Panna cotta ( Dessert )

Pannacotta is such a beautiful and an adaptable dessert. By adaptable I mean you can add so many things to it and make your own little pannacotta creation and show it off, just like ice cream :)

Though many food authors and chefs have their own versions of it, with combinations of milk and yoghurt, milk and cream, cream and yoghurt etc I am going to show you the most simple one , with ingredients easily available in your kitchen.

Here it is,

Simple Panna cotta.

You will need,

2 teaspoons of gelatin
1 cup of cream
1 cup of curd / yoghurt
1/3 cup of icing sugar or 3/4th cup of regular grainy sugar
2-3 teaspoon of water
3-4 tbs of honey
1 tbs of vanilla extract

Method:

Add 2-3 teaspoons of water in a small bowl and add gelatin to that, keep this aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatin dissolves in the water. Now place the cream, curd, sugar and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat or until the sugar dissolves ( make sure u don't heat it too much or the mixture will spoil, just hot enough to dissolve the sugar and gelatin ) once the sugar dissolves add the gelatin and stir, make sure it's dissolved completely .Take the mixture off the stove and set aside to cool. Now get those beautiful set of glasses out from your crockery sets and place the 2 spoons of honey in it ( smaller the glasses the better 125 ml capacity or 4 x 1/2 cups capacity ) now slowly slide the mixture from the edge of the glass so that the mixture settles over the honey and does not combine with it. (If this sounds tricky then just place the honey on top of the mixtures after it sets in the fridge ) . Now place these in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until it sets.

and you are done :)

You can vary this dish by adding rose water, orange blossom, espresso coffee instead of vanilla extract.
instead of the honey spoon over other sauces like the strawberry crush or any Macro crushes. You can even make caramel and add that to the mixture. You can also make a jelly and serve it with that, u can either place the jelly mixture on top of the dessert once its set and let the jelly set over it, or make it in advance and  serve dices over it. For your dinner parties warm some water and rub the glasses around with it and pop out the set pannacotta on white plates and serve the sauce around it.

Experiment with this dessert, it is so versatile, you will not go wrong with it.
My recommendation, try strawberry sauce and green apple flavouring.

Tip 1: use I teaspoon of gelatin for thicker substitutes like cream and curd and 2 teaspoons of gelatin for thinner substitutes like milk.

Enjoy :)

Callvins ( review )

We found this cute little place tucked inside the busy street on Kormangala . We were as usual breaking our heads about where to go and eat at 5pm in the evening when its too late for lunch and too early for dinner !!
So we spotted this place right next to Meghana Foods on the JNC road .

Callvins , first look - itsy bitsy place with a big shelf of breads , cakes, desserts, and then rolls and quiches , main attraction the duck and turtle shaped bread :) .

We ordered the chicken manchurian roll, chicken and cheese roll, veg manchurian roll , caramel custard , lovely chicken and barbaque chicken  , creme caramel , spinach and corn sandwich , and veg grill  .

We were in for a surprise , the rolls tasted amazing, the chicken manchurian roll was so juicy and perfect, the veg roll was spicy n yum for people who love their chilli . The chicken and cheese roll was decent , but it needs something to lift it up a bit more flavour I guess. The lovely chicken and the BBQ chicken were diced up juicy juicy chicken tossed in their respective sauces , where the first one had a bit of south Indian touch , with red yummy chicken' tangy lime and curry leaves ( not spicy and heavy at all) the later had a nice sweet tangy BBQ sauce with lots of garlic . Both were really good. We also tried the sandwiches , they tooK a while but were worth the wait, I haven't eaten a good sandwich in a long time , and these just made up for that, they were lip smacking , and the bread just melts in your mouth.

Now the star dish Srividya's absolute Favourite the caramel custard . First of all it looks daam cute and tastes better than it looks, should try this at any cost, just melts in ur mouth . The crème caramel however I would have liked if it was warmed up a little bit , but never the less it was good  and the owner recommend it.

Their fresh baked breads are also amazing , they are so soft that the whole slice feels like the middle of the bread, I cud just squeeze it into a ball ( childhood memories :) ) so soft .

We got more than we hoped for here, everything we ate was worth the wait and the money. You would be surprised by the prices, the rolls are 25-30 Rs. , the sandwiches are 35-45 Rs. , the chicken starters are from 70-80 Rs. , the desserts start from 30- 80 Rs.. .

We would love to try the other yummy things they offer next time, like the cakes , and the quiches , as the owners recommend it .
The quantities are also very good, you would be full with those sandwiches alone. The place unfortunately is small u have probably 4 tables , it cud fit in about 16 people . That is the only flaw , but its a bakery so I don't think I should be complaining, at least there is place to sit and enjoy those amazing treats they offer .

So I say u should go and check this place out , try the rolls, sandwiches and the caramel custard which are my top recommendations .

The Common Man's Pasta

I call this " The common man's pasta " for a very good reason.

1. because you only need a handful of things.
2. you don't need big time cooking skills to make this.
3. it requires minimum time and effort.
4. its great to raid your refrigerator grab 3 or 4 things and make something so yummy.

So here goes ,,,,

You will need,
1 pack of pasta ( macaroni or penne your choice)
1 large onion
5-6 tbs of olive oil or 4-5 dices of butter
6-7 packs of ur stack of pizza seasoning( from domino's or pizza hut etc) or 3 or 3 1/2 tbs of oregano.
3-4 packets of chilli flakes or 1 1/2 tbs of chilli flakes ( more if u like it spicy )
1/2 tbs of pepper
3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed or chopped)
salt to taste
water ( for the pasta)
1 cup of peas (optional)

Method

Bring 4 -5 cups of water to a boil, add 1 tbs spoon of oil and 1 tbs of salt to the water. once the water starts boiling add the pasta, and stir occasionally (keep an eye on it or else it will over cook). Check every 5 mins by tasting the pasta, if it has a slight resistance in the centre and you think it needs 2 more minutes to cook switch off the gas and keep aside for 5 mins. meanwhile thinly slice the onion and chop up the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a wok and add the onions, keep it on a medium flame and let it fry until golden and soft. Now check on the pasta, it should have cooked through with the residual heat from the water. Drain the pasta and let it dry. Once the onions are fairly brown lower the heat and add the seasoning, the chilli flakes, pepper and 1 tbs of salt. Sauté for one minute and add the pasta. Stir well so that the pasta is coated well. Taste and add salt. Then raise the temperature and fry the pasta for 2 mins. Remove from the heat and serve hot, with some seasoning on the side.

Vary this dish by adding corn, peas, carrots, capsicum, beans or scrambled eggs and chunks of leftover chicken pieces.

If you are using butter add 1tbs of oil first, to stop the butter from burning.

Well that's the common man's pasta. Pasta, onions and good use of all those seasoning's stashed in your refrigerators and kitchen cabinet

I will soon post a more gourmet version of this recipe which will knock you socks off.

PS: This one can be eaten hot or cold.