Easy Peach Tart

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

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This is a ridiculously easy tart to make. Just chop up some peaches, toss in sugar and spices, arrange the peaches on puff pastry and bake off. That’s it!

Ree from the Pioneer Woman blog made a puff pastry apple tart. The minute I saw that recipe, I bookmarked it. But I used peaches instead of apples because I have a ton peaches from my recent (and very enjoyable) peach picking trip. Thanks Ree, for a quick, easy and delicious dessert idea!

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If you don’t have peaches, substitute with any fresh fruits you have. Plums, figs, cherries, apples(of course!), mixed berries will all turn out delicious in this tart.

Before you get started on this recipe, head on over to my ‘how to pit a peach’ post for an easy way to pit fresh peaches. Once you’ve done that, you are ready to proceed with this recipe.

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Toss the pitted, chopped peaches with sugar, cinnamon, allspice and a little salt. A pinch of salt always makes sweet stuff taste better.

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I cut the peaches into thin wedges. I didn’t peel them. But I think I will next time. I didn’t like the texture of the peach skin after it baked.

Lay out a puff pastry sheet cut into thirds on a baking sheet. Arrange the peaches on the puff pastry. Bake in the oven.

Don’t have puff pastry? Try making your own tart dough! Here is a recipe from David Lebovitz.

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The tart will be done in about 20 minutes. The peaches will be sweet and juicy sitting on the crispy, flaky, warm puff pastry.

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Easy Peach Tart
about 6 servings
1 sheet puff pastry
4 fresh peaches
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400f

Thaw the puff pastry sheet for about 30 minutes. Pit the peaches and chop them into wedges. Peel the peaches if you like. Toss the chopped peaches with sugar, cinnamon, allspice and salt.

Cut the puff pastry sheet into thirds and lay it out on a baking sheet. If your the baking sheet is not non-stick, spray it with non-stick spray or oil. Arrange the peach slices on the puff pastry. Bake for 20 minutes or till the puff pastry is golden. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Note: if your peaches are particularly sweet or juicy, the juices may burn in the oven. In this case, reduce oven temp to 350.

Fresh Cherry Crumble or Crisp

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

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Its a crisp in America and a crumble in England. But not matter what you call it, this fruity dessert with its addictive, cumb topping is delicious. I used fresh cherries. To pit them, I simply cut around the pit with a sharp paring knife. If you have a cherry pitter, it will speed things up for you. You can use pretty much any fruit you like; apples, strawberries, blueberries, plums or peaches will all be wonderful. My mom was visiting when I made this, so she’s the ‘hand model’ in these pictures

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Select fresh, good quality fruit. Wash the cherries and pit them. You dont need any fancy equipment for this, just cut around the pit with a sharp knife. I like to cook the cherries first with some sugar, water and corn starch. This reduces baking time in the oven.

Now top the cooked cherries with the streusel or crumb topping and bake till golden.

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I like to serve this cherry crumble/crisp slightly warm, and with some vanilla bean ice cream. But its just as delicious all by itself!

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Fresh Cherry Crumble/Crisp Recipe
makes 6 small servings

For cherry mixture
2 cups pitted, fresh cherries
2 tbsp sugar (this will produce a mildly sweet crumble. add more sugar if you like)
4 tbsp water
1 tsp corn starch

For streusel or crumb topping
3/4 cup flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
a pinch of ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted plus more to butter baking dish

Preheat oven to 400f

Place the pitted cherries and sugar in a saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes or untill the cherries are lightly softened. Mix together the corn starch and water and add it to the cherries. Cook for about 1 minute or till the mixture thickens.

To make the streusel or crumb topping, combine the flour, brown and white sugars, cinnamon and salt together. Mix well. Then pour in the melted butter. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it forms a crumbly mixture.

Lightly butter a baking dish (I used 6 individual sized creme brulee dishes). Divide the cherry mixture among the dishes. Place the crumb topping on top and bake for 15 minutes or till the topping has lightly browned.

Iced, Spiced Apple Tea or Apple Chai

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

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I love both Indian chai tea and Turkish apple tea. Chai tea is strong and scented with cardamom and cloves. Turkish apple tea (elma cay) is golden, refreshing and tastes quite like apple juice. This recipe combines the best of both teas – the aromatic spices from chai tea and the bright apple flavor of apple tea. Serve this tea cold in a tall glass with ice on a hot summer afternoon. Or serve it warm in tea cups on a chilly autumn day.

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Use a good quality loose leaf black tea. I used assam tea. If you dont have loose leaf tea, you could use tea bags instead. You’ll also need some apple juice and spices – cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Star anise or saffron will also be nice..use whatever spices you like.

