Blogger’s Table | IICA, International Institute of Culinary Arts, New Delhi
May 22, 2013 § 1 Comment
The Indian food industry scene is changing at a supersonic speed. People are getting more and more opened to international flavors and home cooks are stirring storm in their kitchens. Now fathers don’t mind their sons dreaming about being a future chef. And mothers love to get more and more experimental with serving Thai, Burmese and Italian on their everyday dinner tables. Much thanks to globalization and people travelling more frequently to far overseas locations and getting accustomed to acquired tastes of foreign lands. There’s a high probability you would find an average Indian homemaker hooked to Masterchef Australia than the Indian version on television. Internet has also opened up the vast avenues to learning new techniques and methods to classic dishes.
We are the nation producing largest number of doctors and engineers in an year and hence we have a sound academic infrastructure to support that. But now when more and more of future generations are showing their proclivity to a culinary career than to opt for the traditional courses, the question which strikes back us is “Do we have good culinary institutes with similar, if not better faculties?”
Of course, people can get admission in foreign culinary institutes and gain excellent education and skills required. But truly speaking, how many of us can afford to get a giant hole of foreign exchange in our pockets? So, the need of the hour is to have opened up more and more culinary institutes locally, but not by compromising the quality of education.
Blogger’s Table, few days back got a chance to have visited this not so old yet renowned culinary institute, International Institute of Culinary Arts, in capital. The purpose of the visit was primarily to apprise of the kind of education, faculty, infrastructure. IICA was founded by Chef Virender S. Datta who has over 40 years of versatile experience in Hotels & Hospitality Industry, including that of Executive Chef-Oberoi Sheraton Hotels, General Manager & Vice President Operations of ITC Hotels, Founder President , Fortune Park Hotels by Welcomgroup. The institute offers a variety of courses accredited by Edexcel and City & Guilds, including Hotel Management, Culinary Arts. And there are courses for Hobby chefs in international cuisine, chocolate making and patisserie as well. And guess what, IICA doesn’t have any age limit, unlike many other culinary institutes in country. Isn’t it something really motivating?
We got to taste some of the authentic french delicacies prepared by their first year students. And I tell you, it was one of the most honest and delish food which was served that afternoon. It speaks for the kind of skills and talent the faculty has over there, that students who’ve just been for four months in the course could manage to pull up these dishes. Yes, you read it right, just four months! Amazing, isn’t it? Look at it yourself! And don’t miss those nice plating skills.
Salade Nicoise, A classic combination of tuna fish, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, anchovies and eggs bound in a French dressing.
Assorted Bread Basket with herbed butter
Sole Meunière, pan seared sole accompanied with sauteed spinach and lemon butter
Poulet Saute Chasseur, hunter style chicken served with bundle vegetables and chateau potatoes
Mangue Romanoff, mango and cream dessert with caramel sugar work
Coffee with petit fours
And, in case you are wondering how that beautiful sugarwork was done. We were lucky enough to have seen this happening live in the kitchen.
Aren’t these some of the marvelous creations.
The methods of teaching in IICA are very practical oriented than focusing more on theory or demonstration. Students are encouraged more to learn about the classic techniques and methods of cooking than to know about the recipes only. And IICA seems to be a promising and emerging culinary institute of the country who encourage their students to follow their dreams and be passionate about them.
See, what others have to say about IICA
Image courtesy @ http://www.aishwaryaeats.com/
- Aishwarya @ Aishwarya Eats
- Sid @ Chef At Large
- Charis @ Culinary Storm
- Mukta @ Bake-a-Mania
- Tanya @ Communi Cooking
Maple Granola
May 20, 2013 § 14 Comments
Ask anyone about the easiest to-go option for breakfast on a busy weekday and the chances are you would hear cereals with milk and fresh fruits. Not just that they are wholesome and filling but they are healthier too. And milk/yogurt along with some fresh fruits added to them make it a power-packed brekkie meal.
