How to Make Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream at Home

By J C Willis

When it comes to certain foods, traditional flavors reign supreme. No matter how many flavors Ben and Jerry come up with, you can't beat good old-fashioned strawberry ice cream. It's a flavor synonymous with summer and loaded with natural goodness. It might not be as complex as Rocky Road or as exotic as Green Tea, but it brings a special level of wholesomeness all its own. Best of all, this is one of the easiest ice cream flavors to prepare at home. You don't need much prior experience - all it takes is great ingredients, a good ice cream maker, and a bit of time to put it all together.

The first step to preparing strawberry ice cream is half the fun. It's your mission to find the sweetest, ripest strawberries available. If it happens to be summertime then you're in luck. This is when strawberries are in season, and you should be able to get great deals at your local market. If you can get them at a farmer's market or directly from the source, even better. And remember, you don't need those perfect strawberries that are firm and look beautiful. In this case, this super-ripe strawberries that are slightly tender will do just fine. You'll be blending them into a puree anyways, so it doesn't really matter what they look like.

After you have your batch of strawberries, it's time to make your puree. In general, about 3 cups of strawberries will do nicely. Put them in your blender and give them a few blasts to make your puree. At this stage, you can choose to add extras like lemon juice or vanilla extract. You can even add a bit of extra sugar if you like. Just remember that your strawberry should be the main star of the recipe, and it doesn't require much extra at all.

Now it's time to put together your custard, and this will require four basic ingredients:

1 1/3 cups of heavy cream

1/3 cup of milk

3/4 cups white sugar

3 eggs

Heat your cream over medium heat until the sides slightly bubble. Take care not to let it get to a full boil however. In a separate bowl, add your eggs, sugar, and milk. Whisk these ingredients until everything is evenly blended. Now gently pour in your hot cream while whisking to blend evenly. Once everything is put together, return all of the contents into your sauce pan and heat over medium. You'll see that the custard eventually thickens to the point where it will coat the back of a metal spoon. This generally takes about 5 minutes. Remember to take care throughout the process, making sure never to boil the custard and always blending everything as evenly as possible. Now it's time to add your strawberry puree. You can use as sieve if you like, or just mix everything if you want a slightly chunky result. Refrigerate everything until it's chilled thoroughly.

The final step involves putting the custard into your ice cream maker. If you would like larger chunks of strawberry, this is the point where you can include bigger pieces that you've diced up. Manufacturers recommendations will vary depending on the model, but in general it will take around 20-25 minutes. If you're using a fully automated maker like a Cuisinart model, all you have to do is add your custard and turn on the power. Old-fashioned handcrank models will obviously require you to churn the handle yourself. When the process is done, you'll have a soft serve version of strawberry ice cream loaded with natural goodness. If you want harder final results, simply put it in your freezer for a couple of hours.

All it takes is one try to see how easy this recipe is to prepare. There's lots of room for changes to make it fancier, but it also works wonderfully on its own. This is the perfect trait to prepare on a hot summer day you want a great dessert after dinner.

Making homemade ice cream used to be a chore, but now it's as easy as 1-2-3. It starts with the machine you choose, and you can find a good one if you visit http://icecreamakers.com/. You'll see that a good machine doesn't have to cost a lot of money, and even the most basic one will give you everything you need for fresh and delicious ice cream every time.

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Sweet Delicacies From Delhi Street Shops

By Rrakesh Kkumar

Delhi is known for sweet dishes and desserts. Since Delhi is not having its own cuisine, you can find the variety of dishes from all places around the country. Best Restaurants in Delhi offer sweet dishes like Rosogulla, Sondesh, Cham Cham, etc. from West Bengal to Kheer, Maal Pua, Kulfi, etc. from the other parts of India. Sweet dishes from West Bengal are definitely very famous all over the country but sweet dishes from other parts are also liked everywhere. South Indian Rasam or Moong Daal Halwa are also liked by everyone. Rajasthan is famous for the Ghewar, Pinni, etc. You can also find lot of North Indian sweet dishes from Punjab and Haryana in Best Restaurants in Delhi.

