Daring Bakers' January Challenge: Lemon Meringue Pie

This is truly one recipe I would never have tried had it not been for the Daring Bakers! A tart filled with egg yolks and topped with egg whites didn't sound like a very good idea! The host for this month was Jen, and its because of her I baked my first Lemon Meringue Pie! Though am still not not too sure how I like this, but my folks sure liked it. So I might have another go! Also the video posted by Aparna was helpful! Reading on the DB blog a few incidents of 'pools of butter' I decided to cut down the butter by one third, and it wasn't a good idea, because the crust was as far from having a shortbread like texture as could be! It was somewhat hard rather than flaky or crisp. And I also cut the lemon juice by half because I knew no one at my place would like it so tarty, and it tasted just fine. Just that I felt despite the vanilla extract and lemon juice and zest, there still remained a somewhat eggy smell :( But nobody else complained so I guess it was just me. And also, this has nothing to do with taste, but I wonder why my filling looks so pale? Otherwise it was just fine, no runny filling luckily, it set very well. Just have to be careful about the butter the next time I bake this!

Do check out the other Daring Bakers for some more Pies!

Read More...

Summary only...

Banoffi Pie

This has become a fast favourite with my entire family. Whenever we have overripe bananas (soemtimes we let them get overripe :P) it means either Banana Bread or Banoffi Pie. More often Banoffi Pie, because it a quick no-bake thing and is absolutely delicious, never mind the calories! I think I must have made it countless times ever since we chanced upon the recipe, tried it and loved it. Posting two quick pictures, a feast for your eyes!

Read More...

Summary only...

Palak Paneer Pie... once again..

Am sure most of you reading this won't know that Palak Paneer Pie was my first ever post to this blog. Since then I have often thought of the changes I would like to make to that particular post. And today I decided to make a new post with all the things which I feel should have been in that first post.

The first thing would be I think a picture of the stuffing. So here we go...

You can see the Palak (spinach), the white stuff is the paneer (indian cheese), the pomegranates, the onion and the peas.

Another thing I would like to suggest here for people who would prefer a-not-so-soft lower crust is that you may blind bake your lower crust, and use cooked spinach. Just chop the spinach, put it in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Within a few minutes it will have separated into a green mass and quite a lot of water, cook till all the water evaporates and then use this spinach. This is something I have done, so I know its just fine.

Another thing I have taken to is cutting out shapes from the upper crust instead of making steam vents with a tooth pick.

And here is what you can do with the left over dough, specially if you like your crust crisp. Oh I know you would think anyone likes it that way, but with Palak Paneer Pie it all tastes good. Nonetheless these cut outs are nice to eat alongwith the pie.

Read More...

Summary only...

Banana-Toffee Pie

This, according to Reader's Digest, is a slice of the world's best pie. RD happens to be where I got the recipe from, and I regret to say that I hadn't heard of it before. It's certainly worth knowing and making again and again. The recipe is simple enough, the ingredients are:

300gm Marie Biscuits (or graham crackers)
1 can of condensed milk, 400gm
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 bananas
A cup of whipped cream, or more if you like
Some grated chocolate, or chocolate curls

Now for the method.

The most important and time-consuming part of this recipe is the toffee making. You have to cook the unopened, yes, unopened, can of condensed milk in boiling water for 3 hours. Make sure the can is always under water, if uncovered it might explode. This is how you get the toffee. And it's worth it. [You can boil several cans at a time, which is what I did after I made this once and liked it enough to want to make it loads of times more.... The toffee keeps indefinitely in the unopened can and can be stored and used at leisure.

Put the biscuits/crackers in a plastic bag, and crush them with a rolling pin till you get what you see in the picture. Though alternately you can pulse it in a food processor/mixer. (The actual recipe calls for 250 gm of biscuit, but I prefer a thicker crust, maybe next time I might make it 400gm, not kidding)

In a saucepan over low heat mix thoroughly the biscuits and the butter, until its warm to the touch. Put this mixture in the dish you plan to make your pie in. For my first attempt, I used a baking tin lined with parchment paper.

Smooth it out. Nice job, right? Once you've done this, refrigerate it for around half an hour.

Add the banana layer.

And then the toffee. Its a bit difficult to spread it out.

Another nice job :P

Now for the whipped cream. I love these soft peaks.

And lastly, the grated chocolate. I would like to add that I've made this pie a few times more and instead of grated chocolate I used chocolate curls, it looks prettier.

Chill it, and its ready to be eaten. Though I felt it was easier to handle after being left in the fridge overnight. Once its thoroughly set, you can remove it from the tin to a plate, but you have to be very careful as the biscuit layer cracks easily, but what the hell, it doesn't affect the taste! Dig in or see it disappear before your eyes!

Update: I just came across this amazing site, videojug, and they have a video on how to make Banoffee Pie, and two things they did different from me was that they didn't press down the biscuit crumbs very compactly, it was rather loose, which will make it easier to slice the pie, and they boiled the condensed milk only for two hours, which means its lighter colour, softer, and
spreads much more easily, though it will be be probably less caramel-y. I think another good idea would be to melt some chocolate and make a base of that, so that the biscuit crumbs get confined!

Read More...

Summary only...

Palak Paneer Pie

Okay... let's kick off my blog with my all time favourite dinner dish! This pie is a rich, slightly gooey and absolutely yummy combination of spinach and paneer (indian cheese). My family owes the recipe to my eldest sister's best friend.

Usually I would cover the entire pie with a flat rolled top crust, but this time I tried to get a bit crafty and after rolling out the dough,  cut out star shapes using a regular biscuit cutter. I like the effect. For the second one I tried a lattice top I had seen at many places, not very neat though, but hey this was the first time, and I was already running behind schedule, with everyone banging their plates!

The Recipe

Dough
2.5 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
4 tbsp Butter
8 tbsp grated Cheese

Make dough with ice cold water and put it in the fridge in a poly bag. If you like your crust crisp, refrigerate all the ingredients beforehand. Even the bowl, if you like. If its not too pliable, you may add a bit of water or butter, a little at a time.

Filling
2 Onions, chopped
2 Cups Spinach
1 Cup Peas, cooked
2.5 Cup grated Paneer
4 Green Chillies
Coriander, optional
Salt, Amchoor and Garam Masala according to your taste
0.5 Cup Pomegranate (Optional)

Just mix all these ingredients, and set aside. Divide the dough into two unequal portions. Use the larger one for the base and roll out according to your pie dish size and fit it in. Evenly spread the filling, and top with the rest of the dough. If you're making a flat topped pie, make steam vents with a fork. Bake at 180C until the crust turns light brown.

Read More...

Summary only...