healthy Archives - Page 13 of 15

Fish & Chips With Tartar Sauce…The Airfryer Way

December 3, 2013 by TheWhiteRamekins

Fish ‘n’ Chips, is one of those classic Brit comfort food besides pot pies, Victoria sponges and summer pudding, which I always have liked to the core of my heart. Especially in these chilly days of winter, craving for some hot and sizzling fried food grows stronger as the temperature dips. Sitting beneath the warmth of quilt with some warming and comforting food to eat..what else would one need!

But honestly speaking, I just run away from frying food at home. No, it’s not the fear of getting burnt by the smoking hot oil. It’s just that I feel too lazy to fry food at home. Boiling a big wok of oil isn’t my cup of tea. You must be thinking, how silly that reason is. But that is how it is. I am happy to fire up my oven for the entire day, but would stay away from this frying thing.

And that is why end up ordering fried food when I am eating out. But you see, technology has eventually made my life simpler. Recently, I got a call from Philips to review their Airfryer. I have heard a lot about the airfryer and the wonderful stuff it can do at home. And I was excited to try it finally. It really is a magical product from Philips, which can churn out hot piping fried food in minutes, without the need of boiling a gallon of oil.

A spoonful of oil or even less, and all you get is crispy non-oily fried stuff. I made home style fries to test it initially, and to my surprise it delivered perfectly browned and crisp fries with a thin coat of oil. Next I wanted to try my favorite Fish and Chips.

I took frozen fillet of basa fish {as I am quite skeptical about the freshness of fish and hugely rely on frozen fillets}, coated them in flour, fresh breadcrumbs and some herbs. And within minutes, I got perfectly and evenly browned crispy fried fish and again with only a tablespoon of oil.

This wonderful Airfryer can even bake cakes too, but I didn’t try that. It works as a compact convection {hot air circulation} oven, so I am sure it can bake some basic sponges as well. I enjoyed my herb-ed fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce, a perfect accompaniment to go along. I would definitely recommend this amazing product if you want to enjoy some great fried food with no added waistline.

Ingredients

Fish:
400 gm firm white fish fillet {sole or basa}
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Chips:
2 large potatoes, washed and scrubbed
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Tartar Sauce:
200 ml mayonnaise
3 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
2 tbsp jalapenos, drained and chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
squeeze of lemon juice
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

For fish, preheat the Airfryer at 200 degree C for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix bread crumbs, salt, pepper, parsley and olive oil in a bowl.
Cut the fish into 8 long pieces. Crack the egg in a shallow bowl and use a fork to lightly whisk. Place the flour and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls.
Dip 1 piece of fish in the flour. Shake off any excess. Dip the fish in the egg, then in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly to coat.
Place the fish in air fryer. Repeat with all the remaining fish pieces and put in air fryer and cook for about 15 minutes or until golden.
For chips, cut the potatoes in wedges shape with skin on. Soak them in a bowl with mild salted water for 20 minutes.
Preheat the air fryer at 180 degree C for 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes and pat them dry with a paper towel. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients along with potatoes and toss to coat evenly. Place the chips in air fryer and cook for 25 minutes until golden, shaking them once in between. Once cooked, toss the potatoes generously with salt.
For tartar sauce, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and chill in fridge until needed. Serve with fish and chips.

Wholewheat Pumpkin Walnut Struesel Cake. Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2013 by TheWhiteRamekins

Happy Thanksgiving to all you lovely readers! Thanks for admiring and to keep coming back here. Your love has been a true inspiration for me and keeps this place buzzing with lot many new recipes every month. And what else could be a better day to express this gratitude.

Two years ago, when I started blogging, I didn’t know that I would’ve come this far. I tried, I failed, I learnt and I finally sailed through and since then I’ve never looked back. My passion for baking at home, and trying new interesting recipes every week has kept growing each passing day. I have lot to learn. And every new like and every humble comment has kept me going with a new energy and excitement every time.

I learnt to celebrate each and every season. Summers marked with stone fruit, Spring with strawberries and Autumn with apples and pears. With holiday season upon us, which started here in India with Diwali, more and more heartwarming, comforting and celebratory recipes keep popping up in every nook and corner of internet. Pinterest is full of inspiration! Wherever you go, whatever you see.

I had a big frozen batch of roasted pumpkin left from the pumpkin maple mascarpone roll, which made few days back. Didn’t want to bake the classic pumpkin pie, because of less time being a weekday{no holiday for us here!}.

So I picked to bake my second most favorite thing after chocolate chip cookie, a struesel coffee cake. I have baked peach coffee cake and sour cream coffee cake before. But this one is exclusive.

With high tones of pumpkin pie spices, hearty wholewheat flour, humble roasted pumpkin puree and warmth of walnut topping, this coffee cake came out to be perfect winner for holiday season. Even good for breakfast too!

Recipe adapted from William Sonoma

Ingredients

For the streusel:
1/3 cup wholewheat flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
50 gm cold butter, cut into small chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

For the batter:
1 cup wholewheat flour
1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
100 gm butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup yogurt

For the glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
To make the streusel, in a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Toss in the butter and, using 2 table knives or a pastry cutter, cut it into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Alternatively, whir the ingredients in a food processor. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Set aside.
To make the batter, in a bowl, sift together both the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the pumpkin puree and sour cream and mix with the spatula. Stir in the flour mixture. The batter will be quite thick.
Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel over the batter. Dollop the remaining batter over the streusel and spread the thick batter as best you can. Top with the remaining streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the sides from the pan and slide the cake onto the rack.
To make the glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla. Drizzle over the top of the cake. Cut into thick wedges and serve.

Persimmon Yogurt Granola Parfait

November 21, 2013 by TheWhiteRamekins

Parfaits are fun to make. Super easy, make-ahead in time, healthy and endless possibilities. And they are more fun, if meant for breakfast. Breakfast on a weekday always have to be a quick, easy almost completely no-fuss affair, as compared to the one on a weekend. So I better must have all my pantry/fridge well stocked up, as there is hardly anytime to cook on a busy weekday morning.

But that doesn’t mean that I would like to compromise anywhere on the taste and more importantly on nutrition factor. Fruits and homemade granola mixed with either yogurt or milk are my go-to options. The ones, I heavily relied on. I made this homemade maple granola sometime back, and I never bought any from the store thereafter. This stuff is so good!

Few days back I ordered Donna Hay’s Simple Essentials Fruit. When I got my copy, I got really excited to flip through each page. I just love dessert with fruits, of any kind probably. There was this simple yet delish recipe of nectarine granola, which caught my eyes, because it had another recipe of homemade granola to try for.

Nectarines and peaches have long left behind. But I wanted a similar bright colored fruit to replace with. Was mesmerized by Donna Hay’s style and food pictures, bright and full of sunshine. And the recipes are nonetheless vivacious, right there to brighten up your morning.

Persimmons are the bright colored fruits of fall, and I went onto adding them in my parfaits. It worked like a magic. Crunchy granola, creamy and light yogurt with sweet and bright red colored fuyu persimmons…just simply made my day!

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup whole almonds, chopped
2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup honey
90 ml oil
2 persimmons, peeled and sliced
2 cups vanilla yogurt

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Place oats, pumpkin seeds, almonds and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix to combine.
Stir the honey and oil in a small saucepan over low heat for 2 minutes or until melted and combined.
Add the honey mixture to the oats mixture and mix to combine.
Divide the granola between two baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden. Allow to cool.
Divide the toasted granola among 4 serving glasses. Layer with slices of persimmons and yogurt and serve immediately.