Strawberry Ice-cream

Strawberries....mmmm, can't get enough of them! This summer has been great with a bounty of great tasting strawberries straight from the farm to my kitchen. I gorged on a lot of the berries, made strawberry jam with another lot and still had so much left over. I had to freeze them to keep them from going bad, it will come in handy when strawberries go out of season.

This is another ice-cream you can hand crank at home without a machine.

The mushy ones which I couldn't freeze went into making this strawberry ice-cream. After making Mango ice-cream at home I simply had to try strawberry ice-cream with fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Ice-cream

You will need: Makes about 3 quarts

1 ½ cup Milk

1 ½ tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Strawberry Custard powder (substitute: Vanilla custard powder)

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup Fresh strawberry puree (fresh strawberries, washed and pureed)

1 cup Heavy whipping cream

1 tsp Strawberry extract

½ cup chopped frozen strawberries (don’t thaw)

Hand held electric beaters

Mix ½ cup of milk with 1 tbsp custard powder. Bring remaining milk and sugar to a rolling boil on medium heat. Turn down heat and then stir in the custard mix. Stir continuously for 4 minutes till the custard thickens and coats the back of your spoon. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Meanwhile blend the sweetened condensed milk, strawberry puree, whipping cream and strawberry extract in a medium bowl (which will fit into your freezer)

The procedure to make the ice-cream is similar to the Mango ice-cream (click to see instructions) When you whip the mixture the final time, stir in the chopped frozen strawberry bits. Transfer mix to a plastic container and freeze for 6-8 hours or overnight.

The strawberry extract and the strawberry puree added a ton of flavour and I was really happy when the ice-cream smelled like strawberries :D The taste of course was undoubtedly strawberry-ey.

Sringeri Halwa

Note: I'm having some issues uploading pics and editing my blog, please bear with me while I try to figure it out. Ignore the extra large fonts on the blog title and side bar.

Now onto the halwa.For as long as I can remember, Sringeri halwa was made at home when there was an unexpected guest. It still is. All it needs is a couple of hours to set and its ready to eat; it’s as easy as making Jell-O. We’ve always known it as Sringeri Halwa. Sringeri is a small city in the state of Karnataka known for the historic temples.When I made this halwa a couple of weeks ago, I googled to see what I could find more on the ‘Sringeri Halwa’ and to my surprise I found out that no such halwa is made in Sringeri… :-D!! I had to ask mom what the story behind the halwa was….and more surprisingly, there was none. She didn’t know how the name came about either, but she did mention maybe someone from Sringeri was visitng and they made the halwa or something like that (So much for making this when there is a guest!) I told her I was going to put this on my blog and I didn’t want someone from Sringeri telling me “Hey, we don’t make this halwa”. So mom and I went back and forth trying to rechristen this halwa – sadly no luck there, even after suggestions like 8 ingredient halwa, cornflour halwa (yes it is!). I finally stuck to Sringeri Halwa, sounds better…made in Sringeri or not!

Cornstarch is probably the last ingredient you would expect an entire halwa to be made up of, trust me this one is sure to surprise you. The key is the proportions and it’s a breeze to make.

You will need:

1 cup Cornstarch (Corn flour)
1 ½ cups Sugar
2 cups Milk
2 cups Water
1 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tsp ghee plus more for greasing plates
1 tsp Cashew bits
1 tsp Raisins

Grease two 8 inch wide, shallow plates with ghee. Heat 2tsp ghee in a small pan, add the cashew bits and raisins, fry till cashews are light brown and raisins are bloated. Set aside.

In a heavy deep saucepan combine cornstarch, milk, water and sugar. Stir to combine and then place pan on medium heat. Stir constantly for 4-5 minutes till the mixture thickens to form a paste. When you push the mixture with your spatula, it should stand on one end, for a few seconds atleast. This is the consistency required for it to set up. Add more sugar if required. Stir in the cardamom powder. Remove from heat. Divide mixture between the two plates, and smooth out evenly. Let cool for 15 minutes and then refrigerate for 2 hours.

Cut into slices using a sharp knife. Top with cashews and raisins.

The texture is smooth and on the first bite it’s hard to taste at all, with the second bite you know its sweet and the cardamom hits in.

Egg Salad Sandwich

If you've been wondering why there have been no updates here for a while now, its because we were on a week's vacation to Alaska...the best place I've been to yet! It was one amazing vacation with a lot to see. The weather was perfect throughout the trip and Mother Nature was at her shiny best. We got back on Saturday and its taking me forever to get over the 4 hour jet lag. I just about finished unpacking yesterday and had to get cooking right away for waiting customers.

I made this a couple of weeks ago before we went on the vacation. Every evening hubby and I need something to munch on to satisfy 'that too early to eat dinner' hunger. The first time I had an Egg Salad sandwich was at a friend's, who is into very simple cooking.

There is really not much to an Egg Salad Sandwich, really! It comes together in a jiffy making it perfect for lunch in a hurry or a snack.

You will need:

4 hard-boiled eggs, shelled

2tbsp low-fat Mayonnaise

2 tbsp finely chopped celery

Salt and pepper

A few pinches Paprika

4 slices of bread (white/wheat), toasted

Place eggs in a small bowl. With the help of a fork, mash the eggs into tiny bits. Stir in the mayo, celery, salt and pepper. Mix well, check for seasoning.

Spread the egg salad on toast, sprinkle with paprika and top with another toast.

It’s as simple as that! This is a great way to use up leftover boiled eggs. You can top the egg salad with tomato slices and/or lettuce too.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by my Daring Bakers post, I still haven't had a chance to read your comments.. will get down to it soon.