Not only sweets from within India, you can get the taste of continental desserts like flavored ice creams, sundaes, mocktails, etc. that are not of Indian origin. Best Restaurants in Delhi offer all these international tastes and much more. You don't need to visit a five star hotel or a big restaurant to taste these delicacies. In Delhi, you can easily find a big variety of sweets in streets and local shopping places.

If we talk about the lower class Delhities, who cannot afford the Best restaurants in Delhi the best place to enjoy the sweets is the small shop counters that can be found on road side almost everywhere around the city. The most famous of all the sweets is Jalebi which is liked by all the classes in Delhi and all over India. Jalebi is a crispy fried maida in ghee dipped in the melted sugar. Whether it is the old bazaars in Chandni Chowk of Old Delhi or modern shopping complexes and shopping malls in South Delhi, you can find mouth watering jalebi everywhere. It's a sweet dish that joins everybody. From a daily wage labour to a rich business man, everyone Is fond of this taste.

Lot of upcoming brands have modified the original taste of these dishes according to the taste of young generation and their target customers to improve their sales. Brands like Haldirams, Bikanerwala, Punjabi by Nature, etc. have shown some innovation in doing so and have become popular also but the original taste lies in the original recipes.

You can find the most authentic taste and original recipes in old markets and oldest of shops in Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Pahar Ganj, etc.

For more information about best restaurants in Delhi and best restaurant in west Delhi please log on http://www.authenticrecipes.in/

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Low Fat Samosa Recipe

By Liz Canham

I love samosas but I always worry about the fat in the pastry and the fact that they are usually deep fried. No matter how hot and fresh the oil, this is not a low fat option!

You can fill a samosa with anything - ground meat, vegetables, even fish but obviously, vegetables and fish are the low fat options here. You can really use any vegetables you like as long as they don't let out a lot of water, such as tomatoes, but the following is a fairly traditional samosa recipe using peas and potatoes.

The Filling

725g (1lb 10oz) potatoes
Medium onion
1 tbsp fresh root ginger
175g (6 oz) peas (defrosted, if frozen)
Fresh coriander
Salt to taste
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds (dry roast in a non-stick frying pan and grind in a pestle and mortar or coffee grinder)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Lemon juice to taste (about 2tbsp)

Boil the potatoes and when cool, cut into small cubes.

Finely chop the onion and fry it until it just begins to brown in a little vegetable oil. Grate the ginger root and add to the pan with a finely chopped green chili (seeds removed, if you prefer), the peas and a small handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped. Finally add a little water then cover and simmer the vegetables for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if the mixture dries out too much.

Add the potatoes and salt together with all the spices and lemon juice. Mix and cook for a few minutes, stirring. Check and adjust seasoning and allow to cool.

Filo Pastry (low fat option)

Buy frozen filo pastry. I don't think anyone in the world makes their own! Defrost the pastry. Unfortunately, for the above filling recipe you will need only two or three sheets but you can use up the rest by making Greek or Turkish cheese pies or Spanakopita (spinach and cheese pie).

Filo pastry can be very delicate so defrost then unroll very gently. Whatever you're not working with should be covered with a damp tea towel, as it dries out very quickly.

Lay out your filo pastry and if you want to increase the filling quantity, cut the whole stack into three or four equal strips, depending on the width of your pastry and the size that you want your samosas. However, anything less than about 3 inches (7.5 cm) wide and you will have great difficulty folding it. Cover all but one of the resulting stacks with a damp tea towel.

Fold the first strip of filo across the corner and place approximately a teaspoonful of the filling inside the fold. Now fold this triangle towards the remaining length of the strip of pastry thus covering one open side of the triangle. Fold back the other way keep folding in the same way until all three sides of the triangle are closed in and the strip of filo is used up. Stick the edge down with a mixture of flour and water.

Carry on making your samosas until the filling mixture is finished. If there is some left, you can freeze it for another time. Place all the samosas on an oven tray and brush each one sparingly with vegetable oil. Bake in a fairly high oven, Gas 7, 200C (or follow the instructions on the packet of filo pastry) for about ten minutes or until the samosas are crisp and golden.