I too equally enjoy my bowl of cereals almost on 3 out of 5 weekdays and sometimes weekends too. Yeah I am crazy about them partly because I get to start my mornings with something sweet and partly because they are fast and easy to do. I like them in cold milk with some fresh seasonal fruits.
And that is the reason, I keep looking for new flavors and combinations. Sometimes with dried fruits and sometimes with nuts. I have been wanting to bake my own granola at home. And when recently I bought my own copy of Smitten Kitchen cookbook, the first recipe I got thrilled about and wanting to bake pretty quick was this big chunk maple granola.
The woody flavor of maple syrup and the sweet aroma of cinnamon are wonderfully wedded together. And the lightly beaten egg whites give this granola a big chunky texture. You could skip adding egg whites, if you don’t prefer them. But trust me, you would not smell them in the final outcome. And if you don’t have maple syrup at home, just replace it with some clear honey and it’ll still be fine.
So, don’t wait. Bake your own granola! And I am pretty sure that you would fall in love with this lightly sweet, not too oily, big chunk crunchy maple granola.
Recipe source : Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
Ingredients
240 gm rolled oats {old fashioned/quick cooking}
1 cup shredded coconut {preferably fresh}
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup wheat bran
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1 large egg white
1 cup mix of dried currants, cherries, cranberries
1/2 dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients except egg whites, dried currants, chocolate chips in a large bowl.
- In another small bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy.
- Add the egg whites to the oats mixtures and stir to combine well.
- Lay the mixture evenly onto a large baking tray lined with baking mat/parchment paper and bake in 150 degree Celsius preheated oven for about 45-55 minutes until golden. About halfway through the baking time, carefully turn the granola to bake it evenly on all sides.
- Once done, let it cool completely. Once cooled, mix in the currant mixture and chocolate chips into the granola. And break the granola into desired chunk size with help of a wooden spoon.
Rustic Tomato Gazpacho {Cold Summer Soup}
May 16, 2013 § 10 Comments
Soups when served hot are greatest comfort food of all times. A hot simmering bowl of soup takes the chill out of your body and makes you relaxed through a cold winter night. But during scorching summers, it’s the same bowl of soup which refreshes and hydrates you, only when made cold.
Gazpacho, a Spanish tomato vegetable soup which is served chilled, sometime with ice cubes too. It’s definitely a cool, fresh and flavorful food for soul. So even when days are super hot, you can still enjoy your favorite bowl of soup.
And the good thing about this soup is that besides being a refreshing meal, it’s full of vitamins and minerals you get from the vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber and bell peppers. And it doesn’t need you to be a pro in the kitchen.
It even saves you from the heat of stove. Yups…it doesn’t involve any kind of cooking. You just need to blitz the freshest of ingredients in a blender and let it chill in fridge for some time. Or if you are in some hurry, drop in some ice cubes to your soup and have it instantly.
Ingredients
1 cup day-old bread {I used baguette}
2 garlic cloves
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
500 gm ripe tomatoes, seeded
1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 one-inch-thick slice red bell pepper
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/2 cup cold water, plus more for soaking
1/2 cup packed basil leaves
For topping
1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup diced cucumber
Instructions
- Soak the bread in some water for 5 minutes and then squeeze and drain.
- Blitz all the ingredients, except those for toppings in a blender together to make a smooth puree.
- Sieve the soup through a fine mesh {you could skip this, if you like more chunkier texture}.
- Chill in fridge for 2 hours. Serve topped with cherry tomatoes and cucumber and a drizzle of olive oil.
Vanilla Bean Quark Cheesecake With Balsamic Roasted Strawberries
May 13, 2013 § 12 Comments
Making a baked cheesecake can become really daunting here in India, especially when we don’t produce a good quality cream cheese locally. It doesn’t mean that we don’t get a good quality cream cheese at all here. There are definitely imported brands like Philadelphia, which are available at select supermarkets at exorbitantly high prices.
