Glimpses of the Zurich local market and A Photography challenge

Surprisingly, so far, I have never spoken about photography, which currently happens to be my number 1 interest area. Prior to starting this blog a few months ago I was completely unaware of any aspects of food photography. Although I ve owned a DSLR for  a long time, never really experimented with it ..till now. As I started to discover it(Hello Manual mode!), I have fallen in love with it. At times I find myself cooking just so that I can take photos! But I believe I am not alone, most bloggers would agree too. Having just started with it, I consider myself a `baby` when it comes to food photography. There is so much to learn and explore.



I find myself reading countless articles and books on food photography. And anyone who is interested on this topic, would follow Simone`s  `JungleFrog Cooking`. I love  the photography challenges on her site.I read through the posts and the participants posts. But never dreamt of participating considering how amateur( I am using that word loosely) I am. Then came this post from Simone this month which has motivated me to push away all my hesitations and simply participate. And what an amazing experience it has been. No amount of reading can come close to actually going through the exercise.

 


The challenge this month is On location and there were plenty of reasons( may be excuses) not to participate that came to my mind. I just had 10 days left because the challenge ends on 31 Mar…its snowing….little miss P`s (my 5 month old) naps are way off any schedule restricting the time I can spend on photography. I decided to give a shot at it anyways.
So this weekend, myself and little miss P head out to the local market saturday early morning with our camera and a diaper bag. Yes..my late decision about participating meant that I had to take little miss P along with me. I decided to go to the main market of Burkliplatz, Zurich as it offers more variety and thus more opportunities for interesting photos.

 
 



On reaching `the location`, to my horror I realised that it wasnt the day of the local market at all. The dummy that I am, had mistakenly assumed it was on saturday, where as in fact the market day is friday. By then it had started to rain and my hopes of participating where starting to look frail.
But luckily, I knew of another local market which occured on saturdays and in a split second I made the decision to head over there. So another 45 mins later we finally arrived at `the new location`. The colourful stalls were beaming with fresh produce. Tulips, asparagus indicating that spring is hopefully around the corner in spite of all the snow we are still witnessing. Cheese, Olives, pasta, breads, pumpkins too..all in one place. I was giddy with excitement and not knowing where to start. I visit the market quite often, but the photography part made it all different.






As I started to click photos, the challenges started to unfold.
- I was so used to shooting in the controlled atomsphere of my home. But now, I had no control over the set up.
- I had to be fast and the settings I shoot with didnt work anymore. I had to bring down the ISO. Luciky, it was a cloudy day and I didnt have to worry about any harsh light.
- I am not used to shooting with people meaning strangers, so that was new as well. I was hesitant so subconsciously, I was sticking to my comfort zone and going for still shots.
- As it was raining, some of the stalls were partly covered. So I struggled with the white balance and exposure.
- Little miss P was getting cranky in her pram. But well ..thats just me and nothing to do with photography :)
When I got back home and studied my photos, I wanted to change everything and could find a million things that were wrong with the photos. And yet they never occurred to me while shooting. That I guess can only be overcome with practice practice practice. I couldnt think of posting any of them. But again I was reminded of Simone`s post and stuck with the decision to participate.
This exercise was such a great way to learn and I really look forward to taking my camera out with me more often.

Technorati Tags: Food photography,photography challenge,zurich,market

Spaghetti alla Napoletana

 

My earlier posts are evidence of my affinity towards pasta. It is my answer to several situations. Lazy days/busy days, dont-feel-like-ordering-a-take-away days, kids-dont-sleep days. This is a simple sauce. When I make this I dont have to think. I can just go in auto-pilot mode. I dont have to worry if my little boy would like it or not. He is a pasta lover.



Especially this one here which is uses a simple homemade tomato sauce. When I make it for the kids, I go easy on the chilli flakes. But use them as a garnish alone for myself.