You may be interested to know that two full sheets of filo pastry contain 80 calories, whereas a shortcrust pastry recipe suitable for the above amount of filling contains approximately 1287 calories, so there's really no contest if you're on a low fat or weight reducing diet. In addition, the oven baking is far less fat intensive than deep frying.

Visit Samosa Recipes for more recipes and books.

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Yummy Samosa Recipe

By Vijayjan Nair

Samosa is a very popular snack item in Indian and South Asia as well. But you can find it all over the world in different variations. Basically, the samosa is a stuffed pastry which is either oven baked or deep fried. The fillings are usually made with boiled potatoes, peas, onions or ground beef or chicken. Samosa is chiefly enjoyed with some chutneys.

Samosa is a yummy snack liked by almost all age groups of people. Depending on the regions, the stuffings of the samosas might be different, but the method of cooking always remains the same. For example, the North Indian style samosa is very different from that of South Indian style samosa. In this article, you will get a recipe of Indian vegetarian samosa.

The basic ingredients required are;

250gms all purpose flour, 1 cup water, 500gms potatoes, 100gms green peas, 2 chopped onions, 6 green chillies, 2tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp coriander powder, oil, pinch of chili powder and turmeric powder, coriander leaves( for garnishing) plus salt to taste.

How to Make the Filling:

To make the filling, first you need to boil the potatoes and mash them. Take a pan and add 1 tsp of oil. Put chopped onions and green chillies once the oil is heated. Fry the onions till golden brown and put ginger garlic paste. You can also little chili powder and turmeric powder. After one minute of frying, add green peas and mashed potatoes. Mix them well. Add little lemon juice, coriander powder and salt. Cook for 10 minutes and garnish them with chopped coriander leaves.

How to Make Samosa:

Place the flour in a bowl. Add 3 tbsp of oil and little salt to the flour. Knead the flour by adding water and set aside for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 10 equal parts and make them into round flat balls. Roll every balls into a small-sized round chapatti and then cut into 2 equal semi circles. Fold the semi circle into half and seal one side with water to make a triangle pocket. Now fill it with the filling mixture and seal the other side as well with water. Heat the oil in a pan for frying. Fry the samosa in the oil until they turns golden brown. Your homemade vegetarian samosa is ready to be served.

To get a crispy samosa, you can add some rice flour to the dough. Little soda can also be added to the cooking oil to have a crispy samosa outer cover.

Samosa is a very delicious Indian snack. So whenever you get the opportunity, try this recipe and enjoy.

We have lot of information on food and wine as well. Please check out our wine portal at wine tasting. Also take a look at US Wines.

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No-Bake Cookies and Cream Cheesecake

By Kayla Marie

A good cookies and cream cheesecake is like a good Sunday nap. You can live without it... but why would you ever want to?
Well, this cookies and cream cheesecake is a fantastic blend of the Oreos we all know and love, plus the creamy texture of a delicious cheesecake. The best part is that this recipe is "no-bake" which means no oven required. It is a perfect answer to dessert on a hot summer night!
Just pop this no-bake cookies and cream cheesecake into the fridge and soon you'll be ready to enjoy it!
INGREDIENTS:
24 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos), finely crumbled, about 2 cups
6 tablespoons margarine, room temperature
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Coarsely crumbled chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos), about 1 to 1 1/2 cups
DIRECTIONS:
1) Combine fine cookie crumbs and soft margarine; press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan. In a saucepan, soften gelatin in cold water; stir over low heat until dissolved. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing at medium speed of an electric hand-held mixer until well blended. Gradually add gelatin mixture and milk, mixing until well blended.
2) Chill until mixture is thickened but not set; fold in whipped cream. Reserve 1 1/2 cup cream cheese mixture; pour remaining cream cheese mixture over crust. Top with coarsely crumbled cookies then remaining cream cheese mixture. Chill until firm.
Once your simple cheesecake is complete, it is only a matter of time before it firms up and you can eat it. Although it may seem like a tedious and time-consuming task; in the end you will actually still save the time it would have taken to bake the cheesecake in the oven.
This cookies and cream cheesecake recipe is no-bake but all flavor!