So when choices are little and the craving for a perfect baked cheesecake grows stronger and stronger, quest for the alternate solutions begins! Ain’t it way too melodramatic…haha. But on a serious note, this is how I started making my own mascarpone at home. Delish and luscious.
Now we talk about the inspiration. So there’s a very sweet lady out there, who started making her own soft cream/curd cheeses at home years ago. Deeba of PassionateAboutBaking.com has a wonderful blog full of so many inspirational recipes and beautiful pictures. Her love for the locally home grown produce inspired me a lot to start making my own cheese. She has this very informative post on curd cheeses.
For those who are new to quark, it’s a soft white unaged curd cheese, which is made by cultured buttermilk and full fat milk. And it does have a very lemony fresh flavor and doesn’t have any salt added to it. This is very popularly used in German baked cheesecakes.
Knowing nothing about the cheese, for starters I tried one of a recipes from PAB, which came out really really nice. I couldn’t believe that I made that luscious baked cheesecake at home. You’ve got to try this to believe this. With trying my luck on this simple yet wonderful cheese, I am all set to be experimenting more with it.
Recipe adapted from: Passionate About Baking
Ingredients
Crust
100 gm digetive biscuits
25 gm whole almonds
40 gm butter, melted {i used salted}
Filling
300 gm quark cheese {recipe follows}
2 eggs, separated
25 gm cornflour
70 gm {20gm & 50gm} castor sugar, divided
1/2 vanilla bean, scrapped
100 ml low fat cream
Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
150 gm strawberries, frozen
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- For the crust, whiz the almonds and digestive biscuits in the food processor to make a fine powder.
- With food processor, running on low speed, add the butter in slow stream and process until a moist crumb forms.
- Place a 6 inch dessert ring or a spring form cake pan on a baking sheet and press the crust mixture on the bottom of the pan and level to make a smooth surface. Bake the crust on a 200 degree Celsius oven for 5 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes.
- For the filling, in the bowl of food processor, add quark, cream, corn flour, egg yolks, 50 gm sugar, vanilla bean and process to make a smooth batter.
- In a bowl, beat the egg whites using an electric beater until they become frothy. Add the remaining 20 gm sugar and beat to form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture.
- Pour the cheese mixture over cooled crust and bake for 30 minutes, until golden on top. Bake at 200 degree Celsius for first 10 minutes and then at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes.
- Let cheesecake cool completely inside the oven with oven door slightly open. Once cooled, let cheesecake rest in fridge for at least 2 hours.
- For strawberries, toss all the ingredients in a glass/ceramic dish and roast at 180 degree Celsius for about 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
- Top the cake with roasted strawberries, while serving.
Quark Cheese
Ingredients
1 liter full fat milk
200 ml low fat cream
250 ml cultured buttermilk
Instructions
- Heat the milk in pot with lid, so that it is lukewarm in temperature.
- Stir in the buttermilk and cream into milk. Cover the pot with lid and let rest in warm place for 10-24 hours {10 hours for summer and 24 hours for winters}. This will enable the culture process to begin.
- Initially the milk will look grainy but eventually the curds will float over the whey.
- At this stage, let the covered pot rest in fridge for 5-6 hours.
- Drain the curds into a muslin/cheesecloth and tie the knot to let the whey drain through a sieve,. Keep the apparatus in fridge for 24 hours, so that all the whey gets drained out.
- The drained quark cheese will have a consistency like sour cream and slightly tangier than sour cream.
Millet Brownies With Salted Butter Caramel
May 6, 2013 § 16 Comments
A recent visit to the health foods aisle of a grocery store brought my attention to this earthy and wholesome millet (Ragi). I have been reading about the bakers trying out alternate flours for baking sweet treats, tarts and quiches, truly for health reasons.
