Sunday, November 6, 2011

Cooking ahoy

This weekend I am on my own. I remember having posted earlier on the joys of being alone for a change, the fun in shopping alone. In this situation, remove the driver from the equation and things turn on its head.

Actually the driver was present yesterday, but I had to get tests done. Thankfully, it didnt take too much time. I wanted to go to a bookstore and sit there for a while but these days, I get tired out quickly and run back home.

I ate, read, slept, put some clothes in the washing machine. And then asked myself - now what. So I made a lemon pickle for myself.

And today it was a cake.. a plain vanilla cake. I have no idea of how it has turned out. It is cooling in the kitchen.

When you dont have company, 2 days really stretch in front of you!!

In my free time, I figured out a good site for Indian recipes - NDTV cooks. They seem to have nice chicken recipes.

And a nice place to stay at Coorg - Rainforest retreat it is called, I think. It is a farm basically and is run by an NGO. There is no electricity at the plantation. Seems like an ideal place to switch off and relax. For whenever, I can travel next!

And now I again find myself at a loose end. Thankfully, a friend is visiting soon.

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Anyone caught MC India? Yesterday's episode was not bad at all. The challenge was similar to MC Aus though I thought that Indian one was tougher. They had to mix and match a core ingredient and a cooking instrument. In the Indian context, they got ingredients like marigold, grapes, thai aubergines (which are bitter), tinda etc. Some of the instruments were old things used in pre historic times - a tawa, a stone thing (looks like a pestle, used to be used in Kerala apparently), a steaming instrument etc. One pair of contestants made tarts.. on a tawa!!!!!!!!! Another one made chicken stuffed with crab meat, a berry sauce and a pomegranate couscous. I thought these guys were very innovative.. a far cry from last year's MC where they would stick to what they know.

Time to check on the cake!

Update: Cake is rock hard! When microwaving, I checked using a knife. Though it came out clean, the top was moist. I microwaved it again and now it is like a stone. :((

6 comments:

Scarlett said...

Oh, what a shame! Did you use the convection feature on your microwave? Did you put enough butter or too much baking soda in your batter? :)

Ru. said...

Oh I am watching Masterchef India :) but I am having tough time taking in all that drama. Yet I watch, give non-stop suggestions to the chefs who obviously are oblivious to it, and make a thousands plans on what I will cook when I will get some time.
What did you do with the cake? If I were you, I would just imagine its Hagrid's cakes ;)

Meenakshy said...

Hehehe..i had the same situation with cake sometime back...It has overcooked.You need to take it off from the microwave and allow it to cool..Keep trying..The temperature and timing has to be just right!!

Somehow cant care much for MC India..neither the contestants nor the judges seem have the energy and enthu of MC Australia..more of drama!!

Moonshine said...

@Scarlett I think I overcooked it as it felt moist on top. I should have stopped when the knife came our clean.

@melee Same here!! I am watching the show despite my supposed dislike for the Indian version. I have decided to make kaali daal post watching it on MC India!! :))Hagrid's cake it sure was!!!! A ate it all.. well almost! :)


@Meenakshy I plan to try again soon. I agree on the energy and the drama bit! Its too melodramatic.. hopefully they will ease up on it this time round.

Gobri said...

If the cake was demolished by A then it could not have been bad. Give me the recipe. I have only microwave now. I miss my oven :(

Moonshine said...

@Gobri It was bad. He ate just to keep my heart!! :) Check this link, this is what I tried to make. But you need to guess the time. http://baking.about.com/od/cakes/r/basicyellow.htm