As the temperature is firmly in the 80s around here, comes the realization the summer is well and truly upon us. And what better way to celebrate summer sunday’s that with those old-fashioned childhood treats of icecream sundae’s (get it?). While ice cream tastes great during any season, sundaes work best during summer, when the ice cream melts quickly but the addition of a few other select accouterments go a long way towards dragging out the dessert into a delicious meal-ender.

For my first sundae of the season, I chose to keep it simple – because, like with most things in life, sundaes are best when kept simple. Throw on too many ingredients and you lose the essence of this wonderful melding of flavors. So start with your favorite ice cream flavor (or 3, if you really must), add some textured toppings, and a sauce of some sort to bring it all in together – and voila, a perfect sundae. Here, I used vanilla icecream which really is the best base for all kinds of sundae toppings – and complemented it with some of my homemade ganache and some toasted walnuts. Done.

The ganache adds a silky, smooth, warm touch to the cold, classic flavors of the vanilla, while the toasted walnuts (simply heated in the toaster over for a couple of mins) add a crunchiness that works wonders with the softness of the overall dessert. Walnuts also have a subtle, nutty flavor which I really like with chocolate – it adds a bottom note to the sauce without overpowering it like pecans would, for example.

Enjoy the summer, enjoy the ice cream, and there will be other ice cream sunday’s to follow, I am sure!

Watermelon is a terrific fruit to keep in the fridge as we head in to the warmer months. The fruit is loaded with enough water (duh!) to act as a wonderful hydrant, while providing you with enough fiber and other fruity goodness. The fruit is pretty sweet all through the year – you just have to pick a dark red fruit which feels heavy for its size.

Watermelon is also wonderful as a stand-alone dessert, since its subtle sweetness stands up well to a variety of add-ins and seasonings. The wifey loves her watermelons sprinkled with some salt and pepper; if the fruit is not as sweet as you like, you can always add in some sugar. My favorite add-ins are some freshly grated ginger and some lemon juice. The watermelon cubes can be stored in the fridge for up to a week this way, and are delicious eaten straight out as a cold treat.

There is really no recipe needed for this – it is as simple as cubing up some watermelon, grating some fresh ginger over it and squeezing in some lemon or lime juice over it. Mix it all up, add in some sugar for sweetness if you want and you’re all set. At times, I throw this in to the blender with some ice for a wonderfully refreshing drink also.

Anyone who grew up in India knows that the phrase ‘I am a Complan boy’ relates to the nutritional drink mix popularized in the last few decades back home; we spent a large part of our childhoods drinking steaming hot mugs of Complan as part of our breakfasts before we headed to school in the morning. The highly successful ad, featuring a growing boy helping his mom by reaching up for some hard-to-get-to kitchen shelves, with the proud mom admiring the height of the boy, had a whole generation of India kids wanting to be Complan boys and Complan girls. (I’m 6 feet tall, considered tall for a regular Indian, so i’m probably one of the few that Complan did work on :p).

I always loved the taste of Complan even when eaten just as a powder; the original flavor, slightly malty and with with a subtle vanilla flavor. It was even chalky at times, dissolving into a sweet paste that coated the arch of the mouth. They introduced new flavors like Chocolate and Mango, but the original was always the best. Ofcourse, my mom would always chide me for just eating the powder, insisting that I drink it with milk.

I forgot about Complan for a while till I stumbled upon Complan cookies in our local Indian grocery store a few weeks ago. Could it be? The sweet taste of Complan sandwiched between a biscuit (the Indian kind, not the Paula Deen southern kind)? It seemed too good to be true, especially when I spied not just the natural Complan flavor but an orange flavor too. I just had to give them a try!

How did they taste? Meh. Like any other cream-filled biscuit, with the iconic Complan taste barely coming through at all. This seemed like one of those attempts at cross-marketing by the conglomerate that owned the Complan brand- “Hmm, we have a popular beverage mix, and we also make cream cookies – why not just slap the Complan name on the cream cookies and call them a healthy snack?”! Don’t get me wrong – cream cookies by themselves are fine. Just not Complan worthy, I thought. But now I was left with a couple of packets to get rid of – so I got creative and decided to dip them in Chocolate Sauce and freeze them. Yummy! The cold, half-chocolate-dipped frozen cookies were a delicious mid-afternoon weekend dessert, with the Vanilla and Orange flavors complementing the chocolate. I even convinced myself that maybe I’ll get a nice energy boost from the Complan in the cookies You can try this with any cream cookie ofcourse; bonus points if you pick up the Indian variety at your local ethnic grocer.