 

Spaghetti alla Napoletana

Yeild – 3 to 4 portions

Things you need -

250 gms Spaghetti or any pasta of your choice
3 tbsp olive oil
200gms cherry tomatoes, halved or 3 medium ordinary tomatoes, chopped
handful basil leaves
1 medium onion, chopped fine
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
half a tsp crushed pepper
half – 3/4 cup water
2-3 tsp salt for cooking pasta + 1 tsp for the sauce. Adjust as per taste
1 tsp dried chilli flakes or minced red chillies, optional. Adjust as per your liking
1 tsp sugar. Adjust as per liking
For Garnish
grated parmesan cheese, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, chillies or chilli flakes, pepper and few basil leaves, optional

How I made it

1. Cook the pasta al dente in salted water as per manufacturers instructions. Drain the water and keep aside.
2. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onion and crushed garlic and cook on medium heat until the onions turn tender. Ensure they don't turn brown.
3. Add tomatoes, pepper, chillies, basil, sugar, salt. Remember the pasta is cooked with salt. So add the salt to the sauce accordingly. You don't want to end up with an overly salty dish.
4. Once the tomatoes start to turn mushy,add half to 3/4 cup water and allow the sauce to simmer for 10-15 minutes. You may add more water to achieve the desired consistency of the sauce.
5. Now switch off heat and add the pasta to the sauce and toss carefully.
6. Garnish with parmesan, basil, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, chillies, chilli flakes and serve immediately.

Technorati Tags: pasta,kid friendly,tomatoes,main course,basil

Vegan Chocolate cake bars with vegan ganache frosting – Eggless chocolate cake bars with ganache frosting

The other day during a casual round of kitchen cleaning, I noticed a few bars of dark cooking chocolate at the back of the cabinet. The last time I used it was for the cake pops. I was immediately tempted to use them up. Although there was no occasion what so ever and off late I have been reminding myself to limit my indulgences. But it was more the urge to bake rather than a craving for sweet tooth. I gave in. Egg and dairy free chocolate cake.

In the past I have tried a vegan chocolate cake using vinegar which was quite good. But every time I see a new recipe for an eggfree chocolate cake, I am curious to try it out and compare it to my previous attempts. This time I have used coconut milk. I was initially skeptical that the cake would taste and smelly `coconutty`. But it didnt. I guess even if it did, it would have been fine. This cake has an intense chocolate flavour with a dense texture. I found it best to be enjoyed with a glass of milk or slightly warmed and with a scoop of vanilla icecream. The recipe can also be altered to use milk instead of water. I could also imagine that the cake would taste wonderful with a coconut based frosting or just dust with desiccated coconut and you have vegan lamingtons.

 

Vegan chocolate cake bars with vegan ganache frosting – Eggless chocolate cake with ganache frosting

Cake Recipe adapted from Good housekeeping magazine May 2011 UK edition. Vegan ganache recipe adapted from here.
Yield - Makes about 8 cake bars of 2 inch x 4 inch

Things you need -

For the cake -

350 gms All purpose flour
50 gms unsweetened cocoa powder
30 gms semisweet cooking chocolate. I used 60% dark chocolate. Use dairy free for vegan version.
300 ml coconut milk
125 ml warm water
200 gms castor sugar
150 ml oil + 1 tsp for greasing the cake tin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

For the ganache

250 ml water
1 tbsp cornstarch
200 gms cooking chocolate, chopped. Use dairy free for vegan version.

For garnish

icing sugar or cocoa powder or desiccated coconut, optional

How I made it -

To make the cake -

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg Celsius.
2. Whisk the coconut milk and warm water together and allow the mixture to cool down.
3. Melt the chocolate over a double boil or by placing a bowl of with chopped chocolate over boiling water ensuring that no water enters the chocolate. Keep stirring until the chocolate has melted. Switch off heat and allow chocolate to slightly cool down.
4. Grease an 8 inch cake tin with oil and line with parchment paper.
5. Sift together, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder in a bowl and keep aside.
6. Whisk the coconut milk-water mixture with sugar, vanilla extract, melted chocolate, oil until a smooth mixture is formed.
7. Add the sifted mixture to the liquid mixture until a smooth batter is formed. The batter is slightly thick and just about of pourable consistency.
8. Pour the cake batter into the cake tin and bake it at 180 deg Celsius for 30 mins or till a toothpick or skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
9. Take out the tin from the oven and allow to cool completely.

