aside.
6. Add half the chopped parsley into the sauce, add a little more wine to liquefy the sauce.
7. Combine the pasta in the sauce, toss to coat - add the rest of the parsley and shave parmesan on top!

Pongal

When you can stuff yourself with rice and then sleep (!) This recipe approximately serves 3 people, but 2 if you eat like a pig.

Ingredients:1 cup rice (I sometimes use cooked rice from the day before that's leftover, or just combine leftover rice)
1/2 cup moong dal/payatham paruppu
Jeera - 1 1/2 tsps (or to taste)
Whole black peppers 1 tbs
Ginger (sliced)
Green chillies (slit open)
Asafoetida/perungayam/hing (two generous pinches)
Cashew nuts
Gheeeeeeeeee for frying and for the general taste and smell of things


1. Combine the rice and paruppu/dal and wash three times

2. Add 1 1/2 tsps of  oil into the pressure cooker, and fry the jeera, black pepper, ginger and green chillies for about 30s
3. Add the rice and dal and stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pressure cooker
4. Add salt to taste, hing, and water (to the ratio of 1:3 - so approximately 3 1/2 cups of water) - a pinch of turmeric if you like the yellow colour.
5. Cook up to five whistles and let the pressure subside
6. Fry the cashew nuts separately and add it to the cooked rice/dal
7. Combine and gobble!