THE RECIPE: CHOCOLATE-DIPPED COMPLAN COOKIES

YOU’LL NEED:

• 2 packets Complan Cream Biscuits (Orange and Vanilla flavors)
• 1/2 Cup Chocolate Ganache or Sauce
• Parchment paper sheets

THE METHOD:

• Warm up Chocolate Ganache for a few secs in the microwave
• Prepare a plate or baking sheet with parchment paper on it
• Dip each biscuit half-way in the sauce, and place on the parchment
• Freeze uncovered for atleast 8 hours. You can then remove and place them in a container.

]]> http://eatlovecook.com/2010/01/complan-cookies/feed/ 0 http://eatlovecook.com/2009/12/easy-pumpkin-pie/ http://eatlovecook.com/2009/12/easy-pumpkin-pie/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:26:30 +0000 keviv http://eatlovecook.com/?p=171 Cheating by making a pumpkin pie on Christmas using prepared pie filling and ready-to-use graham cracker crusts.]]>

Christmas is the last true time in the year when we all get to cheat on our little personal food promises, before the week of the Resolutions is upon us. These can be little promises like “I will eat only one slice of pie for dessert”, or “I will not drink an alcoholic beverage before 5pm”, or “I will limit myself to just a little of that delicious, artery clogging stuffing that Aunt Edna prepared”. Or they can be bigger ones like “I will never use ready-made pie filling”.

Confession time – I broke that last one because I really wanted pumpkin pie for Christmas, and since we were only cooking for a small, intimate gathering of exactly 3 and already had 6 dishes lined up – I just didnt think whipping up a pie from scratch was worth it; and in the end, since I got an extra hour to join in a game of Monopoly with the wifey and the little brother (the other guests at this cozy little celebration) it definitely was the right decision I would say!

Since I had the oven cranked up to prepare some of the other items, it didn’t take much time to throw in this pie (actually got TWO pies from the one can) at the beginning of the evening – allowing for the couple of hours needed to fully cool ensure we had a perfectly set, delicious dessert at the end of gorging on the other items. A couple of homemade touches ensured the pie did not taste like it just came out of a can!

I always have a few Keebler Ready-to-use graham cracker crusts on hand, so I didn’t even have to go through the motions of unrolling a frozen pie crust; I rather prefer the grainy texture of such crusts with the velvety pumpkin pie in any case. Grating some fresh nutmeg over the filling, a few cracks of the sea-salt grinder to just add a bit of savory to the pie and a few dollops of whipped cream once the pie was done cooling and voila – my craving for pumpkin pie was satisfied without too much of an effort. We all are allowed to cheat on some of our food philosophies during Christmas, right? After all, a rolly-polly old man sneaking in a few cookies way past his bedtime is a ritual thoroughly ingrained into this time of the year!

THE RECIPE: EASY PUMPKIN PIE (makes 2 pies)

YOU’ll NEED:

• 1 can pre-prepared Pumpkin Pie filling (I used Libby’s)
• 2 Keebler ready-to-use Graham Cracker pie crusts
• 2 large eggs
• 1 5 fl.-oz can (or 2/3 cup) evaporate milk
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

THE METHOD

• Preheat oven to 425°F
  
• Mix pumpkin pie mix, evaporated milk and eggs in large bowl.Use a small whisk or spatula to mix. Grate nutmeg over mix.
  
• Pour the mix into the pie crusts, half of the mix in each.
• Put the pie crusts in the oven for 15 mins.
• Reduce heat to 350° F and continue baking for another 40 to 50 mins. You’ll know that the pie is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and let cool for 2 hours before serving with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
  

OTHER NOTES:

• Halfway through the cooking time, cover the edges of the pie with foil if you dont want the crust to brown too much. The Keebler crusts come in a foil base of their own, and using those edges to cover up the edges of the crust works well for me.
• Use a chocolate graham cracker crust for one of the pies for a twist; the pumpkin with the chocolate is a nice change.
• Leftovers should be refrigerated, not frozen.
• This recipe is based on the one on the pack of pumpkin pie mix itself; sometimes these mass-consumed recipes actually work perfectly well!
  