To Make the frosting

1. Whisk cornstarch with 2-3 tbsp water to form a paste and add it to the rest of the water. Heat the water and keep stirring frequently until the mixture starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. This should happen pretty quick. It took me about 3-5 minutes.
2. Now add the chopped chocolate, switch off heat and stir continuously until all the chocolate has melted. You should now have a smooth ganache ready. Allow to cool down slightly.

To Assemble the cake bars

1. Invert the cake tin carefully to unmold the cake. Using a large knife or cake serrate, cut the cake in half horizontally. This might be slightly tricky. It helps to get the cake on a cake stand or at a height close to the eye level to do this. Use edible marker or a few tooth picks to get an even cut.
2. Take 3-4 tbsp of ganache and slightly spread it on one of the cake layers. Place the second layer on top of the ganache layer, such that the ganache is sandwiched between the cake.
3. Now pour the remaining ganache on the top and slightly spread it to distribute it evenly. Leave it for a few minutes and cut the cake into bars. Dust with powdered sugar or cocoa powder.

Notes -

You could also use any cake tin if you wish. A round one etc.

For best results

- do not skip the sifting of the flours.

- always bake in the centre tray of the oven and make sure the tin is in the middle of the tray.

- Do not open the oven while the cake is baking for the first 15-20 mins. Then just rotate the tin to ensure that the cake is evenly baked with a even surface.

If you are not particular about being dairy free, use 200 ml full fat or single cream for the ganache instead of cornstarch and water.

Technorati Tags: chocolate,cake,eggless baking,vegan,desserts,baking,coconut milk

Cabbage and Carrot Salad with Coconut Milk and chilli dressing

A few days ago I came across a salad recipe from Donna Hay`s Simple Dinners book which used coconut milk as a dressing in an Asian inspired salad. I had never heard of it before and wanted to try it immediately. Of course it is a known fact that one of main ingredients that distinguishes South Indian cuisine from the rest of India is perhaps the use of coconut. It is used everywhere. Gravies, sides, sweets, chutneys and salads too.  A generous garnish of grated fresh coconut over salads is common, but coconut milk was something new to me.





Thankfully I did have coconut milk in my pantry and it only took me a few minutes to put this salad together. The spicy, sweet, creamy and tangy flavours and the crunchy texture of the cabbage and carrot go together very well. The addition of peanuts was my favourite part.

Cabbage and Carrot Salad with coconut milk and chilli dressing

Yield – About 3-4 servings

Things you need -

half of a medium cabbage
2-3 medium carrots

For the dressing

50 ml coconut milk , approx half a cup
2-3 tbsp of lime juice. Use more if you like it tangy
2 tsp of cane sugar or light brown sugar. Use ordinary white sugar if you don't have brown.
2 thai red chillies, deseeded and minced fine
salt, half a tsp or as per taste

For garnish

handful roasted peanuts, with skin removed. Cashew nuts, walnuts, almonds should also work fine.
a few coriander leaves
handful cherry tomatoes, optional
fresh lime or lemon wedges, optional

How I made it -

1. Whisk together coconut milk, lime juice, sugar, salt, chillies in a bowl to form a uniform mixture. Keep aside.
2. Cut the the cabbage and the carrot julienne. Alternatively coarsely grate them. Toss them together.
3. Spoon 3-4 tbsp of the dressing onto the salad and mix slightly. Check on the taste and add more dressing if required.
4. Garnish with coriander leaves, peanuts. Serve with cherry tomatoes and lime or lemon wedges.

Notes -

 

Prepare the dressing first and then cut/slice/grate the vegetables to prevent them from turning brown.
Else if you would like to prep them ahead, sprinkle some lime juice over the cut/sliced/grated vegetables to keep their freshness and colour intact.

Feel free to alter the quantities of the sugar, chillies and lime juice to suit your tastes. 

Linking this entry to No Croutons required event hosted by Lisas Kitchen and Tinned Tomatoes where the theme this month is Raw Salads and soups.

Technorati Tags: Carrot,Cabbage,salad,healthy,raw,coconut milk,vegan