Going Green

Originating from Southwest Asia, spinach is a dark green leafy vegetable with edible leaves and stems. Depending on the variety, the leaves may be either curled or smooth.

Spinach is an exceptionally nutritious food. It does contain a relatively high level of iron for a vegetable. Spinach also has high calcium content. It is a rich source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and several vital antioxidants. It is a source of folic acid as well.

Spinach can be used raw, or cooked by boiling or sautéing. Its leaves contain small amounts of oxalic acid that gives spinach a slightly bitter taste. Do not cook spinach for more than 4 minutes, as it tends to lose all the nutrients.

Lemony Spinach

What do we need:

1 bunch fresh spinach, stems removed
1 medium onion, sliced
2 dried chillies
1/2 tbsp shredded ginger
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
salt

How do we do it:

Wash and drain the spinach leaves. Set aside.

Heat oil and sauté onion, ginger and dried chillies. When the aroma rises, add the spinach. Cook for 2 minutes until the leaves are wilted. Add lemon zest and juice. Season with salt.




Serve Lemony Spinach with hot piping rice.

Weekend Baking Session # 9

Here comes weekend again. After 5 sessions of continuos cake baking, for this edition of Weekend Baking Session, I have thought of baking a pie.

I had a few lemons. Looking at them, a luscious lemon meringue pie came to my mind. I had wanted to try it out for nearly a year. Lemon meringue pie is a dessert made with a pastry base, lemon curd filling and a fluffy meringue topping.

Lemon Meringue Pie

What do we need:

Pie Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cold butter
1/4 cup ice cold water
1/2 tsp salt

Lemon Curd Filling:



3 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt

Meringue Topping:
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

How do we do it:

In a food processor, place the flour, salt and cold butter. At a slow speed mix the ingredients until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Gradually, add the ice cold water 1 tablespoon at a time just until the dough binds together. Make sure not to over work the dough. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.

On a floured board, roll out the dough into a disk, 2 or 3 inches larger than the pan. Transfer the pastry onto the pan. Fit the pastry very well on the bottom and side of the pan. Cut excess pastry 1 cm to the outside. Pinch the pastry edges to beautify it. Line with a sheet of aluminium foil and place dried beans or rice as weights. The purpose is to prevent the pastry from bulging out when baking. This method of baking is called blind baking. Bake in a preheated oven at 230°C for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven. Then, lift the aluminium foil together with the weight. Now return the pastry shell to the oven and bake for another 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, both the flours, salt and water. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture boils. Stir vigorously, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Slightly beat the egg yolks. Mix half the boiled mixture with the egg yolks. Then put the egg yolk mixture back into the pan with the boiled ingredients. This method is called tempering of the egg yolks. Cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly and, again, vigorously. Remove from heat and add the butter. Stir unitl the butter melts. Add the lemon zest and juice and butter. Stir well to mix thoroughly. Set aside.

In a clean, grease free bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla.




To assemble, pour the lemon curd into the pastry shell and spread it out evenly.




Spoon the meringue over the top of the lemon curd filling. Seal the meringue to the pastry edge. Make sure there are no gaps. Spread out evenly and swirl it into peaks.




Bake in a preheated oven at 150° C for 30 or until meringue turns lightly brown. Remove and let cool on a rack before chilling it.




When serving, cut the pie with a wet knife as meringue pies cut better with a wet knife blade.

Weekend Baking Session # 6

I had a punnet of strawberries in my fridge. Got to use them soon or they will get rotten. So many ideas came to my mind. As I have never baked an upside down cake, I decided to bake it.

Pineapples, cherries and blueberries are the famous upside down cakes. Strawberries are rather infamous. I am glad to introduce strawberries to this type of cake.

For this weekend, I want to be fair to all the vegetarians. Weekend Baking Session has always been non veg. So, this edition of WBS is a dedication to all the vegetarians out there. Special dedication to a beautiful young lady in Chennai, India who is also a vegetarian.

Strawberry Chocolate Upside Down Cake

What do we need:

500g strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice



1 cup bread flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt

2/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vinegar

How do we do it:

Hull and wash the strawberries. On a medium heat, cook them with sugar and lemon juice until the strawberries are soft and liquid is thick. Set aside.

Strawberries, before cooking


Strawberries, after cooking

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir and make a well in the centre. Pour the melted butter, milk and vinegar into the well. Stir to mix thoroughly.

Place the cooked strawberries at the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Pour the cake batter onto it. Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C for about 35-40 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean. Invert the cake onto a serving plate when the cake is still warm.





Serve strawberry chocolate upside down cake warm with a dollop of whipping cream.