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Iced, Spiced Apple Tea or Apple Chai Recipe
makes about 2 cups

1 cup water
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 thin one inch piece of cinnamon
2 tsp loose leaf black tea or 2 tea bags
Sugar to taste
1 cup store bought apple juice
Apple slices for garnish

Lightly crush the cardamom pods with the back of a wooden spoon till it cracks open. Place the water, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the tea, turn off heat and let the tea steep for about 3 minutes. Then strain the tea and stir in sugar to taste.

Mix the prepared tea with apple juice. Serve cold (or hot). Garnish with apple slices.

Yerba Mate – a South American Herbal Drink

Posted on April 7, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

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We discovered this hot, green tea-like South American drink when we visited Argentina. Yerba mate was everywhere Argentina. In the evenings, families flocked to Buenos Aires’ parks with mate gourd and a flask of hot water in hand. Shopkeepers stood by their stalls sipping yerba mate from its bombilla or straw. People socialized over yerba mate. At a house party, when I asked for tea, I was given yerba mate…by a very handsome Argentinean.

This being Argentina’s national drink, I had to bring back some yerba mate and a couple of mate gourds from my trip. I didnt realize till now that I hadnt shared pictures of my yerba mate and mate gourds with you. So here is my yerba mate post!

Spot the mate gourd picture that has a reflection of me!

A mate maker carving gourds & an olive vendor enjoying yerba mate in Mendoza, Argentina.

‘Yerba’ means herb and ‘mate’ is the gourd used to drink yerba mate. So the drink literally means ‘herb in a cup’. True to its name, Yerba mate tastes like strong, earthy, somewhat bitter green tea.

Research shows that yerba mate has cancer fighting, antidepressant and energy boosting properties. If you’ve ever used Biofreeze – a topical muscle and joint pain reliever – you have experienced yet another medicinal property of yerba mate. Biofreeze, by the way, works like magic for aches and sprains; I HIGHLY recommend it. Biofreeze is so incredibly effective only because it is made from yerba mate! It contains Ilex, which is the botanical name for yerba mate!

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Almond Milk Hot Chocolate with Chili

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

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Two bloggers came together to make this post possible. A while ago, the lovely Trupti from The Spice Who Loved Me blog blogged about a chili infused chocolate. As a lover of all things chili, I wrote to her asking where I can find this chocolate. ‘Local grocery store’, she said. A few weeks later, Trupti so thoughtfully wrote to ask me if I had found the chili chocolate. I told her I had looked and looked, but couldnt find it

The next thing I know, I receive an “Air mail Par avion” packet (“pacquet“, this case) from Canada! With a slab of Lindt excellence chili infused chocolate and a Lindt cherry and chili bar from Trupti!

ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou, Trupti!

The chili infused chocolate is my favorite. It tastes like Lindt dark chocolate at first, but it finishes with a hint of red chili in the back of your throat – just sensational! I knew just the perfect recipe to use this chocolate in. Yasmeen’s, almond milk hot chocolate. Yasmeen’s Healthnut blog is full of healthy recipes and great nutritional information. Ever since she posted her almond milk cocoa recipe, Ive been wanting to try it.

So here’s what I did – make Yasmeen’s almond milk recipe and melt in the chili chocolate sent by Trupti.

Almond Milk Hot Chocolate with Chili
makes 2 cups

2 cups Yasmeen’s Almond milk (its easy – soak almonds overnight, grind them with water in a blender and then squeeze out the milk)
4 squares Lindt excellence chili bar substitute with chocolate chips or cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch cayenne pepper

Place the almond milk and chocolate squares in a pan on low heat. Heat the almond milk whisking constantly, till the chocolate melts. Once the chocolate is completely incorporated in the almond milk. Turn off heat, whisk in vanilla and cayenne.

Blackberry Frozen Yogurt with Lychees

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

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We had fabulous weather over the weekend. It was almost like summer! So I decided to do a summery frozen yogurt and pair it with one of my favorite fruits – lychees (or litchis). I made the frozen yogurt with blackberries and piped it into the lychees. So you could also call this lychees stuffed with frozen yogurt.

Blackberry Frozen Yogurt with Lychees
makes about 2 servings. you will have left over frozen yogurt.

2 cups plain yogurt, I used low fat.
1 ½ cups blackberries either fresh or thawed from frozen
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice, optional
a 20 oz can of lychees in syrup

Drain the lychees and gently pat them dry. Place the drained lychees in the fridge till you are ready to use them.

Place a sieve or strainer over a vessel. Place a double layer of cheese cloth over the strainer. Put the yogurt in the cheese cloth. Gather and tie the ends of the cheese cloth to form a bundle. Put the yogurt bundle with the strainer and vessel in the fridge. We want most the liquid from the yogurt to drain. This will take about 2 hours.

In the meanwhile, puree the blackberries, sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Push the blackberry mixture through a sieve or strainer. Discard the seeds in the strainer.

When the yogurt has drained, return it to the blender along with the strained blackberry mixture. Blend till everything is combined well. Taste the mixture and adjust sugar if needed.