Ragi and other finger millet are not new to me. It’s just that I hadn’t tried them in my baking. Even today, my mother cooks healthy and comforting pearl millet (bajra) and lentil soup during cold and dull winter days, and that is just awesome.
So, I took home a small pack of this beautiful wholesome flour in a hope to cook some storm in the kitchen. Sadly, when I couldn’t think of much of a recipe, I thought of baking brownies.
I replaced the butter with olive oil in brownies, because I had planned to serve them with a nice drizzle of salted butter caramel. And I didn’t want to kill the goodness of this super food by loading it with too much butter. I have baked brownies with olive oil before and trust me they come out really nice, moist and light. If you want, you can completely skip out caramel sauce and the brownies will still be very good.
You can bake them in mini tart pans, like I did. Hassle free single serving mini brownies…I just love petite dessert simply because of them being non-fussy. But if you wish to be more conventional, feel free to bake them in a square pan.
Millet Brownies, recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
100 ml olive oil
170 gm dark chocolate
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup millet flour
1/4 cup corn flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup strong coffee
Instructions
- In a bowl, melt chocolate, cocoa powder and oil over a double boiler or in microwave.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together millet flour, corn flour, salt, baking powder and keep aside.
- In another bowl, beat sugar and eggs for about 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in vanilla extract and coffee, followed by chocolate mixture.
- Add the flour mixture and stir to combine well.
- Pour the batter into buttered square pan or into 8 2″ tart pans.
- Bake for 20 minutes (tart pans)/35 minutes (square pan) in a 180 degree Celsius preheated oven.
- Let cool in pan completely.
Salted Butter Caramel, recipe adapted from Two Pea And Their Pod
Ingredients
50 gm salted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup low fat cream
Instructions
- In a non reactive saucepan, heat the sugar on a medium high heat. Keep whisking until it starts to melt.
- Stop whisking once it has melted completely and let it cook until it reaches dark amber color. You can swirl the pan to move sugar around but do not whisk.
- Once it has reached the dark amber color, add the butter and let it melt completely.
- Take the pan off the heat and add cream and whisk vigorously and carefully (it will splatter at this stage) to make it a smooth and creamy sauce.
- Let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes and then store in sterilized glass jar. It can be stored in fridge for about 2 weeks.
Lemon Curd & Blueberry Gateau
April 28, 2013 § 16 Comments
I am back with yet another recipe on lemons this month. Tart, citrus and refreshing juiciness of lemons is what goes really well with the contrasting hot scorching summer days. And lemons are the real saviors, when we have touched 37 degrees already here in Delhi. Good enough to keep us going.
I had some lemons left in fridge from the last week’s recipe, lemon drizzle cakelettes. And I had no clue, what to do with them except squeezing them over my salads or in my cool glass of lemonade. So, I whipped up some tangy, luscious lemon curd.
The recipe was a no brainer and I was happy that I didn’t get any traces of scrambled eggs nor I felt the need of straining the curd. I just let that sit in fridge for a couple of days, before the weekend came. And I was all set to rock the kitchen.
It was Parul’s birthday when we last met at blogger’s table a week ago and sweet Ruchira made her a wonderful lemon ricotta and blueberry olive oil cake. Such a light and moist cake. It had me smitten. It feels so good that food brings people closer and inspires them.
Lemons and blueberries, a perfect pairing. And I knew, that I had to have baked a cake with these two wonderful fruits. And you know, how much I love baking with fruits.
Sadly, we don’t get fresh blueberries here in India, so I had to resort to frozen ones. And it didn’t matter much, as I cooked them into a compote. A generous squeeze of lemon juice, and the berries were back to life. Plump and lively.
For the cake, I made a sweet vanilla butter sponge cake, which complemented the tart lemon curd very well. A dollop of whipped cream and the blueberry compote made it more lavish and delish.
Lemon Curd, recipe adapted from JoyOfBaking.com
Ingredients
2 large eggs
100 gm granulated white sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp butter
Instructions
- Whisk together eggs, sugar and lemon juice lightly in a bowl and let it sit on a double boiler on medium heat.
- Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick.
- It will take approximately 10 minutes.
- Once it becomes nice and thick (will coat the back of a spoon), remove it from the double boiler and add the butter and mix to incorporate it well into the lemon curd.
- Place a cling wrap directly over the lemon curd and refrigerate for up to a week.
Blueberry Compote
Ingredients
1 cup frozen blueberries
juice of one lemon
4 tbsp granulated white sugar
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add 1/2 cup of blueberries, lemon juice and sugar and mash the berries with the back of a spoon.
- Simmer the saucepan for 3-4 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to boil. Take off the heat and add remaining berries to the saucepan and let them sit for a while until the compote cools down completely.
Vanilla Sponge Cake
Ingredients
For The Cake
100 gm salted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 tsp tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For The Filling
1/2 cup of lemon curd {recipe above}
blueberry compote {recipe above}
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla powder/extract
Instructions
- For the cake: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Butter a 9-inch round cake pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda in a bowl.
- Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat in vanilla.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake, about 40 minutes, until the skewer inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack, and let cool in pans for 20 minutes.
- Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto rack; and let cool completely.
- For the filling: Whisk cream with confectioners’ sugar until medium peaks form.
- Slice cakes in half horizontally. Spoon 1/2 of the whipped cream over bottom cake layer. Spread over the lemon curd. Top with remaining cake layer, pressing gently. Spoon over remaining whipped cream on top of the second cake layer and top with blueberry compote, letting all the juice drip down through the edges.
Lemon Drizzle Cakelettes
April 22, 2013 § 11 Comments
A few days back, I made these Lime and Mint posicles which were really tangy and refreshing. The citrus love kicked in the inspiration and this time I am back with these citrus-y and tangy lemon drizzle cakelettes, which are perfect for a summer alfresco lunch or an afternoon tea.
My love for baking with fresh fruits and vegetables isn’t hidden to anyone now. I get easily hooked on to fresh fruits of the season more than anything else. There’s one thing which I like most about summers, is that the season is full of so many hydrating fruits and veggies like honeydew, watermelon, mangoes, cucumber, gourd family etc. that we get to eat.
And while we are talking about these fruits and vegetables, we can’t forget lemons without which the season is incomplete. A generous squeeze of fresh lemon or lime on fruits and salads is all I need on a hot scorching afternoon. A glass of lemonade is perfect enough to rebound all the energies and keep me get going.
These mini cakes or the cakelettes {the way I call them} are full of citrus-y aroma of lemon zest. And the sweet flavor of sponge pairs very well with the tangy lemon glaze. They aren’t pucker-y at all, but good enough to freshen up the dull summer afternoon.
The recipe is adapted from Monsieur Eric Lanlard’s Home Bake. The original recipe suggests to bake the cake in a 8 1/2 inch sandwich/springform tin. I rather baked the cake into these 8 mini cakes. I also cut down on butter {original recipe calls for 175 gm butter} to make these cakes a bit more lighter and I didn’t find them dry at all with lesser butter.
Ingredients
125 gm unsalted butter
175 gm caster sugar
3 large eggs
6 tbsp milk
225 gm self-raising flour
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
For sugar syrup drizzle
100 gm icing sugar
juice of 2 lemons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius and grease 8 2-1/2 inch ramekins.
- Beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs one by one until all incorporated. Beat in the milk and lemon zest.
- Fold in the flour, until just mixed through. Pour the batter into ramekins and bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into center comes out clean. If baking in a springform cake tin, bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, for the glaze/drizzle, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice to make smooth paste.
- Let cake cool in tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert on to the wire rack, keeping the rack on a big plate. Poke the cake with a fork to make multiple holes and drizzle the lemon and sugar syrup on top of it. Decorate with some lemon zest on top and serve at room temperature.
