Eggless mango souffle

Nishka sent me this recipe and I decided to try it! It turned out so well, and amazingly was done so quickly, i can see this becoming one of my favourite puddings! I am a 'quick' cook....and hate lingering...I don't take short cuts, but anything that will take hours of preparation, is not for me!!!
We were given a whole lot of mangoes this season, and since there were only the 2 of us at home, I froze a whole lot of pulp. It tastes as good as it looks!

2 cups mango pulp

2 1/2 tblsps gelatin softened in 1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup thick natural yogurt (I use the home made one as ours comes out quite thick, but if the home made one is quite thin then a commercial one is fine)
1 small tetra-pack (100 gms) of  thick cream ( I used the Amul one)

In the liquidizer add all the ingredients except the cream, and liquidize for a minute. Take out into another bowl and fold in the cream. Pour into a glass bowl and leave to set in the fridge for half a day!

Note: This souffle doesn't keep for more than a couple of days in our climate, as the yogurt starts getting sour.

Meat sauce, the 'real' way!

Viveck and I were watching an Italian cooking programme which showed how thick moist meat sauce was made. The secret was to put in a large amount of grated carrots and onions! I tried it and it worked really well so here goes...

3 tblsp olive oil (you can use any cooking oil you normally do, but I have been using olive oil a lot, and I feel it makes a difference)
1/2 Kg Beef mince
150 gms. finely minced onions
150 gms grated carrots
250 gms ripe red tomatoes (liquidized)
6 tblsp tomato puree
1 tblsp dried basil
Salt, pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar ( I add this in the summer, as off season tomatoes tend to be a little sour)

Heat oil. Add onions and carrots and cook on a slow flame till soft. Add mince and fry a little (don't brown it like we tend to do for our Indian meat recipes!) Add liquidized tomatoes, puree, salt and pepper.Cover and simmer till mince is cooked. Add basil (sugar if needed).
This is a great mince which can be used as a meat sauce with spaghetti, or as a base for a shepherd's pie.

Beginnings.....

Finally I start the 3rd blog....the 'foody' one. Blogs are really great ways to share...and this one is dedicated primarily to my daughters and their husbands.....all of whom cook, and cook very well! I am hoping they will also share their experiences with food in this blog....so it becomes a family affair!

We’ve always been a ‘foody’ family. So many memories are linked with good eating times, recounts of holidays and journeys, linked with what we had eaten or drunk. Remember talking about some exciting part of a trip, and finally the memory would come back to the food and drink.....what ingredients had been used and how we could make it at home!

So the first recipe is one from the time when the children were small...face biscuits, a huge favorite with all my girls and a regular at their birthday parties!!

For the biscuits:

100 gms butter (I have substituted a margarine like Amulite....but butter is butter!!)

100 gms castor sugar (I give ordinary sugar 1 wizz in the dry grinder)

1 egg, beaten

200 gms plain flour,  sifted with a pinch of salt

2 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing:

100 gms icing sugar

50 gms cocoa powder

1 tblsp butter

a little boiling hot water

Some chocolate Gems

2 tblsp icing sugar and a little butter to make butter icing for the smile

Biscuits:

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, add beaten egg gradually and beat well. 
Add vanilla essence and fold in the flour. Knead lightly (don't handle the dough too much or the biscuits will become unnecessarily hard). Roll out thinly  about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a fluted cutter about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on lightly greased trays and bake towards the top of a moderate oven for 15 - 20 mins. till a pale brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Icing:

Sift icing sugar and cocoa together. Mix in the softened butter. Then add boiling hot water, a very little at a time, beating well, till the icing reaches a pouring consistency! Cover the faces of the biscuits with the chocolate icing. Add Gems for eyes.

Make a little butter icing with 2 tblsp icing sugar and a little butter and pipe a smile on to the face!