For more delicious information on recipes be sure to visit http://www.cookies-n-cakes.com/ where you'll find tips on cookie recipes cakes, brownies, as well as other articles on cooking, baking, and kitchen products.

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Shiitake Onion Pakora/ Tempura Fritters - Pt 3 of Saving Money on Party Snacks

By Raj Dash

 

When I've got a craving for a snack with a high mouth feel and belly satisfaction level, I like to have either Japanese-style tempura fritters or East Indian-style pakora fritters (link below). But being the kind of foodie that I am, I often enjoy cross-cultural world cuisine hybrid recipes. I lucked out one day with a great snack combo: shiitake onion "pakura "(pakora/tempura).
They're easy to make, but require a deep fryer and hot oil for best results. (As always, be careful around hot oil. Minimize your distractions.) If you prefer, you can use a heavy cast iron frying pan and shallow fry the fritters. However, they will be denser, so you won't get the light, fluffy but crispy texture. But they're still tasty being pan-fried.
Ingredients

• 4 parts besan (aka chickpea flour, chana flour, or gram flour). (You can find chickpea/ gram flour in Italian markets, and besan/ chana in East/West Indian and Pakistani markets. Some large supermarkets will also have it in their international section. If you cannot find besan, grind up dried chickpeas in a coffee/ spice grinder.)
• 1 part tapioca starch or tempura mix (preferred).
• Salt + pepper to taste.
• Red pepper flake [optional].
• 1-2 parts water. The amount of water will vary. You want to form a paste that's not too runny. It has to be able to bind the mushroom and onion filling, and stay together in the oil.
• 1 small onion, sliced into thin slivers and pieces separated.
• 4-8 canned shiitake mushrooms, sliced very thinly into strips. (If you want more texture, you could also use "wood ear" or "black fungus". It's available in many Asian markets in dried form. Rehydrate a few pieces in a bowl of warm water for 1 hour. Rinse, then cut into thin strips.)

Preparation

• Mix dry ingredients thoroughly with a spoon or fork.
• Slowly add water until a paste, slightly thicker than pancake batter, starts to form.
• Add the sliced onion and shiitake pieces and mix thoroughly.
• Heat oil in some safe (heavy) pot or deep fryer. (If you're using a cast-iron frying pan, just shallow fry in about a 1/4 inch of oil.)
• Carefully drop in a spoonful of batter at a time. Don't have too many fritters going in each batch, else the oil's temperature will drop, causing the fritters to absorb oil and become greasy.
• Fry 2-3 minutes one side, then turn over fritters using a slotted spoon and fry 1-2 minutes on the other. (While the fritters should be golden brown, keep in mind that chickpea flour is very high in protein, burns easily, and stinks when it does so. If possible, try to remove the tiny pieces of loose fried batter as soon as they are cooked or they will burn. If you are using a deep fryer, this might be a bit difficult. It's recommended that you fry the fritters in a heavy stockpot, if you don't have a proper deep fryer and don't want to use a frying pan. The alternative is to not make the batter too watery. This means you have to cook the fritters a bit longer, as they will be thicker.)
• Drain on paper towel (kitchen paper).

Presentation
Serve with a mixture of hot and/or sweet sauces, including chutneys, sambal oelek (hot chili paste), sriracha (smooth chili paste), plum sauce, sour cream, or onion dip.
Link: High-Protein Chickpea Pakora Fritters - Pt 2 of Saving Money on Party Snacks.
(c) Copyright: 2006-present, Raj Kumar Dash

Raj Kumar Dash, also known as the very opinionated Elvis Parsley, the "Curry" Elvis, was taught cooking at his mother's side. A trained cook, he writes about various world cuisines, the health-related aspects of food, food TV shows, and pretty much anything related to the food industry. You can find his new food site (still in revision) at http://www.curryelvis.com/, and four older cooking blog archives by starting at http://curryelviscooks.blogspot.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Raj_Dash