If you have an ice cream maker, process the yogurt blackberry mixture according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

For creamy frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker:
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can still make creamy frozen yogurt. Pour the blackberry yogurt mixture into a shallow dish, cover the dish, and place in the freezer. Freeze for about 2 hours until the yogurt is half frozen.

Now Scrape the yogurt and put it back in the blender. Blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the dish, cover, and freeze again. Let the yogurt freeze another 2 hours. Scrape up the yogurt and blend again. Repeat the freeze-blend-freeze process 3 times. This will result in creamy frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker!

To serve, fill a serving dish with ice cubes. Remove the drained lychees from the fridge. Arrange the lychees, hole-side up, over the ice. Place the frozen yogurt in a zip lock bag, and snip the end of the bag. Pipe the yogurt into the lychees. Serve immediately.

Notes
If your lychees aren’t firm enough to stand up straight or hold the frozen yogurt, freeze the lychees for about 30 minutes. This will make them firm enough to hold their shape and easier for you to pipe in the yogurt.

If you decide to place the lychees on a bed of ice, make sure you serve the dish immediately. Otherwise the ice will melt and your lychees will drown.

An easier method – simply chop up the lychees and top the frozen yogurt with the chopped lychees.

Chocolate Cup Cake Baked in a Cup

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

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I just may have created the world’s most expensive cupcakes. Thanks to UPS. Let me explain…

My sister moves a lot for her job. And every time she moves, it’s become somewhat of a tradition for me to send her something homemade and chocolaty. She is moving this week and I sent her mini chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting.

Did I mention my sister lives in England?? It cost me nearly a week’s worth of groceries to send these cupcakes to England! But I suppose you can’t put a price on these things. Besides, the Ina Garten recipe I used for these cupcakes was just perfect. This is a chocolate cake recipe and worked very well for making cup cakes.I didn’t use the butter cream frosting that came with the cake recipe. Instead I made a simple chocolate ganache (recipe below).

I had some left over batter, so I poured the batter into a big oven proof coffee mug and baked it right in the mug….this one is very literally a cup cake. It’s a lot of fun to eat out of the mug.

How to bake cup cakes in a coffee mug or cup

Make a batch of your favorite cake batter. I recommend Ina Garten’s chocolate cake recipe.

Start with clean coffee mugs. Make very sure that the coffee mugs are oven proof. Butter the inside of the mugs and lightly dust with flour. Alternatively, spray the inside of the mugs with non stick spray.

Pour the cake batter only half way up the mug.

Bake in a 350F oven.

Baking times will vary depending on the size of the mug you use. When the cake is done, the batter would have risen, and your kitchen will smell like cake. At this point insert a tooth pick into the cup cake. If its done, the tooth pick will come out clean. Make sure you dont over bake and dry out your cup cake. I used a fairly large mug and it took 25 minutes.

To serve, dust some powdered sugar on top or top the cake with chocolate ganache (recipe below). Serve with fresh berries of your choice.

Notes: Use the best cocoa powder you can afford. Try adding some kahlua or rum to the cake batter for a more intense flavor.

Microwave Method

I attempted a batch in the microwave. I used the same method above and microwaved the batter in the mug for about 3 minutes. It works. But the oven method tastes better and has better texture.

Chocolate Ganache
Makes enough to frost 2, 8 inch round cakes or about 60 mini cupcakes1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup heavy cream

Bring the cream to a simmer in a pan on low heat. Add the chocolate chips and whisk until melted. Turn off heat. Spread immediately on top of the cooled cake.

Rose Pomegranate Fizz

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

a Turkish themed Valentine’s day dinner

rose pomegranate fizz

Rose flavoring is used mainly in Turkish sweets and desserts. I also had some really nice rose flavored tea in Istanbul. This drink is inspired by all the rose flavor I encountered in Turkey.

Rose Pomegranate Fizz
makes 2 cups

4 tbsp Sugar (more, if you like it sweeter)
3 tbsp Water
2 tbsp Pomegranate molasses*
¼ tsp rose water
2 cups chilled club soda or seltzer
A few rose petals

Microwave the sugar and water just until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool. Then mix all ingredients together except rose petals. Stir well to combine.

To serve, pour into glasses and float a few rose petals on top.

Notes
Make sure you use roses that haven’t been sprayed with pesticides. Rinse the rose petals in cold water before using.

*If you dont have pomegranate molasses, use pomegranate juice. You may have to experiment with the pomegranante juice and club soda ratio (start with equal amounts of each).

This recipe yields a slightly sweet drink. Thats how we like it. If you want your drink to be sweeter, just use more sugar.

How to make your own rose water

I found rose water in my local grocery store. It will also be available in middle eastern stores. If you cant find rose water, here is a link to make your own on www.tipnut.com. See the section titled ‘homemade rosewater’. The recipe calls for steeping 1 cup of rose petals in 2 cups boiling water. Then cool, strain and use.

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