As I wrote about a couple of posts back, the past month I discovered the joys of making chocolate ganache and using it top a toasted slice of bread ala La Maison Du Chocolat. While Ganache might seem like a scary French word, I write this to reassure all the young cooks out there that its just a fancy word for chocolate sauce – and is just as easy to make.

All you need to know about ganache, which is a little thicker than your generic Hershey’s syrup and has a lot more depth of flavor to it, is that it is a combination of chocolate and cream, and you can tinker around with the varieties of said ingredients to suit any occasions. By the same token, you can also be reassured that the recipe is fool-proof – if the sauce turns out thicker than you intended, it will harden into a nice, soft truffle. Much thinner than you wanted? Well, say hello to a nice chocolate glaze for a cake or muffin!

Heck, I didnt even have cream on hand, but found a nice easy recipe to use up the can of evaporated milk I did have. A couple of additional touches to deepen the flavor – and voila, I’ve have a bowl of chocolate ganache sitting in my fridge for the past week that I warm up in batches whenever I need it. So fear not, beginner cooks – give ganache a try and you can honestly claim to have added a bit of French flair to your cooking!

THE RECIPE: EVAPORATED CHOCOLATE GANACHE

YOU’LL NEED:

• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1tbslp unsweetened cocoa poweder
• 1tbslp sugar
• 1-1/4th cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (more if you want it thicker, less if thinner)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

THE METHOD:

• Mix the milk, cocoa powder and sugar in a bowl over medium heat, mix and bring to a simmer. Take care not to overheat or let the milk boil.
• Once you see bubbles forming around the edges of the bowl and milk is simmering, remove from heat.
• Add chips to a glass bowl, and then add the hot milk to the chips.
• Whisk gently to melt all the chips and incorporate into a sauce. The heat from the milk will be sufficient to melt the chips.
• Add vanilla if needed and mix. You ganache is now ready to be used atop bread, icecream, cakes or to just be enjoyed by the spoonful!

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Store any leftover ganache in the fridge in the same glass bowl.
• The cold ganache will thicken up slightly. To return to the glossy consistency, remove desired quantity to a seperate small microwavable bowl and microwave it for 5-10 secs. Take care not to reheat twice, the ganache will turn bubbly.

On days when you want a quick and easy dessert, but something a bit more sophisticated than just a scoop of the Haagen-Dazs from your freezer -  well, nothing beats a hot toasted slice of crusty bread draped with warm chocolate ganache. It’s not a traditional combination, but one that really works because of the splendid contrast in textures and flavors of the bread and chocolate.

A few weeks ago, the La Maison Du Chocolat store near my workplace had a ganache tasting. The wife and I first fell in love with Maison chocolates during our trip to Paris last year, and I was elated when a branch opened up right on Wall Street soon after -  I never miss any of their tasting events. At the ganache event, I was greeted with two chocolatiers (that word exists, right?) melting thick ganache in sparkling white ceramic bowl. The surprise was that instead of a plate of strawberries or marshmallows to dip in the ganache, they put out plates covered with small pieces of various bread – the regular savory breads, mind you, not any sweetened ones. The ganache was slowly drizzled over the piece of bread and handed over to the guests.

When I admitted that I’d never encountered this combination before, the lady reassured me that this was the best way to enjoy the flavors of the rich ganache. One bite and I understood exactly why – the hearty flavor of the bread stood up quite well to the richness of the chocolate, acting as the foundation for the deep flavor of the cocoa to shine through. The rough and crumbly texture of the toasted bread melded well with the velvety creaminess of the ganache, providing a little crunch at the end of the luscious chocolate.I was so hooked that I immediately got myself some chocolate chips the next time I went grocery shopping (the chocolate at the Maison being a bit too pricey for me, being enjoyed only as a treat on occasion) and tried out a ganache recipe (to be posted later). It turned out beautifully, and I found I could store it in the fridge and just heat up a little whenever I needed.

So on nights when Im too lazy to cut up some fresh fruit but need something warm and exciting, I toast up whatever loaf of bread I happen to have on hand and drizzle on some warmed up Ganache – and for a minute transporting myself to Maison and thus a little to Paris again. Oui Oui indeed! The picture above is with a slice of whole grain bread from Whole foods, drizzled with some ganache made with bitter-sweet chocolate chips and evaporated milk.

You can ofcourse try this combination with any simple chocolate sauce you have on hand;  just make sure the bread you use is hearty enough to stand up to it – no wonderbread here, please!