High-Protein Chickpea Pakora Fritters - Pt 2 of Saving Money on Party Snacks

By Raj Dash

If all you know about East Indian food is papadums and samosas, you're going to love pakoras - East Indian-style fritters. The batter is made from chickpea flour - known as "besan" or "chana flour" in East and West Indian groceries, and "gram" flour in English.
The filling is up to you: diced vegetables of all kinds. Just make sure you use firm vegetables (i.e., stay away from delicates like peas, snow peas, celery, sprouts). I'm not a beer-drinker myself, but as with samosas, word is that pakoras are great with beer, and thus a great party snack. Keep in mind, though, that pakoras are very high in protein. Don't over-indulge.
Ingredients:

• Besan/ gram/ chickpea flour (or grind your own from dried chickeas using a coffee/ spice grinder).
• Water to form a batter.
• Salt and black pepper, to taste.
• Crushed red pepper flake (optional).
• 1/2 tsp of mild curry powder or ground cumin. Do not put in too many spices, as they'll tend to ruin the oil.
• Small onion(s), cut in eighths.
• Any combo of potato, eggplant, zuchinni, cauliflower - all cut into large chunks. Keep in mind that potato takes longer to cook than any of the other veggies. So make the potato pieces smaller. I suppose you could also (separately) use large, firm pieces of cheese.

Preparation:

• Place the chickpea flour or ground chickpeas in a mixing bowl.
• Add salt, pepper, chili flake, and curry powder or cumin.
• Now slowly add about 1/4 cup of water at a time, and mix with a fork. When you have a thick batter that isn't runny, add another 1/8 cup of water and mix thoroughly. (Basically, keep in mind that this batter is going into hot oil. So the more watery it is, the more likely you are to be spattered with hot oil. But the batter shouldn't be so thick that it hangs from the veggie pieces in blobs.)
• Add all the diced, raw veggies to the batter and gently mix so that the pieces are all coated.
• If you used your hands, wash them and dry carefully. (As always, be careful around hot oil.)
• Using a deep, heavy cookpot, heat 1-2 inches of cooking oil (canola or vegetable) on high. Test with a tiny drop of batter. It should start cooking immediately, and float fairly soon after. Remove the test piece with a slotted spoon. (If you have a proper food thermometer that is safe to put into hot oil, the temperature should read about 350 F. If the oil is not hot enough, the fritters will absorb oil and become greasy. If the oil is too hot, the outside of the fritters will burn while in the insides will be uncooked. Remember not to fill the oil up to the top of the cookpot, as you'll need room for the fritters. Too many spoons of batter into the oil at the same time not only lowers the oil's temperature, but you run the danger of hot oil overflowing the cookpot, potentially starting a fire.)
• For best results, deep fry heaping tablespoonfuls of batter and veggies as individual "balls". If you don't have a deep fryer, or prefer shallow frying, use about 1/2 inch of cooking oil in a heavy, cast-iron pan. The latter method produces flatter, denser fritters. The former method produces fluffier but crispy bulging spheres.Cook flat fritters on high heat until almost golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, then flip over to cook the other side (about 3 minutes). (Note: These fritters tend to burn sooner in a cast-iron pan, so you may need to reduce cooking time and/or heat slightly.)
• Use a slotted spoon to remove fritters, and move to a plate lined with a double-layer of paper towels (kitchen paper).
• Let cool slightly for 1-3 minutes.

Presentation:
Serve with tamarind dipping sauce, raita (sour cream w/ small-diced cucumber), mango chutney, sriracha hot sauce, plum sauce, or even ketchup.
(c) Copyright 2006-present, Raj Kumar Dash

Raj Kumar Dash, also known as the very opinionated Elvis Parsley, the "Curry" Elvis, was taught cooking at his mother's side. A trained cook, he writes about various world cuisines, the health-related aspects of food, food TV shows, and pretty much anything related to the food industry. You can find his new food site (still in revision) at http://www.curryelvis.com/, and four older cooking blog archives by starting http://curryelviscooks.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Raj_Dash